swap-disable still supported?

[baldnomad]

I noticed in the UnRAID 6 documentation a section explaining "swap-disable", which seems like what I need for my situation. But I couldn't find this section in the UnRAID 6.2 documentation.

 

Is swap-disable still supported? Does it work the same way as documented in the older docs?

 

My situation:

My array including parity is three 1.5 TB drives that are several years old. One data disk is showing disabled. I suspect it's dead (been making unusual noises for a couple of weeks, waiting for a SMART self-test to finish now). Assuming it requires replacement, I would like to take this opportunity to start upgrading the size of my drives. One reason is that to replace this drive with another 1.5 TB drive is now relatively expensive, compared with newer drives that are double or larger the capacity.

 

My understanding is that swap-disable will allow me to buy a larger drive, use it as the new parity, and use the existing parity as the "new" data disk. Somehow UnRAID recognizes this scenario, and rebuilds or copies the parity to the new parity disk, and then rebuilds the data on the "new" data disk (former parity).

 

it looks like it will "just work" but I wanted to be sure before I move forward.

I attached my diagnostics zip file in case it offers any clues. TIA for any help (or reassurances!)

vault-diagnostics-20161207-1822.zip

[trurl]

The procedure is still supported.

 

All of your drives have reallocated sectors. This is the worst:

Dec  6 18:37:24 Vault kernel: md: import disk1: (sdc) ST31500341AS_9VS1R32W size: 1465138552 

Serial Number:    9VS1R32W
  5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct   0x0033   047   047   036    Pre-fail  Always       -       2204

Is disk1 the drive you want to replace?

[baldnomad]

yes disk1 is the one flagging as failed.

[RobJ]

It's explained with more detail here:  The parity swap procedure

[Fireball3]

All of your drives have reallocated sectors.

 

Reallocated sectors are not a problem per se!

Just not to scare the OP.

[trurl]

All of your drives have reallocated sectors.

 

Reallocated sectors are not a problem per se!

Just not to scare the OP.

True. But the more you have the more likely you have impending problems with the disk. And increasing reallocations are also a bad sign.

 

But the other SMART attributes of all those disks are fine.

 

baldnomad

Do you have Notifications setup? Very important!

[baldnomad]

All of your drives have reallocated sectors.

 

Reallocated sectors are not a problem per se!

Just not to scare the OP.

True. But the more you have the more likely you have impending problems with the disk. And increasing reallocations are also a bad sign.

 

But the other SMART attributes of all those disks are fine.

 

baldnomad

Do you have Notifications setup? Very important!

 

Yes, I have notifications turned on, I think. At least I get notifications sometimes, so I assume they are set up correctly. Why are they important in this context, because of notifications about disk errors?

 

 

[trurl]

All of your drives have reallocated sectors.

 

Reallocated sectors are not a problem per se!

Just not to scare the OP.

True. But the more you have the more likely you have impending problems with the disk. And increasing reallocations are also a bad sign.

 

But the other SMART attributes of all those disks are fine.

 

baldnomad

Do you have Notifications setup? Very important!

 

Yes, I have notifications turned on, I think. At least I get notifications sometimes, so I assume they are set up correctly. Why are they important in this context, because of notifications about disk errors?

Because of notifications about SMART attributes.