November 9, 201213 yr Is there a "fool-proof", yes I am the fool , and risk-free way to add disks from an unraid server that contain data to a new server without losing any data. The new server has 5.0 RC8 and holds 5 disks, parity and cache disk. Sorry, I asked this before.
November 9, 201213 yr If you mean take disks from one physical server and put them into a new piece of iron, in their entirety, and restart using the same thumbdrive, then yes. Basically you're upgrading your case (I assume) your MB, Ram ... people do that all the time. If oyu mean, pull drives from one array and insert them into another already established array ... that is another animal. It is possible, but is less fool-proof than just upgrading MB/Ram. The safest way to move data from one to another will depend on how safe you want it. you could rsync over the wire between two protected array (slow - safe), you could mount the old data drives as SNAP drives in the new server and rsyn onto the protected array (faster - less safe), or you could try to directly insert the drive and then reinitialize the array to build parity (fastest i think - least safe / prone to mistakes). So how important is your data? how concerned are you about transfer time?
November 10, 201213 yr I have moved drives from server to another new one. The drive is recognized as formatted and unRAID wants to wipe it. If you start the array it will! What you have to do is note the current config, RESET config, reconfigure the previous drives, and add the new. At this point parity can be calculated but bear in mind you aren't protected while this occurs! A failure means lost data. Once parity is done you're golden. Make sense? I miss anything? Don't do this lightly and pay very close attention or you WILL lose data!
November 10, 201213 yr Author Thanks guys. All your remarks make sense, that is why I am so hesitant to do this. I know the risks involved and I value my data. Copying over the data is the safest method I think, but no option because of the time involved and I need empty disks that are precleared. Maybe I can get away with one empty disk? When I go and reset the configuration I think I only have to make sure what the parity and cache disk are. Data disks can be reassigned in any particular order? Order do they need to be assigned like before resetting the configuration? Will I risk clearing/wiping disks when I start the array after resetting the configuration?
November 10, 201213 yr Author What you have to do is note the current config, RESET config, reconfigure the previous drives, and add the new. Wich USB stick will be used now? Will the parity disk be assigned now? At this point parity can be calculated (Will this happen automatically, when the newly configured array is started? Is there no risk of wiping disks?) but bear in mind you aren't protected while this occurs! A failure means lost data. Once parity is done you're golden. Make sense? I miss anything? Don't do this lightly and pay very close attention or you WILL lose data!
November 10, 201213 yr Least risky is Stop existing array Un-assign parity disk Set a new disk configuration WITHOUT the parity disk. Start the array without parity disk. (and without any newly added disks, with just the old data disks assigned) Stop the array Add any new data disks from the second server to the array Set a new disk configuration once more. Start the server, all the data disks should come online. Stop it one last time, assign the parity disk Start the array, let it calculate parity on the whole set of disks, Since there is no parity disk assigned when adding the data disks, unRAID will not clear them to keep parity.
November 10, 201213 yr Author Least risky is Stop existing array Un-assign parity disk Set a new disk configuration WITHOUT the parity disk. Start the array without parity disk. (and without any newly added disks, with just the old data disks assigned) Stop the array Add any new data disks from the second server to the array Set a new disk configuration once more. Start the server, all the data disks should come online. Stop it one last time, assign the parity disk Start the array, let it calculate parity on the whole set of disks, Since there is no parity disk assigned when adding the data disks, unRAID will not clear them to keep parity. Thanks again Joe, Clear guidance. There always is some risk involved, when doing this kind of stuff. This will help a lot.
December 8, 201213 yr Author Least risky is Stop existing array Un-assign parity disk Set a new disk configuration WITHOUT the parity disk. Start the array without parity disk. (and without any newly added disks, with just the old data disks assigned) Stop the array Add any new data disks from the second server to the array Set a new disk configuration once more. Start the server, all the data disks should come online. Stop it one last time, assign the parity disk Start the array, let it calculate parity on the whole set of disks, Since there is no parity disk assigned when adding the data disks, unRAID will not clear them to keep parity. I made an additional step: I transferred my setup,which was housed in a HP EX490 homeserver housing and Sans Digital eSATA tower to a new Lian Li case with Supermicro drive cages. The transfer went OK so far, server booted with all drives assigned correctly and array started. Now running a parity check at 112 MB/s. I still use 5.0 beta12A is there a urgent reason to upgrade to 5.0 RC8a? I use a X9SCM-F with a flashed M1015.
December 8, 201213 yr Least risky is Stop existing array Un-assign parity disk Set a new disk configuration WITHOUT the parity disk. Start the array without parity disk. (and without any newly added disks, with just the old data disks assigned) Stop the array Add any new data disks from the second server to the array Set a new disk configuration once more. Start the server, all the data disks should come online. Stop it one last time, assign the parity disk Start the array, let it calculate parity on the whole set of disks, Since there is no parity disk assigned when adding the data disks, unRAID will not clear them to keep parity. I made an additional step: I transferred my setup,which was housed in a HP EX490 homeserver housing and Sans Digital eSATA tower to a new Lian Li case with Supermicro drive cages. The transfer went OK so far, server booted with all drives assigned correctly and array started. Now running a parity check at 112 MB/s. I still use 5.0 beta12A is there a urgent reason to upgrade to 5.0 RC8a? I use a X9SCM-F with a flashed M1015. There are quite a few things fixed in the current rc8a release, and one or more things broken deppending on your hardware. It is the ONLY unRAID release that fixes one bug that has been in unRAID forever, but you may never run into that one. See the release notes here for a summary of what has changed: http://lime-technology.com/wiki/index.php/Release_Notes#Changes_from_5.0-rc8_to_5.0-rc8a Note, if you do install rc8a, you'll also need to download and install the newer version of samba, as the supplied version in rc8a is broken. See the rc8a release thread for details. Joe L.
December 8, 201213 yr Author Thanks Joe, is there gonna be a RC9 with updated Samba? I rather wait for that. Is the samba fix as described in the thread persistent?
December 13, 201213 yr Author Least risky is Stop existing array Un-assign parity disk Set a new disk configuration WITHOUT the parity disk. Start the array without parity disk. (and without any newly added disks, with just the old data disks assigned) Stop the array Add any new data disks from the second server to the array Set a new disk configuration once more. Start the server, all the data disks should come online. Stop it one last time, assign the parity disk Start the array, let it calculate parity on the whole set of disks, Since there is no parity disk assigned when adding the data disks, unRAID will not clear them to keep parity. Is it correct that after adding the new disks I must set a new disk configuration? Should the array be started after adding the nes disks?
December 13, 201213 yr Least risky is Stop existing array Un-assign parity disk Set a new disk configuration WITHOUT the parity disk. Start the array without parity disk. (and without any newly added disks, with just the old data disks assigned) Stop the array Add any new data disks from the second server to the array Set a new disk configuration once more. Start the server, all the data disks should come online. Stop it one last time, assign the parity disk Start the array, let it calculate parity on the whole set of disks, Since there is no parity disk assigned when adding the data disks, unRAID will not clear them to keep parity. Is it correct that after adding the new disks I must set a new disk configuration? YES, otherwise they will be re-formatted after first being zeroed.
December 13, 201213 yr Thanks Joe, is there gonna be a RC9 with updated Samba? I rather wait for that. Is the samba fix as described in the thread persistent? I have absolutely no more information than you about this. I am a user of unRAID, but have nothing do to with the company itself or know of Tom's plans or release unSCHEDULE. (I might trademark that :-)) Joe L.
December 13, 201213 yr Author Least risky is Stop existing array Un-assign parity disk Set a new disk configuration WITHOUT the parity disk. Start the array without parity disk. (and without any newly added disks, with just the old data disks assigned) Stop the array Add any new data disks from the second server to the array Set a new disk configuration once more. Start the server, all the data disks should come online. Stop it one last time, assign the parity disk Start the array, let it calculate parity on the whole set of disks, Since there is no parity disk assigned when adding the data disks, unRAID will not clear them to keep parity. Is it correct that after adding the new disks I must set a new disk configuration? YES, otherwise they will be re-formatted after first being zeroed. All disks added, Parity sync running. So Far So Good! I finally did it. Thanks a lot.
December 13, 201213 yr Thanks Joe, is there gonna be a RC9 with updated Samba? I rather wait for that. Is the samba fix as described in the thread persistent? Yes, IF you follow the instructions in this post: http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=22604.msg206583#msg206583 And more explanation about the script is doin is contained here: http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=22604.msg208948#msg208948
December 13, 201213 yr Author Thanks Joe, is there gonna be a RC9 with updated Samba? I rather wait for that. Is the samba fix as described in the thread persistent? Yes, IF you follow the instructions in this post: http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=22604.msg206583#msg206583 And more explanation about the script is doin is contained here: http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=22604.msg208948#msg208948 So easy, Just download and save the TAR to flash. Add your 4 lines to the go script. That's all?
December 13, 201213 yr So easy, Just download and save the TAR to flash. Add your 4 lines to the go script. That's all? That is all. You have to realize that Samba is NOT a part of the basic Linux distribution. It is an add-on. Back when I was playing with Unbunta (~1996), you had to download the Samba package, install it and totally configure the installation to get it to work with Windows. Tom has done ALL of the work for 90+% of the unRAID users by including it (pre-configured for those 90+%) in the unRAID distribution package.
December 13, 201213 yr Author Huge difference in disk temps. I moved my server from an HP EX490 WHS case plus eSATA tower to a Lian Li plus Supermicro CSE-M35T cages with Scythe Kama fans. The 3 TB Hitachis would run upto 45 degrees C at first, now they stay below 30 C. Also parity sync speed went up from 50 to 80 MB/s. I'm just at 11% though.
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