Replace existing cache drive with an SSD drive

[jbear]

Did a search and came up with nothing, what is the best way to accomplish this ?  Want to replace existing cache drive (WD RED) with an SSD cache drive.  I have docker related information on the current cache drive (Appdata etc.).  I also have a VM, Windows 7.

 

I assume I need to stop all dockers and VM's, then copy ALL docker and VM related data to disk array.  Then ?

 

Any info is appreciated.

 

Thanks.

 

 

[gtroyp]

I'm making one two assumptions here, 1. that the SSD is as big or bigger than the spinner you are replacing, and 2. that you can mount the SSD to your system without unplugging anything else.

 

If that's true you could:

[*]Stop all dockers and VM's

[*]Mount the SSD as an unassigned drive (using this plugin)

[*]Copy everything from /mnt/cache to /mnt/newdrive (and maintain file structure)

[*]Stop the array

[*]Select SSD as cache drive while stopped

[*]Start array, all works as normal

 

If anyone sees anything I missed, I think that this is what I did to replace a smaller SSD with a bigger one.

[jbear]

SSD is much smaller, current WD Red cache drive is 4TB.  I'm obviously using nowhere near that much space, the SSD drive will likely be 500GB, which will still be plenty of space for my vm and docker appdata etc.

 

 

I'm making one two assumptions here, 1. that the SSD is as big or bigger than the spinner you are replacing, and 2. that you can mount the SSD to your system without unplugging anything else.

 

If that's true you could:

[*]Stop all dockers and VM's

[*]Mount the SSD as an unassigned drive (using this plugin)

[*]Copy everything from /mnt/cache to /mnt/newdrive (and maintain file structure)

[*]Stop the array

[*]Select SSD as cache drive while stopped

[*]Start array, all works as normal

 

If anyone sees anything I missed, I think that this is what I did to replace a smaller SSD with a bigger one.

[jbear]

LimeTech ?  Is there an official procedure to replace cache drive ?

 

Did a search and came up with nothing, what is the best way to accomplish this ?  Want to replace existing cache drive (WD RED) with an SSD cache drive.  I have docker related information on the current cache drive (Appdata etc.).  I also have a VM, Windows 7.

 

I assume I need to stop all dockers and VM's, then copy ALL docker and VM related data to disk array.  Then ?

 

Any info is appreciated.

 

Thanks.

[gtroyp]

Jbear,

 

How much is stored on the Red?

 

The cache drive should be holding a limited amount of static data (and by that I mean items that actually live there) and the rest of the space should be moving off the cache and onto the array once a day or so (depending on how you have your mover set up).

 

Replacing the cache drive isn't like replacing the other drives in the array—it's not parity protected—so you can copy everything off of it to the array and then copy what you want to the new drive and then redirect everything that you don't move back to the cache to it's new home, if anything.

 

If nothing else, this reply will bump you back on to the front page...

 

 

 

[ltoolio]

Just replying to the thread for future Google searches:

 

Cache Drive Replacement Guide found here:

 

https://lime-technology.com/wiki/index.php/Replace_A_Cache_Drive