Adding a new larger disk


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Hey folks,

 

Bit confused here.. At the moment I have 3 disks in my array (3 x 3TD WD Red)

 

I just bought a 4TB disk by accident with the intention of adding a new data disk - So I assume I will need to make this my parity disk now??

 

What is the procedure I follow here? I saw this procedure but this is for replacing an existing drive so I'm a bit confused..

 

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

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The link in your OP doesn't work, but basically your existing parity is an existing drive and will be rebuilt when you replace it with another just like any other disk. The GUI should guide you to some extent.

 

If you scroll down from where you were on that screenshot, it should tell you that starting the array will rebuild.

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The link in your OP doesn't work, but basically your existing parity is an existing drive and will be rebuilt when you replace it with another just like any other disk. The GUI should guide you to some extent.

 

If you scroll down from where you were on that screenshot, it should tell you that starting the array will rebuild.

 

Oops: https://lime-technology.com/wiki/index.php/The_parity_swap_procedure

 

So it looks like I need to do this in a two-step process?

 

1. Unassign current parity drive

2. Assign new drive to parity

3. Start the array with a parity-sync

 

Then once this is done I assume:

1. Stop the array

2. Add old parity drive to data slot

3. Start the array

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If adding a drive to a new slot, it will have to be clear so parity will remain valid. If you aren't running 6.2 unRAID will take your array offline while it clears the disk, or you can preclear it before adding it.

 

Sorry should have specified I am on 6.1.3

 

Here is what I tried to do first:

 

1. Unassign parity drive

2. Assign new 4TB drive to parity slot

3. Assign old 3TB parity as data disk

 

This would not allow me to proceed..

 

So I think I will need to do it this way:

1. Unassign 3TB parity

2. Assign new 4TB parity

3. Start the array and ensure parity sync completes

4. Once complete, assign old 3TB parity as new disk

5. Wait for array to finish syncing

6. Done?

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Preclear now done on the new drive. Took about two days.

 

If I go ahead and set the new drive as the new parity device, will the array be offline while the parity is calculated?

The array will be online while parity is being calculated, although until the parity build finishes the data will be unprotected.

 

I need access to the shares for the evening so I'll just wait until tomorrow if need be  ???

Read access is normally fine unless you have bottom end hardware. It can be a good idea to avoid any significant amount of write access as that can severely degrade the parity build.
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Howdy danger781, I wrote most of The parity swap procedure wiki page, to explain it and make it easier to do, but obviously I didn't succeed!  So I'm here to find out what I need to do to fix it.

 

I saw this procedure but this is for replacing an existing drive so I'm a bit confused..

It *used* to be just for replacing a failed drive, but is often used now for adding a larger drive, as you wanted.  I thought I made that clear in the second section, so I'll need to see how it can be even clearer.  Perhaps a list of various uses for the procedure ...

 

Do I just work from step 7 onwards?

 

1. Install new drive (Done)

2. Power on (Done)

3. Unassign the parity drive

4. Assign new drive to parity (This is where I'm getting the warning message)

 

As far as I can tell, the steps should have worked for you, in the order I gave.  Your steps 1 - 4 are my steps 7 - 10, and step 10 (your step 4) has a note about getting an error message, that it's normal.  *That* I can improve, by being more specific about getting a message that says "Wrong drive" (as in your screen pic), that it's expected.  And I can make the steps about power on and off optional, because some may have already installed the new drive.

 

I know you have more important things to do than help me, but if you have a chance to take another look at the Parity Swap wiki page, let me know what you think would have helped you better, what it should have said.  You'll be helping others!

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  • 1 month later...

Hey Rob!

 

I'm just seeing this now so apologies for not responding. Honestly if the procedure just said that it could also be used for my scenario I would have just followed it, but I got a little bit concerned that I was following the incorrect guide. Replacing a failed drive seemed very different to what I wanted to do, or maybe I was just overthinking it!

 

It looks like you have updated it now and it clearly covers what I was asking for - Good job on that very clear  :D

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