ClawSS Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 I need some help corralling my thoughts on what I need to do. A little background...I will have a new MB and i3 CPU on their way soon, that I want to swap in my Helios case that currently is running a C2SEA Supermicro board. The current system is on 4.7 with 4 x 2TB WD Green data drives, a 2TB WD Black Parity drive, and a 1TB WD Black Cache drive. There is about 5TB stored...and I have mediocre drives sitting around that I think will hold the complete backup and be able to push back if decided. Here is the issue. My Parity drive has a red dot so I need to replace it. I have a WD Red 2TB on its way along with a 3TB WD Red. I would also want to upgrade the Unraid version and swap in the new MB. As I am aware, the 3TB can't be used in 4.7... How would you guys do it? Options: 1)Use backups of the stored content and build a "new" server with a 3TB WD Red Parity by swapping hardware in the old case and pushing back data onto newly precleared "old" drives?? or 2)Repair Parity with WD Red 2TB, verify integrity, upgrade Unraid, verify integrity, upgrade MB, verify integrity, upgrade to 3TB WD Red Parity, verify integrity?? or 3)Repair Parity with WD Red 2TB, verify integrity, upgrade MB, verify integrity, upgrade Unraid, verify integrity?? or 4)Repair Parity with WD GREEN 2TB that has minor S.M.A.R.T. issues, but can handle minimal Parity usage......etc, etc... or 5)Other I feel like it is an Apollo 13 mission at NASA and here is your list of parts. Help me keep my server alive. Right now it is running without Parity and dumping content to other external / internal drives using a USB SATA dock in the event I go with Option 1...I hope to have enough reliable space for all of it. Link to comment
trurl Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 2)Repair Parity with WD Red 2TB, verify integrity, upgrade Unraid, verify integrity, upgrade MB, verify integrity, upgrade to 3TB WD Red Parity, verify integrity?? or 3)Repair Parity with WD Red 2TB, verify integrity, upgrade MB, verify integrity, upgrade Unraid, verify integrity?? Either of these should work. After 3) I assume you would "upgrade to 3TB WD Red Parity, verify integrity". Maybe 3) would be simpler for you since you could get more of it taken care of on the unRAID version you are more familiar with, then you would only have the parity upgrade to do on the new unRAID. In the last few months, I have upgraded unRAID from 4.7 (and continued to upgrade to new releases as they appeared), upgraded parity from 2TB to 3TB, rebuilt 2TB data onto 3TB drive, rebuilt 2 x 1TB data onto the 2 x 2TB drives that got replaced by 3TB drives, moved all my old hardware to a new case, replaced mobo/CPU/RAM in the new case, replaced PSU. Completely new system except for some data drives. Never worried about losing my data. Link to comment
Frank1940 Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Personally, I would use a more mixed approach. First, since you seem to have a lot of drives sitting around, I would make a backup of the data. Starting with the most important first. This way, you have the maximum protection of your data. If you do this, Murphy's Law says that you will never need it. If you don't do it, the converse is true! By the way, be sure to get screen shots of all the software configuration settings and disk assignments before you go any further!!! For the next step, I would use your method number 3. Be sure to use the system for a few days of CONTINUOUS uptime after any hardware change to assure that the new hardware has passed its the infant mortality point. (Although, method 2 is no real flaw in it either, I would feel more comfortable using software that I was familiar with IF I had to deal with some hardware issue that cropped up.) After I had installed unRAID 5 and all the new hardware, I would let the system burn-in for a couple of weeks. (You seem to have a fair amount of unused storage space on your server.) Run a couple of non-correcting parity checks in this interval. If there are no issues, install the new 3TB parity. Then install that new 2TB drive. (I would actually consider sending it back and exchange it for a new 3TB drive. You would get another TB of storage for a small cost differential...) Link to comment
ClawSS Posted March 26, 2013 Author Share Posted March 26, 2013 Thanks guys. Ok, I'll consider #3 going forward. Frank, I won't have a 2TB that would be stable enough to rebuild the Parity drive once I have satisfactorily backed up the data. I understand the "shoulda got a 3TB" statement, but the 2TB was my "get it up and going" drive that would later live nicely in the array. If I could stand up the 3TB as the "new" parity, then I would not really need the 2 to be a 2....since I am working with the drive size limitation of 4.7 on the recovery phase. I read somewhere that SATA cables are best left unbundled in the case....so no pretty wire-ties? Link to comment
Frank1940 Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Thanks guys. Ok, I'll consider #3 going forward. Frank, I won't have a 2TB that would be stable enough to rebuild the Parity drive once I have satisfactorily backed up the data. I understand the "shoulda got a 3TB" statement, but the 2TB was my "get it up and going" drive that would later live nicely in the array. If I could stand up the 3TB as the "new" parity, then I would not really need the 2 to be a 2....since I am working with the drive size limitation of 4.7 on the recovery phase. I read somewhere that SATA cables are best left unbundled in the case....so no pretty wire-ties? You might consider after backing up your data, get a smart report on the drive and see if it is really bad. If it is not bad, then unsigning the parity drive, and run a preclear cycle on it and see if there are any problems. If it looks good, reassign it as parity drive until you can ver5.0 installed. (Remember, if the other drives are OK, all of your data is safe. Plus, you will have a second backup since you made a backup on those spare drives.) Tying SATA cables into a bundle can lead to problems with cross-talk unless the cables are shielded. I have the feeling that most SATA cables are not constructed with adequate shielding. (In most applications, there wouldn't be any need for bundling of SATA cables.) Link to comment
trurl Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 As for backups, it's been said many times: RAID is not a backup. Neither is unRAID. You should always have more than one copy of anything you consider important. I trust unRAID, but I trust my offsite backups even more Link to comment
ClawSS Posted March 26, 2013 Author Share Posted March 26, 2013 Great idea on a SMART for the Parity. Since the array is puking data bits into external buckets right now, I am not going to spin 'er down, but will surely review her status when I can pull it. Surprisingly enough, my server is my backup of my multiple desktops that are used for those critical circumstances. Doing a backup of the critical data on the server is normally done quarterly, and guess when calendar qtr end is...yep. It all seems to happen all at once. The other data that is on the server are Hollywood hits and some Nashville noise. I guess I'll put in this MB: ASROCK B75 PRO3 with an i3. Link to comment
dgaschk Posted March 27, 2013 Share Posted March 27, 2013 The curent parity drive may just need to be rebuilt. Post a SMART report. Link to comment
ClawSS Posted March 29, 2013 Author Share Posted March 29, 2013 SMART test attached from "old" parity drive. Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.