What would be the most time efficient way to transfer nas hdd (raid) to new enclosure

[Hero_X]

Hey gurus,

So I have a QNAP 2 bay nas, with two HHDs in Raid 1. I am upgrading to a 4 bay nas, and I wanted to transfer this raided set up to my new nas.

Question is: is there an efficient / quick way of doing the transfer? I know the brute force way would be to back up the current nas data, put the drives into new nas and format, and then return the data on the drives.

BUT, I'm wondering if there is an easier /quicker/ more efficient way of doing this.

Plz share your ides.

(p.s. going from qnap to readynas/netgear)

[taemo]

are you planning on re-using the same HDD on the new NAS?
not sure if QNAP and ReadyNAS share the same RAID chip.

I would just grab one of the HDD and connect it to a PC.
Then make a copy of the NAS to that HDD.
Then build a new RAID on the new NAS and copy all data from PC.

[colsankey]

Lots of variables as far as what the new set up will look like. Most array initializations wipe the drive data and start fresh. I would just get new drives, setup your new NAS and copy from old to new.

[ZenOps]

Yup, overnight copy on gigabit should be fine and least headaches. The second you try to physically open up a box is usually where things start going wrong.

[revelations]

network should be fine - assuming gigabit connection

[Xtrema]

Since you are switching brands, copy is your best bet.

Are you building with same size drives in ReadyNAS? Or are you buying bigger ones? Are you reusing your drive? What's the expansion option like on the ReadyNAS?

There are a lot of variables on your decision. If it was me, I would buy 4 4TB and build a RAID 5 and copy data over and call it a day.

Make sure your old NAS, new NAS and the machine doing the copying are all on 1Gbps wired network.

[ZenOps]

If not gigabit, make sure you enable jumbo packets.

[Hero_X]

Hey everyone,

thanks for all your inputs.

So to answer some of the quesionts

1) Yes I will be re-using the 2x 4tb drives from the old Nas

2) In the 4-bay, I will be putting the same 2x 4tb drives, in a raid set up. My intention is to get 2 additional drives, and have those additional drives as a different volume, also in a raid 1 set up. Would this work? to have 2 volumes (2 drives each) in a raid 1 set up?

3) My current Nas and desktop are all on same network, hardwired connection.

So far it seems the best way would be to copy current nas data, and when I put hte drives in the new nas, to have them be re-initialized.

:nut::nut::nut:

[LilDrunkenSmurf]

You want to run 2 Raid 1 setups in a 4 bay nas? You're essentially "wasting" 2 drives that way. A Raid 5 array would be much better use of space IMO, as you get parity and you get 3/4 of usable space rather than 1/2.

1) Buy 4x4TB drives
2) create Raid 5 array
3) copy data over
4) ???
5) profit

[Hero_X]

You want to run 2 Raid 1 setups in a 4 bay nas? You're essentially "wasting" 2 drives that way. A Raid 5 array would be much better use of space IMO, as you get parity and you get 3/4 of usable space rather than 1/2.

1) Buy 4x4TB drives
2) create Raid 5 array
3) copy data over
4) ???
5) profit

thanks for replying,

quick question: is RAID 5 safe in terms of data protection?

While it would be a really good idea, I just want to make sure I don't get fcked if one of the drives fails.

[LilDrunkenSmurf]

thanks for replying,

quick question: is RAID 5 safe in terms of data protection?

While it would be a really good idea, I just want to make sure I don't get fcked if one of the drives fails.

Raid 5 essentially will take the data from 3 drives, spread it out over 4, so if one fails, you can replace it, and it'll rebuild the array with no data loss. But raid 5 will only work with a minimum of 3 drives.

You'll only lose the data if you lose 2+ drives at once.

[Xtrema]

thanks for replying,

quick question: is RAID 5 safe in terms of data protection?

While it would be a really good idea, I just want to make sure I don't get fcked if one of the drives fails.

1 RAID 5 is much safer than 2 RAID 1.

But RAID5 must start with 3 drives so you will start with 3 and copy data over, add the last drive from old NAS and expand it.

Also RAID 5 with 4 TB would yield 12TB. 2 RAID 1 would only give you 8TB.

Rebuild time of RAID5 is also faster in the event of failure. RAID 1 it's 1:1 where RAID 5 would be 3:1.

If ReadyNAS support some sort of hybrid RAID like Synology, you should start with that. That way, you can dedicate 1 parity drive, start with 2 drives in the new array and when data is transferred, move the other 2 drives in. Since you have set only 1 partiy, it's basically same usable space as RAID 5 but you can buy 1 less disk to start.

[taemo]

thanks for replying,

quick question: is RAID 5 safe in terms of data protection?

While it would be a really good idea, I just want to make sure I don't get fcked if one of the drives fails.


I've been running RAID5 on 4x2TB for over 7 years now, had 1 HDD failure every 12-18 months but never lost any data

[ipeefreely]

Use Robocopy to transfer the files. :thumbsup:

I'd use Raid 6 if you can for large drives (3TB+)... one other drive can fail while your rebuilding the array and kill the whole thing.

Large drives take a very long time to rebuild as well.

Remember raid is not a backup! ;)

[Hero_X]

Thank you gents.

Seems I will have to try Robo copy, or just go brute force.

One more question: Raid 6, requires 2 drives right? So isn't it pretty much the same thing as 2x Raid 1? Or is it still better to go in Raid 6 mode with all 4 disks?

[ipeefreely]

Thank you gents.

Seems I will have to try Robo copy, or just go brute force.

One more question: Raid 6, requires 2 drives right? So isn't it pretty much the same thing as 2x Raid 1? Or is it still better to go in Raid 6 mode with all 4 disks?

RAID 6 needs 4 drives minimum.

raid-calculator.com/ (http://www.raid-calculator.com/)

[Hero_X]

Thank you again for your response.

Ok so would RAID 10 also be a good option for getting redundancy + storage?

Granted it doesn't give me as much storage as raid 5.

[colsankey]

Unless you need to split the volumes for some reason into 2 separate drives, 10 seems like a needless complication. I would just use the 4 drives in raid 5.

[Hero_X]

Unless you need to split the volumes for some reason into 2 separate drives, 10 seems like a needless complication. I would just use the 4 drives in raid 5.

So I was checking out some info on raid 5, and read that if there is any drive un-readable error, especially for large drives, it could fck up the whole re-building of the raid.

so with this into consideration, would RAID 10 be better off? or does it cause more issues than provide relief?

[colsankey]

That's only a problem if 2 drives fail. And if 2 drives fail you could very well have the same problem with your raid 10 array and lose everything. Nothings perfect, but you can mitigate the issue by having the shop (ill assume mem ex) pull the drives from diffrent lots.

[ipeefreely]

So I was checking out some info on raid 5, and read that if there is any drive un-readable error, especially for large drives, it could fck up the whole re-building of the raid.

That's why I recommended RAID 6, also this is where your backup comes in... ;)