Upgrading Parity Drive 2TB -> 4TB


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Hello,

 

Just asking for some confirmation to whether I've understood this correctly before proceeding. Currently got a 2TB drive as my Parity, looking to upgrade it to 4TB so I can later down the line increase the size of my data disks.

 

  1. Turn server off
  2. Disconnect old parity drive
  3. Connect new parity drive
  4. Turn server on
  5. Select new parity drive in parity slot that shows the missing drive
  6. Guessing when starting the array it'll say / do a rebuild?

 

Hope I haven't missed anything, but just asking for confirmation to whether I've understood correctly + any tips or steps other people recommend before & after.

 

Thanks in advance 🙂

 

image.thumb.png.bbc318a11ffb93f46c9880128dfbcda4.png

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Yep, those are the basic steps. I would also recommend saving a screen shot of your working config before you make any changes and probably backing up your flash drive (always a good idea) before doing anything, just in case. Have you precleared the new drive? This isn't needed from a formatting standpoint, since it will be the parity drive, but it's a good stress test on a new drive. Also, you are right about #6, when you restart things, unraid will need to rebuild parity onto the new drive.

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@buxton & @jonathanm thanks for replying!

 

On 10/7/2019 at 2:09 PM, buxton said:

I would also recommend saving a screen shot of your working config before you make any changes

Would you mind expanding on what is the "working config"? Web UI main tab? Thanks

On 10/7/2019 at 2:09 PM, buxton said:

Have you precleared the new drive?

Currently in the process of that! 🙂

  1. Pre-Clear / Stress Test New Parity Drive (Optional)
  2. Screenshot Current Config
  3. Parity Check
  4. Check Smart Reports
  5. Backup Flash Drive
  6. Turn Server Off
  7. Disconnect Old Parity Drive
  8. Connect New Parity Drive (if not already connected for pre-clear)
  9. Turn Server On
  10. Select New Parity Drive in Parity Slot that Shows the Missing Drive
  11. Start the Array & Parity-Sync and / or Data-Rebuild
  12. Parity Check
  13. Check Smart Reports

Thanks again for the help!

Edited by Jakosaur
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1 minute ago, buxton said:

Yes, just a screen shot of the main tab in the web UI before you make any changes. I used "working config" to mean a known good state of everything, sorry for the confusion. Also, the parity check before and after as mentioned by @jonathanm is critical.

Thanks! Added the suggestions from you two into the steps, in my previous comment. Appreciate the help from both of you! 🙂

Edited by Jakosaur
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30 minutes ago, jonathanm said:

Also, check the smart reports on all drives before and after.

I found this online whilst looking up how to replace the parity drive. Are these the only things to look at on the Smart Report?

Quote

You are basically looking for Attributes #5, 196, 197, 198, and 199 to be all zeros. 

 

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2 minutes ago, Jakosaur said:

Are these the only things to look at on the Smart Report?

Because manufactures can't be bothered to be consistent with how they use and format SMART, reading the reports is a cross between analysis and divination.

If you come across something that looks off to you, attach the report and ask for help interpreting it.

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  • 1 month later...
5 hours ago, Jakosaur said:

Are they similar to the steps above for a Parity Drive upgrade?

Pretty much identical. Just substitute Data Drive for Parity Drive in every applicable step. Also step 12 should be a non-correcting parity check when replacing a data drive.

 

If you are absolutely confident in the health of all your current drives and you already have the serial numbers recorded, you could skip steps 2,3,4,5, but it doesn't hurt to be sure everything is still healthy.

 

IF you currently have 2 parity drives you could theoretically do both upgrades simultaneously, but that adds another level of risk, and I suspect from the tone of this thread that you are more than happy to do the extra legwork and take the time to be as safe as you possibly can.

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On 11/17/2019 at 10:36 PM, jonathanm said:

Pretty much identical. Just substitute Data Drive for Parity Drive in every applicable step. Also step 12 should be a non-correcting parity check when replacing a data drive.

 

If you are absolutely confident in the health of all your current drives and you already have the serial numbers recorded, you could skip steps 2,3,4,5, but it doesn't hurt to be sure everything is still healthy.

 

IF you currently have 2 parity drives you could theoretically do both upgrades simultaneously, but that adds another level of risk, and I suspect from the tone of this thread that you are more than happy to do the extra legwork and take the time to be as safe as you possibly can.

Thanks for that information!

  1. Pre-Clear / Stress Test New Data Drive (Optional)
  2. Screenshot Current Config
  3. Parity Check with `Write corrections to parity` enabled
  4. Check Smart Reports
  5. Backup Flash Drive
  6. Turn Server Off
  7. Disconnect Old Data Drive
  8. Connect New Data Drive (if not already connected for pre-clear)
  9. Turn Server On
  10. Select New Data Drive in Data Slot that Shows the Missing Drive
  11. Start the Array with Parity-Sync and / or Data-Rebuild
  12. Parity Check without `Write corrections to parity` enabled
  13. Check Smart Reports

^ Hopefully that looks alright!

Currently only have 1 parity drive, but as you say I'm happy to do the extra work/time to be safe. 🙂

Edited by Jakosaur
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