Hardware upgrade - How?

[Gouie]

Hey everyone. I've had a server up and running for a few years now and am now running into disk capacity issues. It's a simple box with 4 drivers currently. I know an expansion card could be installed but I've run out of space for additional drives and it's all-in-all time for a complete upgrade. I'm poking around the hardware threads and have an idea of what I want to do; the question I have is how to perform the upgrade without loosing data. If I'm moving to a new motherboard how to I ensure the "array" will remain intact?

[dgaschk]

Record the disk serial numbers and disk# assignments. Perform parity check before and after the migration. Treat the drives carefully as you handle them.

[Glimmerman911]

If you haven't already, grab a label maker and put the last few digits of the serial number on each drive while you are transferring them, makes upgrading, replacing, and troubleshooting easier later.

 

I was amazed at my unraid hardware upgrade, first boot on the new hardware and parity was valid, great product.

[Gouie]

So, I get that I need to know the identity of each drive but what and how do I use that information? Is the physical port that the drives are plugged into in the new box important?

[BLKMGK]

What you do is go into the config page with the server stopped, print the page that displays the config and drive positions. Move to the new hardware, enter the same page, arrange the drives to match the positions you had before, start the array, should be valid and good  to go. Don't add any additional drives while doing this or swap existing drives. Do make a backup of the files on the USB drive.

 

Yeah, it's THAT easy and I've now done it about four times without issue :-)

[Gouie]

Guess I was way over thinking things. Thanks! Now to settle on the hardware.

[Mntneer]

What you do is go into the config page with the server stopped, print the page that displays the config and drive positions. Move to the new hardware, enter the same page, arrange the drives to match the positions you had before, start the array, should be valid and good  to go. Don't add any additional drives while doing this or swap existing drives. Do make a backup of the files on the USB drive.

 

Yeah, it's THAT easy and I've now done it about four times without issue :-)

 

What if I want to swap out the USB drive?  All I have ever installed on the USB drive, aside from the Unraid 4.7, is the preclear script.  Thanks.

[JonathanM]

What if I want to swap out the USB drive?

If you are using the free basic version of unraid, you could just prepare the new flash drive as per the install instructions, then overwrite those files with your current flash contents. If you have a license key, it is tied to the unique flash ID, and there is no way to swap keys without purchasing a new license. If your current flash dies, you can email Tom and explain your situation, and he will work with you to solve the issue. In any case, it's a good idea to make a backup of your flash drive contents every time you make a change to your configuration, either changing hardware or adding software to the key.

[Mntneer]

What if I want to swap out the USB drive?

If you are using the free basic version of unraid, you could just prepare the new flash drive as per the install instructions, then overwrite those files with your current flash contents. If you have a license key, it is tied to the unique flash ID, and there is no way to swap keys without purchasing a new license. If your current flash dies, you can email Tom and explain your situation, and he will work with you to solve the issue. In any case, it's a good idea to make a backup of your flash drive contents every time you make a change to your configuration, either changing hardware or adding software to the key.

 

Thanks.  I've been running the free version, but plan on upgrading to the Pro Version, and I want to do it with a new Flash.