feleven
Dabbler
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2014
- Messages
- 39
I've been running a FreeNAS-ZFS 24/7 home server for a couple years, adding/upgrading drives as required, which today consists of a pair of volumes: primary storage FN-RZ2 using RAIDZ2, and backup storage FN-BK as two mirrored drives. Pictures of my current HDD setup are attached.
All drives are WD-RED models. Backup is done nightly via rsync task in cron. This is primarily a Plex server, serving movies, music and photos to my home network. All of the media is separately backed up on an unpowered standalone USB HDD attached to my Mac desktop elsewhere on the network, so losing server data is undesirable mostly due to the nuisance of reconfiguring the Plex app and the time taken to reload the data files.
I'd make use of Snapshots instead of, or as well as, rsync, but I can't quite grasp how they work (separate question, I realize).
I'm at the point where I want to replace the primary 6 x 2TB HDDs with 4 x 4TB HDDs. While I'll get about the same useable space with the new setup, I'll benefit from approx 5 times the MTTDL with the fewer number of larger HDDs, according to a currently popular online calculator. Fewer drives also reduces heat dissipation in my drive chassis to an extent.
Problem 1: two of the 4TB HDDs mentioned above are currently being used in my mirrored backup, so I have some dancing to do to free them up for use as primary storage.
Problem 2: not entirely sure about my options (if any) to move the primary storage from the six 2TB to the four 4TB HDDs.
I have a pair of 3TB HDDs currently unused, so my tentative plan was to:
1) replace the two 4TB FN-BK HDDs with the two unused 3TB HDDs. My current backup uses just under 1.9TB, so this should work (for now). The long term plan is to replace them with 6TB HDDs.
Q: can I just "replace" each 4TB HDD with a 3TB HDD, as if replacing failed drives? The process will take a while, I know, but at least the system doesn't need to be shut down. If this isn't the most efficient/effective method, could someone give me a nudge in the right direction? I have a drive-cloner dock, so its also possible to simply clone the two 4TB to the two 3TB (one at a time) offline, although this plan makes me nervous (UUID issues? dunno).
2) with the two 4TB HDDs freed from backup service, I now have four x 4TB HDDs for primary storage. If I understand ZFS rules correctly, I can't decrease the HDD count in zpool FN-RZ2. Do I have this correct? I understand a zpool is made up of a number of vdev's, and that vdev's are made up of block devices, and in turn block devices can consist of HDDs in various configurations (mirror, RAIDZx).
Q: I think what I have to do is export the data, offline and remove all six 2TB drives, install the four 4TB drives, set them up as RAIDZ2, and then restore them from the backup drives ... is this correct? Is there a better/more efficient/more rational way to go about this?
I think I can dope this process out on my own by moving slowly and re-reading the manual as I go. But any workflow ideas offered would sure be appreciated. I'd rather not bugger things up, or take the scenic route to completion. So - any suggestions are welcome.
All drives are WD-RED models. Backup is done nightly via rsync task in cron. This is primarily a Plex server, serving movies, music and photos to my home network. All of the media is separately backed up on an unpowered standalone USB HDD attached to my Mac desktop elsewhere on the network, so losing server data is undesirable mostly due to the nuisance of reconfiguring the Plex app and the time taken to reload the data files.
I'd make use of Snapshots instead of, or as well as, rsync, but I can't quite grasp how they work (separate question, I realize).
I'm at the point where I want to replace the primary 6 x 2TB HDDs with 4 x 4TB HDDs. While I'll get about the same useable space with the new setup, I'll benefit from approx 5 times the MTTDL with the fewer number of larger HDDs, according to a currently popular online calculator. Fewer drives also reduces heat dissipation in my drive chassis to an extent.
Problem 1: two of the 4TB HDDs mentioned above are currently being used in my mirrored backup, so I have some dancing to do to free them up for use as primary storage.
Problem 2: not entirely sure about my options (if any) to move the primary storage from the six 2TB to the four 4TB HDDs.
I have a pair of 3TB HDDs currently unused, so my tentative plan was to:
1) replace the two 4TB FN-BK HDDs with the two unused 3TB HDDs. My current backup uses just under 1.9TB, so this should work (for now). The long term plan is to replace them with 6TB HDDs.
Q: can I just "replace" each 4TB HDD with a 3TB HDD, as if replacing failed drives? The process will take a while, I know, but at least the system doesn't need to be shut down. If this isn't the most efficient/effective method, could someone give me a nudge in the right direction? I have a drive-cloner dock, so its also possible to simply clone the two 4TB to the two 3TB (one at a time) offline, although this plan makes me nervous (UUID issues? dunno).
2) with the two 4TB HDDs freed from backup service, I now have four x 4TB HDDs for primary storage. If I understand ZFS rules correctly, I can't decrease the HDD count in zpool FN-RZ2. Do I have this correct? I understand a zpool is made up of a number of vdev's, and that vdev's are made up of block devices, and in turn block devices can consist of HDDs in various configurations (mirror, RAIDZx).
Q: I think what I have to do is export the data, offline and remove all six 2TB drives, install the four 4TB drives, set them up as RAIDZ2, and then restore them from the backup drives ... is this correct? Is there a better/more efficient/more rational way to go about this?
I think I can dope this process out on my own by moving slowly and re-reading the manual as I go. But any workflow ideas offered would sure be appreciated. I'd rather not bugger things up, or take the scenic route to completion. So - any suggestions are welcome.