Help Moving From Test Setup To Working Version With New Hard Drives

[JonnyAlpha]

Hi;

I have been playing with FreeNAS for a little while using 3 old HDDs of varying makes and sizes. I have now acquired the actual Hard Drives for my working NAS and need some advice on making the swap.
It took me ages to get the existing shares working on my existing setup with my mixed OS network but there is nothing on the existing test setup that I haven't got elsewhere so the maintaining the existing data is not a problem.

Should I:

1. Start from scratch using 8.3.0 (New OS / New Hard Drives).

2. Delete the existing HDDs and swap them for the new ones - if so how do I do this?

Thanks

 

[paleoN]

Why not upgrade the disks individually or is it a different pool configuration?

 

[JonnyAlpha]

I am a little new to FreeNAS so bear with me.

My test NAS consists of 3 x HDDs (1 x IDE and 2 x SATA) of varying sizes (1 x 1TB and poss 2 x 250GB??). Looking at the GUI they are all members of a STRIPE so I am guessing when I formatted them in FreeNAS I opted for a ZFS Pool Stripe what RAID is this equivalent to?.
In my working setup I think I want a RAID 5 setup hence why I purcahsed 3 Disks.

I have three Volumes: Test, Test/Jail, Test/Software. The idea being Test would hold all data accessed by the PCs / Macs on the Network and Jail and Software where created fr iTunes and Transmission Plugins etc. I will probably created more volumes and restrict access because on my current setup Test/Jail and Test/Software are visible to all.


My NAS will contain all of my Films / Video / Music / Pictures and act as a Time Machine Backup for my 2 x Macs and probably be used to periodically backup my 1 x PC cbut thats not so important.

Thanks

 

[ben]

That's a RAID 0. You'll have to make a new pool.

 

[JonnyAlpha]

That's a RAID 0. You'll have to make a new pool.

So I guess that means removing the existing three disks and starting from scratch with my new drives and a new (fresh) install of FreeNAS.

 

[ben]

Yeah, you might as well. You can backup and restore the config database from the test instance, which will at least let you keep the services settings (though you'll need to re-set-up datasets, shares, and the like).

 

[JaimieV]

You *can* use the current install of FreeNAS if it is already set up the way you wish. Just be sure to map the new RAID set in to the same paths as you had before, and create the same folders on the disks that you already had shared. Otherwise just rebuild from scratch if that'll be easier/less likely to go wrong.

And do get the RAID type correct - as above, you can't change it after without clearing the whole thing!

 

[JonnyAlpha]

Thanks for all the help on this thread, one last question.

Once a system is up and running can you transfer the HDDs and the FreeNAS OS on a USB stick to a different PC (I.E. Different mobo, CPU, Memory etc). The reason I ask is I am in the process of upgrading my existing PC and rebuilding my FreeNAS setup. I want to replace the hardware in the FreeNAS with the hardware from my PC. The reason for this is that the mobo in my existing FreeNAS setup only has 2 x SATA header connectors and I now have 3 x SATA HDDs. The mobo in my existing PC which is being replaced also has 4 x SATA headers.

 

[JaimieV]

Yes, that is expected to work fine. You might need to do the autoimport thing again, if the SATA hardware is different enough between computers. You might also have to set up the network card again, likewise.

Remember you can add SATA ports to the old machine using a cheap internal card, and it's not necessarily a sensible plan to upgrade a NAS to a higher-power machine - lots of wasted watts going on your electric bill for no benefit. On the other hand, modern machines can be lower power than older ones. Give it a thought, anyway.

And say hi to the Gronk from me!

 

[JonnyAlpha]

And say hi to the Gronk from me!

Didn't get this at first, did a Google and found this http://www.internetslang.com/GRONK-meaning-definition.asp But then I realized you were picking up on my User Name, I remember Wulf Sternhammer but didn't recal Gronk!! http://wargamesfoundry.com/fantasy_ranges/single_packs/2000ad/any/johnny_alpha_wulf_and_gronk_2000ad021/Great comic (Still got an Annual somewhere)!!

Happy Days

 

[JaimieV]

Wildly OT now, but 2000AD just recently added Internet subs via its own iOS app (with freebie samples). If you happen to have an iPad, worth checking it out! There's no Strontium Dog at the moment mind.