Have a larger drive I want to make Parity and then I want my old Parity drive to become part of the array.

 

Is it a 2 step process or can I do both things at the same time?

 

Thanks

i'd first replace the parity drive (and calculate the new parity). then, after that is complete, i'd preclear the old parity drive and add it as a data drive.

this way, the array is protected the whole time, since you can insert the old parity drive again, if something goes wrong... (given you don't change any data on the array during the process)

 

i guess, you could do this faster, but i believe, you have to format the parity drive manually then. afaik it won't be recognized as data drive, while there is parity data on it.

Sounds like the safest way to do it. Like you said, that way I still have my old parity drive if there are problems. Never thought of that.

 

Thanks

Do I have to remove the old parity drive  from the server or can i just stop the array and assign the new drive as the parity drive and start it again for it?

Do I have to remove the old parity drive  from the server or can i just stop the array and assign the new drive as the parity drive and start it again for it?

It depends on the version of unRAID.  The newest beta/rc versions track the drive by model/serial number, so you need to re-assign the parity drive. You can leave it physically where it is, even on the same disk controller port it currently is on.

I am running 5.0-rc8a. As a test, i stopped the array and assigned my new drive as the new parity drive. I went red and said Wrong, I did not hit start.  That makes sense since it is a new drive but I still want to be careful it is correct before I do anything.