I had a 1TB disk that I wanted to expand with a 2TB disk.  I had ran the preclear.sh script on the 2TB disk but it may have had an issue on the 2TB disk.  I tried to put the replacement disk in anyway (I know, probably a bad idea) and it started a data-rebuild.  The data rebuild says it will take 6 days and 4 minutes. It did say something like 44 days when I looked earlier.  I have a brand new 5TB I thought I would put in it's place instead.

 

My question is: Can I stop the current rebuild and then just put the old 1TB back in and let it rebuild on to that.  Then when that finishes, and my 5TB disk has been pre-cleared, just put it in place and let the 1TB be upgraded to a 5TB?

Anyone?

I can't see why you can't stop the rebuild and replace the previous 1TB drive. It shouldn't need to rebuild anything then but I would wait for advise from a more experienced forum user first. Although you know that if your replacing the 1TB data drive with the 5TB one that your parity needs to be 5TB also. remember the Parity drive must be as large or larger than your data drives.

You may have to rebuild first or if possible stop the array and replace the old 1Tb drive and then add the pre cleared 5TB drive as your parity. Check out the wiki, it may help you.

Thanks.  That is what I am thinking too but I want to be sure.  I already have a 5TB parity in there and another 5TB data disk.  I am just going to add this one in and replace some 1TB disks and maybe a 2TB while I am at it by copying the data over after I do the rebuild.

Anyone else?

That kind of 5tb drive?

That kind of 5tb drive?

 

What do you mean?

I think you meant "What kind of 5tb drive?".  Sorry I misunderstood.  Here is a screenshot of my current disks...

I think you meant "What kind of 5tb drive?".  Sorry I misunderstood.  Here is a screenshot of my current disks...

 

Yes - sorry I can't type.

 

Did you pull this drive from a Seagate external?

 

Read THIS post.

My question is: Can I stop the current rebuild and then just put the old 1TB back in and let it rebuild on to that.  Then when that finishes, and my 5TB disk has been pre-cleared, just put it in place and let the 1TB be upgraded to a 5TB?

No, not without a backup of your flash drive from before you assigned the 2TB in the slot. Once a drive slot has been assigned, you can only put the same or larger size in that slot without setting a new config, which would make it very difficult to rebuild your drive. My advice at this point would be to stop the rebuild, remove the 2TB physically, and wait for the 5TB to be ready to rebuild. If you really want to start the array without the drive in the slot, you can, and use it just like the drive was there, but you are running at risk until the 5TB is rebuilt and parity is checked. No more risk than you are in right now though. A second drive failure at this point will mean data loss.

I removed the faulty 2TB that I tried to rebuild with and I put the 5TB in there and clicked start. <fingers crossed>

I removed the faulty 2TB that I tried to rebuild with and I put the 5TB in there and clicked start. <fingers crossed>

Good luck! Remember that you aren't out of the woods until you get a clean parity check done after the rebuild. Make sure you do a non-correcting check so you can redo the rebuild if it doesn't check clean.

 

If you can afford it, buy another 5TB and have it preclearing in another machine. It's always a good idea to have a tested spare on hand the same size as your parity drive.

It's moving along fine.  I have 12 hours to go.

The rebuild finished and the 5TB came into the array just fine.  I looked the next morning and the disk was red balled! So I have copied all the data off the old disk and I have bought a 4TB to put in it's place.  So my next steps are to stop the array and power down, then put the 4TB in the slot and power up.  Next invalidate the configuration and rebuild parity with the initialize button.  Correct?

The rebuild finished and the 5TB came into the array just fine.  I looked the next morning and the disk was red balled! So I have copied all the data off the old disk and I have bought a 4TB to put in it's place.  So my next steps are to stop the array and power down, then put the 4TB in the slot and power up.  Next invalidate the configuration and rebuild parity with the initialize button.  Correct?

As long as you have the data you need from that slot backed up elsewhere, that sounds perfect. Remember to take a list of the drive assignments as they are now, so you can reenter them correctly after you do the new config. All slots are unassigned, and you have to be careful not to assign the wrong drive to the parity slot.

Sounds good.  I have the 5TB out of there now and I have the 4TB in it's place.  I am doing the preclear first.  After that finishes, I will then invalidate the array and set up a new config with the other disks in their original positions and then put the new 4TB in the 5TB's place.  Should work.