Switching USB Drive while in trial

[Rathji]

I recently started a trial of unraid (13 days remaining) and am pretty sure I want to purchase, but wanted to clarify some things about switching the USB drive and licensing before I go ahead with things.

 

Everything is working fine, but the server I am using is having problems with the physical distance the USB drive is sticking out of the machine, so it is getting occasionally hit while doing other work nearby. Obviously, I want to eliminate any possible problems with the USB drive getting physically damaged, so I have purchased a small form factor USB drive that hardly sticks out at all.

 

My questions:

 

1. Should I be transferring my Trial license to my new USB drive? If so, what is the process for doing this? Would this transfer would be counted towards my 1 per year limit.

2. Is there a suggested best practice for migrating to a new USB drive?

3. Is there a best practice to backup an unraid configuration, for use in the event of a USB drive failure, or is there enough data being stored on the storage array that you don't need to do any sort of backup outside of the array disks contents?

4. As far as licensing, if my current server has 8 drive bays, I obviously need a Plus license for up to 12 storage devices. If I migrate to a 12 bay server, and add a cache drive, is it safe to assume that I would need to upgrade to a Pro license for unlimited drives, to handle the 13th drive?

5. Do external USB drives count as storage devices? I have some data that essentially is just in cold storage that I would want to occasionally mount to add or remove files from. Should I account for these drives in  my licensing requirements, even if they would never be part of the storage array?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

[JonathanM]

38 minutes ago, Rathji said:

I want to eliminate any possible problems with the USB drive getting physically damaged, so I have purchased a small form factor USB drive that hardly sticks out at all.

That is probably not going to be the best way of dealing with the root issue of damage. Getting an adapter to put the USB stick inside the case is a much better solution. Small USB sticks can be less reliable as the heat has less area to dissipate, cooking the USB stick over time.

42 minutes ago, Rathji said:

1. Should I be transferring my Trial license to my new USB drive?

Trial licenses can't be transferred, only normal licenses.

 

44 minutes ago, Rathji said:

2. Is there a suggested best practice for migrating to a new USB drive?

With a regular license, you would prepare the new USB stick normally, then copy the config folder and overwrite the stock contents with your custom settings and license file. When the server comes up, it will guide you through the process of transferring the license to the new stick.

46 minutes ago, Rathji said:

3. Is there a best practice to backup an unraid configuration,

On the Main tab, under boot device, click on flash. That will bring up a page with a button to download the flash backup.

 

License limits apply to ALL mass storage devices minus the boot USB attached when the array is started. If you unplug the external devices that would put you over the limit, you can then start the array and plug them back in. If you want to leave them attached, you must have the license limits to match, whether they are actively assigned to the array or not.