Hi all.

 

I'm running Server plus V4.5 currently and the time has come to upgrade the system as im running low on space. 

 

At the same time im planning on moving my unraid to an esxi box (as per Johnm's Atlas post) which i have up and running with the newest V5 RC.  Is it possible to

1:  move the current setup (4.5) to the new system and then upgrade

2:  would i be better to upgrade the current box and then move it over to the new hardware

3:  the painful way which is to build a new array from scratch and x'fer the data.

 

Many thanks to anyone that can help.

 

Rick

I am replying because no one else has jumped in with a response.  In my opinion, the safest thing to do is to copy the data from your old system to your new system.  (Then keep the old system as a 'backup' for a month to six weeks until you are past the 'infant morality' point of your new hardware.)

 

Th most painful part of doing it this way is the actual copying of the data.  It does take a lot of time.  However, if the old system only has a 100mb/s NIC in it, you can considerably reduce the time by getting a Gb/s NIC card for it.  (If your network is not already Gb, you will also have to get a new Gb switch.  No--- you do not need a new router!) 

 

I did a conversion from FreeNAS to unRAID a little over a year ago and moved a bit over 2GB of data in the process.  It only took about a week and I only did it while I was sleeping.

 

Did you read about the upgrade path from 4.5 to rc16c?  You actually have to do it in two steps with an immediate upgrade to 4.7.  There is also a sticky thread on the upgrade from 4.7 to ver 5.0.  This is a link to it:

 

        http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=25556.0

 

While the upgrade is usually trouble free, there are a lot of gottcha's for the unwary. 

...I did a conversion from FreeNAS to unRAID a little over a year ago and moved a bit over 2GB of data in the process.  ...

You meant TB here not GB - correct?

...I did a conversion from FreeNAS to unRAID a little over a year ago and moved a bit over 2GB of data in the process.  ...

You meant TB here not GB - correct?

 

OF course, Bob, you are right!  Conceptually, I can not picture what a GB 'looks' like let alone what a TB is!!!      I still remember that the first hard drive I ever got was 10MB (back in the mid 80's) and I never came close to filling it up. Today, two pictures from my digital SLR camera would do it. 

Thanks for your reply

 

That was the one i was trying to avoid, the new array is to use some of the older drives.

 

Currently the nas stands at 5Tb (2Tb cache drive), the new one is starting off with a 3Tb cache drive.

 

If i wanted to avoid option 3 totaly im guessing that i can upgrade from 4.5 -> 4.7 -> 5?  I have no plugins at all.

 

 

3:  the painful way which is to build a new array from scratch and x'fer the data.

It's the most painful because it's slow, but it's the safest. If you have full backups of all your data elsewhere, then go for quick and dirty. If you don't have backups, you should, and migrating your data and drives from one build to another while simultaneously upgrading the software and going virtual is a recipe for disaster. It might go just fine, but you are adding so many layers of possible failure. How much is your data worth to you?

You can certainly go the upgrade route of the current server.  It can be done and with a bit of luck and careful attention to detail, it could be painless. 

 

If it were I, I would use approach #2-- upgrade the software on the present hardware.  (First having made sure that unRAID ver 5rc16c is running successfully on your new hardware!) 

 

I would also make a backup of your flash drive before I changed anything.  I would also make a screen print of every setup screen of the GUI that you can--- expecially the drive assignments and the serial numbers of all the drives.  Find, read and understand the upgrade instructions for each upgrade.  Prepare a written road map with step-by-step instructions.  Then and only then, start the process when you are not tired--- you need to be able to think clearly.  Proceed slowly.  Run the array for a couple of days after each upgrade to be sure that everything is still working.

 

If you have any problem (or if something isn't right or does not seem right), don't panic.    Stop! Take a deep breath.  Research the issue.  Ask questions.  My observation is that most people get into trouble when they do something simply because they feel they have to do something...

 

 

I have now moved over to the new hardware after some issues.

 

The upgrade from 4.5 to 4.7 went well and had no issues for the testing week.

 

The upgrade from 4.7 to 5 tho was problematic.  After upgrading the files as per the guide i still had a no access over the network to the unraid.  Further investigation pointed to the network card not being loaded.  Test booted the thumb drive on the new system and all was fine, until i moved the drives.  But thats for another post 

 

http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=28990.0