Sorry, I know this has probably been asked 1000 times and is probably in a WIKI somewhere, but I just can't find the answer.

 

Recently I had a MB crash in one unregistered Unraid box, and a Hard Drive fail in another (also unregistered)... and experienced no data loss. This proved to me the value of this software, and that it is well worth the money. I am now going to combine all the drives from the 2 towers into 1 "REGISTERED" unraid server (Already have the registered flash device).

 

I have enough space on Tower1 to fit ALL the data, so I figure I will copy everything from Tower2 to Tower1, boot Tower1 with new flash device, and then add the Tower2 drives to Tower1 and let UNRAID allocate the space into the raid. In order to boot with the new "Registered" device, what files do I need to copy over so that the Shares stay intact?

 

Is there a better way for me to accomplish this?

 

 

Thanks.

 

Basically, the config/shares folder defines your user shares.  It would be the only thing you really need to copy.

OK, so I just need to copy the Shares folder to the new Flash Device, and then set the Hard Drives in the "Devices" tab in the correct order? That's it?

 

Almost sounds too easy, and I'd hate to lose 1.5 Tb of Movies and TV Programs.

OK, so I just need to copy the Shares folder to the new Flash Device, and then set the Hard Drives in the "Devices" tab in the correct order? That's it?

 

Almost sounds too easy, and I'd hate to lose 1.5 Tb of Movies and TV Programs.

That's it.

 

If using the new 4.5.4 version of unRAID, you'll probably need to use the new

initconfig

command to store a new configuration of disks.  On the older releases, it was the "Restore" button that saved a new configuration.

 

Whatever you do, don't press "Format," and

If the description on the screen says it will clear the newly assigned drives when you "Start" the array, don't press  "Start" until AFTER you either use the "initconfig" command or press the "Restore" button.  (or it will clear your existing drives, deleting all traces of your data.)

 

Joe L.

OK, so I have the original 3 drives setup with the Registered flash device, and my data is intact. Now when I go to add an additional drive I receive:

 

"Start will record the new disk information and bring the expanded array on-line. All new disks which have not been factory-erased will be cleared first; and, the array will be available after the clear completes. This process takes time, but the array remains protected at all times. Caution: any data on the new disk(s) will be erased! If you want to preserve the data on the new disk(s), reset the array configuration and rebuild parity instead."

 

Based on your last post, selecting the "I'm sure" box and pressing "Start" will wipe out my data.... I am using version 4.5.4 and do not see a button for "initconfig" so I am guessing it is something done at the command prompt on the Tower.. any instructions on how to use that command?

 

Thanks Again.

OK, so I found the answer in another thread... just run the command "initconfig" on the Tower and then Start the array.

 

What about that 4th disk stating " Unformatted"? Do I need to format it, or will it just come online after the parity check?

Once you start the array, if there are any unformatted drives, there will be a "Format" button presented on the web-management page.

 

You may press it at any time.  when you do, the unformatted drive(s) will be formatted.  Typically, this takes less than a minute.  Once the format is completed the drive will automatically be added to the array.

 

Joe L.

Thanks yet again for the extremely fast response.

 

I just wanted to make sure that I didn't press Format expecting it to format only the new drive, and have it format the Raid.

 

Thanks for holding my hand through this!

Thanks yet again for the extremely fast response.

 

I just wanted to make sure that I didn't press Format expecting it to format only the new drive, and have it format the Raid.

 

Thanks for holding my hand through this!

Just make ABSOLUTELY sure that only the new drive shows as "unformatted"  If you are running any unRAID version prior to 4.5.4 this is especially important as there was a major bug in 4.5.3 that caused all the drives to show as unformatted when first starting the array.  If running 4.5.3, or earlier, upgrade to 4.5.4 to save yourself from hair-loss. (You'll be pulling out your own hair as you realize all your drives indicated they were un-formatted, and that you asked that all your drives be formatted when you only intended one to be formatted)

 

Joe L.

 

Just make ABSOLUTELY sure that only the new drive shows as "unformatted"   If you are running any unRAID version prior to 4.5.4 this is especially important as there was a major bug in 4.5.3 that caused all the drives to show as unformatted when first starting the array.   If running 4.5.3, or earlier, upgrade to 4.5.4 to save yourself from hair-loss. (You'll be pulling out your own hair as you realize all your drives indicated they were un-formatted, and that you asked that all your drives be formatted when you only intended one to be formatted)

 

Joe L.

 

 

I ran into this when I rebooted one of my towers a little while back.... scared the crap out of me! This is also why I wanted to double check before I pressed format.

 

So I have my tower up and running without issues... Thanks again!

 

One final question... since I am now one a registered copy, I may at some point want to put in a cache drive. Do you still have to go through the same dance, even though a cache drive is not technically part of the array?

 

It will show initially as un-formatted UNLESS it already has a reiserfs on it on the first partition.  It will not be cleared of existing contents if it has a reiserfs.  It will be re-formatted if does not when you press the "Format" button. 

 

You can assign and un-assign the cache drive at any time.  unless you really need the speed, with the recent improvements in write speed to the array, the cache drive is largely unnecessary.  (It was needed when the top "write" speed was 9-12Mb/s.  today, many users are reporting speeds of 40Mb/s directly to the parity protected array.  That is fast enough to keep up with most applications writing to the array without needing a cache drive)