I bought a 24-bay chassis that comes with an AMD-based motherboard.  I have an existing Intel-based 5.0-beta14 Pro box from which I'd like to extract my 4-drive array and put it into the new server, transferring also the USB key with the array config information.

 

Is this possible without data loss?  Or would it be more sensible to copy the data to an external drive and format/repopulate the drives in their new home?

I think it should be fairly simple in your case.

 

take a screen print of the main page so you can see the drive ids and location.

 

run full parity validation on your old box.

when all is clear and nice, take  the array off-line.

back up your flash drive (just in case)

build your new server as needed.

try booting from the flash drive first with no drive installed just to make sure you can boot from the flash.(you can even build out a new flash on a spare usb drive , with basic setup first to try by simply make a copy of all key files from the old flash and running makebotable.bat)

 

plug in you drives and boot with all drives.

since you are on v5 it should pickup the drives properly, but make sure it did  by validating the array of your screen print.

start the array and do the parity check  again .

 

 

 

If you already have backups of all your data, go ahead and move everything over and see if it works. I'd add at least a 24-48 hour memtest on the new box before booting unraid, but other than that, vl1969 has a solid plan as far as I can see.

 

If, on the other hand, you don't have a full set of backups, I'd take this opportunity to build out the new server with a set of new 4TB drives, and keep the old drives intact as backup. You don't say what your current drive sizes are, but if you can fit all your data on 8TB of space, you could use the free version of unraid temporarily on the new server and keep the old server intact until all your data is copied and verified.

I wouldn't boot the key by itself -- it will "see" all the missing drives and I'm not sure just what that will do to y our configuration info.    Just move the entire array to the new box, and boot.  That should be all you have to do.

 

However -- BEFORE you do that, I'd do two things:

 

(1)  Run a correcting parity check and ensure there are no sync errors -- if anything is corrected, run it again ... you want a completely "clean" system before you start moving stuff.

 

(2)  Upgrade to v5.0.  You're running a very old version [5.0-beta14 Pro ] -- not even a release candidate.    There have been extensive changes/fixes since then.

 

... by the way, if you don't have backups, I absolutely agree with jonathanm's suggestion ==> just keep your old disks as backups, and copy everything to a completely new array of 4TB disks.  Then you'll start out with a good set of backups ... and will hopefully then maintain that situation as you go forward.

 

I wouldn't boot the key by itself -- it will "see" all the missing drives and I'm not sure just what that will do to y our configuration info.    Just move the entire array to the new box, and boot.  That should be all you have to do.

 

However -- BEFORE you do that, I'd do two things:

 

(1)  Run a correcting parity check and ensure there are no sync errors -- if anything is corrected, run it again ... you want a completely "clean" system before you start moving stuff.

 

(2)  Upgrade to v5.0.  You're running a very old version [5.0-beta14 Pro ] -- not even a release candidate.    There have been extensive changes/fixes since then.

 

yes, I did suggest the full parity run before doing anything,

but I would caution on updating to final, I have been trying to do an update on my box for the last 3 days

and can not make it run stable.

the box starts, I can get to the main page and all, it even recognize the drives in proper positions just fine. (upgrading from basic 5.0 beta 13)

I start the array, and parity checks starts automatically.

but after 5 min the whole setup just drops out of network. and I can not get it to do anything but reboot

 

if I put in the original flash drive in (beta 13) all is fine. as if nothing happened.

also I see lots of people having issues with this release, so I am cautious on upgrading just yet.

but YMMW.

 

 

just keep your old disks as backups, and copy everything to a completely new array of 4GB disks.  Then you'll start out with a good set of backups ... and will hopefully then maintain that situation as you go forward.

 

Thanks to everyone for the advice.  Gary, did you mean 4 TB disks?  3 TB seems to be more of a sweet spot price-wise, and I have 24 bays in this new chassis so physical space is not an issue.  My current array is 4 * 1TB, and that is enough to back up my three Mac laptops using Time Machine, plus a limited number of TV shows.  I am currently looking at Western Digital NAS-oriented 3 TB drives.

 

I also wanted to ask if anyone is backing up their UnRAID box to Amazon S3 Glacier or similar?  I am not totally clear on how much this would cost me, or if it is even possible.

Yes, clearly I meant TB    [i fixed the post]

 

As for drive costs ... yes, 3TB drives are slightly less /TB -- but only $5 or so.  Today's pricing on high-quality NAS units at Newegg are:

 

4TB WD Red $210/4 = $52.5/TB

4TB Seagate NAS $220/4 = $55/TB

3TB WD Red $135 = $45/TB

3TB Seagate NAS $147 = $49/TB

 

Even if you don't care about the top-quality units and buy the cheapest units they sell, the current least expensive 3TB drive is $120 = $40/TB, and the least-expensive 4TB drive they have today is $170 = $42.50/TB ... a difference of only $2.50/TB

 

I just don't think the extra drive; extra power; wasted slot; etc. is worth the very small cost savings.

 

Just a quick note to thank everyone for the support.  I ended up transplanting the drives into the new Supermicro chassis.  I got it to boot with the beta13 stick (which I took an image of before I moved it), but the web front end would not come up although I could get unmenu to work (starting it from a telnet session).

 

I upgraded the stick to 5.0rc16c, simply by replacing the two bz files in the root directory, and then I could get into the web interface.  I noted that all the drives were correctly identified although they ended up split on two SATA controllers (that is a fantastic feature!).  I started the array and held my breath... all the files came back and it is running like a champ.

 

At some point I will buy a set of 4 TB WD Red drives, but for now things are working great.  The biggest problem I have is that the fans in the new chassis are deafening, but that is a project for another day.

Glad all's working well.    Is this one of the TAMS units with Delta fans?    I've heard those -- they are indeed LOUD ["deafening" is a good description].

 

Read the threads on the TAMs server chassis for a few ideas on ways to replace the fans while not significantly compromising your airflow.    You don't want to "bake" the drives by using the wrong approach to noise reduction 

Yes, it is an AMD-based TAMS unit.  I see that all the fans are 80mm and look easy to replace.  They flow a LOT of air and I am a bit concerned that replacing them with low-noise fans will result in lower airflow as you say, but I figure if I can keep the drives a little over 30 degrees most of the time they should be fine.  I will be installing an HX850 power supply as well.

the only reasonable way to replace the fans without compromising air flow is to remove the whole back wall and replace it with bigger fans.

if you dumping the PSU as well just put 3 140 MM fans in place of the fan wall.

this will reduce the noise but keep the air flow.

3 x 140 mm fans joined with zip-ties  fit exactly side to side of the case with no need for the fan wall.

That is a great idea.  Should the 140mm fans be the PWM type?

if you mean that you could control speed for them, I am not sure.

mine are not.

 

and the idea is not mine either, some one posted this mode on AVS forum is I remember correctly.

Does that motherboard support PWM fans?  [i.e. 4-connector pins]

 

If so, or if you have a fan controller that does, then I'd use PWM fans.  Otherwise, it doesn't matter.  The key thing is (as you already know) to be sure you're monitoring the drive temps and don't reduce the airflow so low that the temps aren't well controlled.

 

The fans on my AMD motherboard were the 3 pin type.  I replaced the fan wall with three ziptied Arctic Cooling 140mm fans as suggested, and the 80mm fans as well.  It is much quieter at the expense of a drive temp rise from low to mid 30s.

A 3-5 degree rise in drive temps isn't an issue as long as they're still in the mid-30's.  Pay close attention to what the temps get to during a parity check => 40 or so is okay, but if they get above 45 you need to reconsider your airflow.

 

Electric: I have a fan wall with 3 140mm fans that don't make as much noise as the CPU fan.

 

I think that is the worst noise maker in my build. I have the HX850, but it did not change the noise level when upgraded from Nexus RX-6300.

 

But when I removed the CPU fan and booted, I could really hear the difference.

 

Just that I don't think it's very practical in summer time not to have a CPU fan.

But when I removed the CPU fan and booted, I could really hear the difference.

 

Just that I don't think it's very practical in summer time not to have a CPU fan.

 

I wouldn't think it's a good idea to boot without a CPU fan at ANY time of year 

[unless, of course, you install a passively cooled water-cooling system -- these can indeed by very quiet and can have very quiet pumps]

 

I was thinking something like NH-C14 to replace my current low-end Titan cooler.

 

It does not need that much rpm, when the case has a 250mm sidefan. That should take most of the cpu heat out when the cpu fan is directed to it.

I have reolaced my cpu hs with a pair of cool master t4. Now that is cooling :-)

 

Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk

 

 

Yes, the NH-C14 is a VERY nice cooler.  You could run that with the Ultra-Low-Noise adapter and get PLENTY of cooling for your system.