Hi,

 

I currently run a 4-disk setup, 3 data and parity, and need to migrate the data to new setup, on the same server, of 5-disks, 4 data and parity.

 

What are my options here.  I don't have a spare server, or space to hold all the data while I switch the disks.

 

I have no aversion to copying the disks, one by one, or replacing them, one by one and letting unRAID rebuild, as that will give the disks a good work out and if there are issues with them, I'd rather it be now, where I can just return them.

 

Obviously, I will still have the original disks, should there be a problem, plus I will be md5deep'ing all the files before I start.

 

Cheers.

pre-clear the new drives first.

Here's my suggestion, tuned for speed since you already have the data security and integrity angles pretty well covered.  It makes some assumptions since you did not mention whether you are migrating User Shares (where the precise disk does not matter for any given file), and whether you have extra SATA ports.  Since you mention using 5 ports on the new setup and I cannot think of a board with only 5 SATA ports, I'll assume it has 6.  And the question of whether you Preclear the new drives or use unRAID to clear them is up to you.  I'll always recommend Preclearing them before hand.

 

1. Unassign parity drive, shutdown, and remove parity drive

2. Install 3 new drives, so that system contains the 3 old data drives and 3 new data drives - the replacement set

3. Start server, and with array stopped, assign 3 new drives to 3 new drive slots, thereby adding them to the old array (for now, it does not matter what the new drive slot numbers are), but do note the serial numbers of which is which

4. Format the new drives, clearing them if necessary

5. Start the array, then at a console, use MC or the cp command to copy all files and folders from old Disk 1 to what will be new Disk 1, and from old Disk 2 to new Disk 2, and from old Disk 3 to new Disk 3 (you can check the md5's now or later)

6. Shut down and remove all unwanted drives, move others to whatever ports you may want, and install any other drives

7. Start server and go to Utilities to initialize a new array (don't remember the name but it's the GUI version of initconfig)

8. Assign the 3 new data drives to their correct drive slots (you may need to start the array here then stop it before next step)

9. Assign parity drive and start array and let parity build

10. Assign any other drive(s) and format them

 

That's my strategy, designed for speed.  Let's see if anyone else can come up with a better one!

Rob,

 

Thanks for starting this. 

 

I will be installing an IBM M1015 flashed as an LSI 9211 in IT mode, so has 8 ports, where the new array will be built.  Plus the 4 ports on the MB itself, which is where the current array resides today.

 

But your thought also gave me another idea.  Drop the array completely, then pull the parity drive out, and add in the new 5 drives.  Build my "new" array, with the 5 dives.  Followed by mounting, then copying the contents of each of the "old" drives one by one to the array.  That way unRAID will use it's space algorithms to spread the data across all the drives, from the start and build the parity, or will it, if I am copying the actual root of each user share, not copying data into an existing share.  (If you get my drift).

 

Cheers.

It seems a little easier to me to not drop the whole array, just the old parity, then add the new drives (but NOT the new parity drive!).  This way, unRAID takes care of all the drive prepping and mounting.  You do not want to assign the new parity drive until you are ready to build parity (copying is much faster without the parity drive).

 

As to the User Shares, I still have not used them myself(!), so probably better to let others advise you as to the little gotchas in getting them set up right for what you want to do.  Your plan sounds right, but there are little tips that can make it all work better, spread the files more correctly.  I'll leave that to someone else.

To move the share you'll have to give the destination share a unique name, e.g., "sharename-2". The original names can be restored after the disks are removed.

 

If you don't use a parity drive all the disks can be copied disk to disk in parallel. This should be 3 times faster. You'll want to verify the md5s.