G'day guys,

 

Let me start out with I have no idea how to competently run this server, a buddy of mine set it up many years which has been running beautifully ever since but I think it's about time I learn to manage this starting with an software upgrade.

Since my 1gb USB drive is running such an old version of 4.5 I'm hesitant to just go ahead and download the latest version and plug it in, could someone please advice the correct steps to ensure a successful upgrade?

Next up on the list would be to test and preclear the 2TB HDD I've had sitting in there unused for about 4 years now haha, never wanted to ask for help and wasn't game to just do it but as I said ... It's about damn time I do. All my HDDs in there are 1TB so I'll have to do something to make this new/old one the parity drive but to add to my mix one the HDDs have some 4200+ errors that'll have to go too.

 

I'm hoping someone on here could steer me in the right direction to get this bad boy going flawlessly again and fully upgraded.

 

Cheers guys!!! 

Do you have backups of all your critical data on this array? If not, my suggestion would be to go buy one or two 8TB externals, since they can be had for less than $200. Back up everything before you start changing things. A machine that has run that long untouched is liable to get a little cranky when you start messing with it.

 

Can you post a list of all the hardware currently in your server? On a rig that old, it may make more sense to do some major hardware changes while you are upgrading the software.