Can you add drives with data already on them to the Array or do they need to be empty?

 

Thanks. 

No, you can't.

They don't need to be empty, but will be formatted before unRAID incorporates them into the array.

 

The procedure is to set up an array with some available space, and then copy existing content

to the array. Then add the drive that you just copied to the array and copy the next.

Be careful not to add the wrong drive (before you copied it's content to the array).

The general answer is No, you can't add drives with data to an existing parity-protected array.

 

However, IF you have drives in a supported format (XFS, Reiser, etc.) AND if you're creating your initial array and haven't yet assigned a parity drive; then Yes, you can add those drives to your array.   But once you assign a parity drive, any new drives will have to be cleared (zeroed) before they can be added.

 

8 minutes ago, garycase said:

However, IF you have drives in a supported format (XFS, Reiser, etc.) AND if you're creating your initial array and haven't yet assigned a parity drive; then Yes, you can add those drives to your array

 

Careful here, you can add them only if the partition uses the same starting sector as recognized by unRAID as a valid partiton, or it will be re-partitioned and appear unmountable.