Removing a drive and not replacing it

[tuxflux]

Hi everyone.

 

I'm pretty sure I know how to do this, but I'm a bit on the paranoid side and I'd be really happy if someone could confirm and/or suggest a better solution if there is one.

 

The attached image is my current array. Here's what I'd like to do.

 

1. Remove Disk 5 from the array

2. Move disk 6, to the disk 5 slot

 

What I think is the best methodology is:

 

1. Stop the array - Tools - New Configuration

2. Assign parity and drives 1-4 in the same slots

3 Assign the current disk 6 to disk 5

4. Start the array, and let the parity rebuild

5. Shut down the server

6. Physically remove disk 5 from my box

7. Reboot

 

Disk 5 is currently empty and I've excluded it from all of my shares. It's a Seagata Barracuda drive, so it's not optimized for NAS usage and I'd like to use in my desktop rather than having it be unused in my array and being a potential point of failure. If there is a way to do this without rebuilding the parity (seeing as there is no actual change in the data going on here), I would be really happy to see a solution to that! Thanks

Edited March 9, 2020 by tuxflux

[JorgeB]

That's basically it, you can remove disk5 before or after the parity sync.

[itimpi]

In step 1 it is simpler if you use the option to keep the current assignments when using New Config as that means you will not accidentally make any error with the parity disk or disks 1-4 assignments.   You can then make the desired changes for disks 5 and 6 before starting the array to commit the changes.

[tuxflux]

35 minutes ago, itimpi said:

In step 1 it is simpler if you use the option to keep the current assignments when using New Config as that means you will not accidentally make any error with the parity disk or disks 1-4 assignments.   You can then make the desired changes for disks 5 and 6 before starting the array to commit the changes.

If I keep the current configuration and use the same assignments for 1-4, that makes sense. But it will trigger a parity sync once I make disk 6 disk 5, regardless if I keep my current config, correct?

[JorgeB]

2 hours ago, tuxflux said:

But it will trigger a parity sync once I make disk 6 disk 5, regardless if I keep my current config, correct?

Yes, parity sync is always required for this, unless you clear the disk before removing.

[tuxflux]

So, I've done it now and suprisingly, no parity check was triggered. I kept the config for the cache and parity drive, rearranged the data drives in their designated array locations, and started the array. I checked that parity is already valid, and it started without any hiccups. I'm gonna do a parity check overnight manually just to be on the safe side, but guess I'm good to go. Thanks for the input everyone!

[JorgeB]

20 minutes ago, tuxflux said:

So, I've done it now and suprisingly, no parity check was triggered.

That can only happen after a new config if you check "parity is already valid" before starting the array.

[tuxflux]

16 minutes ago, johnnie.black said:

That can only happen after a new config if you check "parity is already valid" before starting the array.

I did. So I guess it's actually not then? The overnight sync should correct correct the any errors in the parity, right?

 

Or should I do a new config again, reassign the disks and NOT check the parity is valid box

Edited March 9, 2020 by tuxflux

[JorgeB]

If there are a lot of sync errors, and there will likely be, a parity sync is much faster than a correcting check, so I would recommend re-doing the new config.