Hello this is my first post! Anyways i currently have a 4tb and 3tb HD's already loaded fully with Media files. I'm going to build an Unraid server and i was wondering if I have to buys new HD's to move all those files to the server from the cpu and then plug those hard drives into the server? I would have to buy 3 more HD's just to move the data. I'm not clear on how this Workss..  Thanks in advance..

when you add these already full drive(s) to the array, unRaid is going to want to format them so make plans on how to copy/transfer the data one at  a time to empty drives. You could do it with 1 empty drive. Copy one full drive to the empty one, install the now empty one and repeat until done.

Thanks! Formatting them is what I assumed it would do. I don't have to have a paraity drive to copy to the server at first correct? I'm trying to keep the starting cost down.

I will defer to the experts on running without parity. Personally I wouldn't do it without parity drive.

You can run without parity, but you are unprotected.  I wouldn't operate that way for the cost - what's the point of using unRAID if you aren't getting some level of protection for your data?  On the other hand, it can be useful to run initially without parity while you are copying data onto a new server - the writes will be much faster.  Add the parity drive when you have copied everything over, but recognize that you are unprotected during that time...

 

Keep in mind that your parity drive needs to be equal to or greater in size than your largest data drive.

 

By the way - in theory you can add disks to an unRAID array with data on them... but only if they are unRAID formatted with one of the supported file systems.

The reason I asked about the parity dive was just for the copying the files over to the server. I have read you can do that without a parity drive  and it's faster correct? Then when I free up the HD I can move it over to the server to be the parity drive. I wasn't going to run without the parity. The plan was to buy another 4tb drive and move the data from the cpu 4tb to the server. Then move the CPU 4tb drive over to be the parity drive. Then I think I can move some files around to get the 3tb drive freed up to move to the server. Is this possible to do it this way?

Copying without parity will be faster, and it is reasonably safe if you have another copy of any critical data. Since you are talking about reusing drives with data on them I have to ask if you have backups of that data. unRAID is not a backup, parity or not.

The media I speak of is my Blu ray collection and the drives are new. I loaded the drives for 3 weeks with about 300 Blu Rays and then decided I need to build a server. I do have backups or the original disks for all the movies. It just takes SO much time to rip them I didn't want to do it again.