Change from Nas4Free to FreeNAS - possible (ZFS)?

[drnicolas]

I currently have a running NAS4Free with newest software build and a 3 HDD ZFS RAIDZ.

Is it possible to switch the whole installation to FreeNAS without losing the ZFS pools?

In other words: import the HDD-drives in a new FreeNAS installation without reformatting

 

[joeschmuck]

Yes it is and very easy at that. Simply follow the instructions to install FreeNAS, I'd do it first without your hard drives connected and ensure it all boots fine, you can do some minor configuration like setting up a static IP stuff. Reboot to ensure FreeNAS works. Power off, hook up your drives, power on. Then Auto Import your pool. If it doesn't find your pool then something is wrong and you should stop and search for help. You should ensure all your drives have been recognized and provide that data as well. If you have an issue please ask for help.

Most people have no issue migrating to FreeNAS from NAS4Free however one word of caution, DO NOT UPGRADE YOUR POOL if you have any thought you might roll back to NAS4Free. You do not need to upgrade your pool for FreeNAS to work, in fact you can leave it like this the entire time and there is no penalty to speed, throughput, or safety of your data. Upgrading gives you the capability to use some new features that most people are unaware of or will never consider using, like deduplication. If the ALERT is flashing, click it and see what it's saying. If it is only about upgrading your pool, place a checkmark in the box and close it, the alert will go away.

And as always, always have a backup of your data before doing something of this nature because sure as shit, something will happen to cause data loss when you least expect it. At least backup your important data.

Lastly, FreeNAS requires a minimum of 6GB RAM (my opinion) to run properly however 8GB RAM is the promoted minimum spec. If you have 4GB RAM, I do not recommend you take this plunge.

 

[cyberjock]

You *can* but we've had people that imported their pool, everything was fine until they rebooted. After the reboot the zpool was listed as CORRUPT and their data was lost. We've had a few people that had no problems for weeks, then suddenly it goes bad.

So my advice.. setup a new pool if you want to go to FreeNAS. No idea why it works like this. You'd expect it to work... but it fails for many people.

 

[joeschmuck]

I've never heard of that, just simply auto-importing the pool. I'd think someone was mucking around and destroyed their pool. Do you think that is due to the lack of swap space, as I recall NAS4Free doesn't allocate swap space on the hard drives the same as FreeNAS. I can't imagine it being anything else other than operator error. But you make a good point, if you can you should backup your data and then create a new pool and restore to it.

 

[cyberjock]

Not sure. I know FreeNAS has expectations about the partition design and deviating has proven disastrous for people. I don't know what NAS4Free does that may or may not work with FreeNAS. But we've had a few "examples" of what happens when you do it. So the conservative answer is to do backups and redo the pool. We've had people that had it corrupt suddenly one day after working fine for weeks/months. Nothing could be found wrong and they had all the appropriate hardware. It just decided it didn't want to "go" anymore.

 

[joeschmuck]

I'll bet it was low RAM and no swap space. NAS4Free [unless they have changed the way it works] runs form a separate hard drive and all the swap space it located there. I have no idea if that could be the problem but it's about all I can think of at this moment. I will heed your warning though.

 

[cyberjock]

I don't think so... one guy had 32GB of ECC RAM when his system went belly-up.

 

[joeschmuck]

The mysteries will never stop. I think I'm done for the day, family time. So far I've fixed the outside faucet that wouldn't shut off (what a pain with all the hardware stores closed) and set up a small kiddie pool with ice cold water (kids don't care). Something is cooking and it smells very good, yum!

 

[cyberjock]

Yum! I'm having dinner at a friend's house later myself.

Happy Easter joeschmuck and everyone else!