Migrating 14TB from StableBit DrivePool to unRaid

[Guest]

Hello everyone,

 

I've just recently gotten a new array up and running with 8 new 8TB drives. I need to copy over the existing data from 2 8TB drives which have been used under Windows with StableBit DrivePool. I then want to clear the drives and add them to the array. The drives are NTFS formatted and unfortunately I had enabled the balancer to operate in the DrivePool settings. This means that many directories have been split and their contents may exist on separate drives. I've done a lot of reading on these forums and know that often times Unassigned Devices is recommended; however, I don't see a painless way I can use this method due to the split directories. Unless there were a way to merge/unionize the filetree of the DrivePool drives, I would need to transfer the data over from within the Windows environment, over the network or better via direct link. Would I then be better off pushing the data to the array with an app such as TeraCopy with checksums enabled, or pulling the data using an rsync approach? I looked into the rsync approach but it seemed like a lot of configuring to get rsync running on a Windows machine. I'm also wondering if there are any issues with either of these approaches when migrating from NTFS -> Btrfs. I would really appreciate any tips the community may be able to provide. Thanks!

 

tl;dr:

1) Can I merge two filetrees using Unassigned Devices and Krusader / Midnight Commander? And if not...

2) TeraCopy vs. rsync?

3) Potential conflicts migrating NTFS -> Btrfs?

[JonathanM]

Given the totality of the situation, I think the best method is the path of least resistance, that being using the network to transfer the data using windows native tools.

 

In your situation, assuming the ONLY data we are talking about is the existing windows stuff, that is, nothing currently on the array, I would, in this order,

 

1. Temporarily unassign the parity drive(s). This enables the highest write speed possible, and since the data is still on the windows box, the risk of a drive loss losing data is extremely low.

2. Checksum the entire drive contents in windows. Several different tools available to do that.

3. Set up shares on unraid to reflect what you need.

4. Copy (not move) data across the network to unraid. I wouldn't bother with third party apps, just use built in windows copy.

5. Checksum the data on unraid. Compare checksums to ensure an accurate copy.

6. Move windows drives into unraid array. DO NOT FORMAT THEM, just assign them as data drives, and reassign the parity drive(s) to build parity.

7. Once parity is built successfully and checked, then you can format the old windows drives. Until they are formatted, they will retain the NTFS data but won't be readable in the array. If something goes wrong they can be recovered using testdisk.

 

This procedure is admittedly slow, but very safe. How much time is safety worth to you? Do you have backups of this data elsewhere? unraid is not a substitute for backups, and it seems you have plenty of space. Maybe it would be better to leave the windows drives intact and store them for backup.

[Guest]

8 hours ago, jonathanm said:

Given the totality of the situation, I think the best method is the path of least resistance, that being using the network to transfer the data using windows native tools.

 

In your situation, assuming the ONLY data we are talking about is the existing windows stuff, that is, nothing currently on the array, I would, in this order,

 

1. Temporarily unassign the parity drive(s). This enables the highest write speed possible, and since the data is still on the windows box, the risk of a drive loss losing data is extremely low.

2. Checksum the entire drive contents in windows. Several different tools available to do that.

3. Set up shares on unraid to reflect what you need.

4. Copy (not move) data across the network to unraid. I wouldn't bother with third party apps, just use built in windows copy.

5. Checksum the data on unraid. Compare checksums to ensure an accurate copy.

6. Move windows drives into unraid array. DO NOT FORMAT THEM, just assign them as data drives, and reassign the parity drive(s) to build parity.

7. Once parity is built successfully and checked, then you can format the old windows drives. Until they are formatted, they will retain the NTFS data but won't be readable in the array. If something goes wrong they can be recovered using testdisk.

 

This procedure is admittedly slow, but very safe. How much time is safety worth to you? Do you have backups of this data elsewhere? unraid is not a substitute for backups, and it seems you have plenty of space. Maybe it would be better to leave the windows drives intact and store them for backup.

Appreciate the detailed reply. Time is not pressing so I will likely go ahead and do the transfer over the network followed by a checksum comparison. The added time would be trivial compared to if I were to manually merge directories using Unassigned Devices.