Can I replace a 3 tb drive with a 2 tb drive provided there is less than 2tb of data on the drive?

 

I need to rearrange my drives, and would like to use the 3tb somewhere else.

 

(waiting for drive prices to settle down)

Can I replace a 3 tb drive with a 2 tb drive provided there is less than 2tb of data on the drive?

 

I need to rearrange my drives, and would like to use the 3tb somewhere else.

 

(waiting for drive prices to settle down)

short answer, no.

longer answer, yes.

 

You cannot just swap the disk and have unRAID re-construct the old onto the new.  The new must be equal or greater in size than the old.  It has nothing to do with how many files are on the drive... parity includes all bytes on the drive, used to store files, or not.

 

You can however

      move ALL the files off the 3TB drive,

      stop the array,

      un-assign the 3TB drive,

      set a NEW DISK Configuration without the 3TB drive (and immediately invalidate parity based on the prior disk config)

      start the array without the 3TB drive, and let it calculate parity on the new array configuration

When parity calculation is complete:

      Stop the array once more:

      Install the 2TB drive.

      Start the array once more

      Format the newly installed 2TB drive

      Copy the files back to the 2TB drive.

Perform a manual parity "check" (preferably in NOCORRECT mode)

 

You might be able to save a step or two if you know what you are doing...  but it can be done. 

 

Joe L.