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The Graveyard - Products No Longer Supported => D-Link Storage => DNS-320 => Topic started by: Bruegge on March 07, 2012, 09:15:30 AM

Title: Disk Upgrade - replace both disks and rebuild RAID1
Post by: Bruegge on March 07, 2012, 09:15:30 AM
Hey,
Let’s say I set this thing up with 2× 750GB disks in RAID 1, and I use it for a few years. Now I need more space, and I would like to upgrade my system to 2x 2TB disks (Western Digital Caviar Green 2 TB Desktop Hard Drive WD20EARX). The actual firmware version 2.02 should support 2TB disks.

I tried the following:
1. Replacing one 750GB disk with the 1st 2TB disk
2. Format the new disk as RAID 1
3. I've used the Auto-Rebuild-Function which should rebuild the RAID
Up to this point everything work great - the sync finished successful.

In a next step I tried the same thing with the second disk:
4. Replacing the 2nd 750GB disk with the 2nd 2TB disk
and so on. But after I replaced the 2nd disk the system did not show the 2nd 2TB disk e.g. in the System Status. That means I also couldn't format the 2nd disk and sync it with the 1st 2TB disk. Another strange thing I recognized is, that the system capacity still shows 750GB for all the two disks both have 2TB. Then I tried to switch the slots of the two new disks. After that the 2nd disk which was not recognized by the system earlier showed up but the other one not. Hopefully there are no issues with this slot. Today I will try to set up the system with the old disks agian to see what happens. In a second step I would try to sync the 2nd new disk based on an old disk similar to how I did it with the first disk. Let's see what's happening..

Any other ideas / thoughts / tips?
Thanks, Thomas
Title: Re: Disk Upgrade - replace both disks and rebuild RAID1
Post by: JavaLawyer on March 07, 2012, 09:33:43 AM
What you're describing is called RAID scaling, a functionality the DNS-320 does not support. Once the RAID-1 array is created, the Volume size is fixed and cannot be increased even if both HDDs are incrementally replaced with larger capacity HDDs.

Unfortunately, you will need to create a new RAID-1 array with your new HDDs and migrate the data from your existing RAID-1 array.
Title: Re: Disk Upgrade - replace both disks and rebuild RAID1
Post by: Bruegge on March 07, 2012, 09:53:12 AM
Hm, that doesn't sound good for me..  :(

So, I have to format both new disks and create a new RAID-1 array. But how can I migrate the data once I have created the new RAID-1 array? How can I sync or copy the data over to the new disks?
Thanks
Title: Re: Disk Upgrade - replace both disks and rebuild RAID1
Post by: JavaLawyer on March 07, 2012, 10:49:13 AM
The cleanest method is to use one of the software products posted on a sticky at the head of this board to mount the RAID-1 array in a PC and copy the data over: http://forums.dlink.com/index.php?topic=41400.0
Title: Re: Disk Upgrade - replace both disks and rebuild RAID1
Post by: Bruegge on March 07, 2012, 11:04:59 AM
I don't even have PC in which I could mount the RAID-1 array. So I guess the only way is:
1. put the old 750GB disks back into the DNS-320
2. copy the data on a PC or an external drive
3. put the new 2TB disks into the DNS-320
4. create a new RAID-1 array with the new disks
5. copy the data from the PC/external drive back on the new RAID-1 array

OR: buying a new NAS Server for the new disks..  >:(
Title: Re: Disk Upgrade - replace both disks and rebuild RAID1
Post by: JavaLawyer on March 07, 2012, 11:13:12 AM
I don't want to be the bearer of bad news, but unfortunately those are your options.  :-\
Title: Re: Disk Upgrade - replace both disks and rebuild RAID1
Post by: Bruegge on March 07, 2012, 11:17:04 AM
Anyhow, thanks for your help! It's not your fault - at least I know about my options now..
Title: Re: Disk Upgrade - replace both disks and rebuild RAID1
Post by: JavaLawyer on March 07, 2012, 11:21:46 AM
Good luck and post back when you resolve everything.  :)
Title: Re: Disk Upgrade - replace both disks and rebuild RAID1
Post by: ivan on March 07, 2012, 01:08:55 PM
I just did what you are contemplating doing for a client.  The tools needed are a SATA to USB adapter and a PC that can read the linux file system, be it a linux based PC or a windows one with an IFS driver.

First I removed the original RAID 1 drives and attached one to the adapter and via it to the PC to check that the data that was on the disk could be read.

Next I installed the larger drives in the NAS and set them up as a RAID 1 array.

Lastly I copied the data from the old disk to the new RAID 1 array on the NAS.  This was the longest part of the operation.

Result one happy client.

You should be able to do the same, just take care.
Title: Re: Disk Upgrade - replace both disks and rebuild RAID1
Post by: Bruegge on March 07, 2012, 01:22:35 PM
Oh, sounds great. So you are saying I could use an external hard disk case? Anybody has a hint what IFS driver to use for Windows 7 to read the data?
Title: Re: Disk Upgrade - replace both disks and rebuild RAID1
Post by: shabuboy on March 07, 2012, 03:52:51 PM
Hmmm... I will be doing this pretty soon, I was under the impression there was a way to upgrade the HD capacity without the need for an external copy.

1: Take out one of the current Raid 1 disks
2: Add new disk and config as standard
3: Copy files from one volume to the other
4: Remove old Raid 1 disk
5: Add new disk as Raid 1

Will that work or not?

Title: Re: Disk Upgrade - replace both disks and rebuild RAID1
Post by: Bruegge on March 07, 2012, 07:22:34 PM
I put in my old disks again, but now the system does not show any disk anymore.  ???
Any ideas?
Title: Re: Disk Upgrade - replace both disks and rebuild RAID1
Post by: JavaLawyer on March 08, 2012, 05:39:46 AM
I put in my old disks again, but now the system does not show any disk anymore.  ???
Any ideas?

Are you sure you put the disks in the correct order? (i.e. are they reversed)
Title: Re: Disk Upgrade - replace both disks and rebuild RAID1
Post by: JavaLawyer on March 08, 2012, 05:41:53 AM
Hmmm... I will be doing this pretty soon, I was under the impression there was a way to upgrade the HD capacity without the need for an external copy.

1: Take out one of the current Raid 1 disks
2: Add new disk and config as standard
3: Copy files from one volume to the other
4: Remove old Raid 1 disk
5: Add new disk as Raid 1

Will that work or not?

Unknown... If you attempt this procedure, you should make sure you have a separate physical backup of your data. I realize this caveat defeats the intent of leaving one HDD in your ShareCenter, but it's better to be safe than sorry.

If you try this procedure, please post your results.
Title: Re: Disk Upgrade - replace both disks and rebuild RAID1
Post by: Bruegge on March 08, 2012, 08:44:05 AM
Are you sure you put the disks in the correct order? (i.e. are they reversed)

The problem was that one disk seems to be not really connected. Now I have access to my data again and the system shows the 750GB capacity again.
But, the system still does not show the 2nd disk. I'm really afraid that something is wrong with the 2nd slot, since it is always the right slot which does not show up. I'm pretty sure the disks are in the correct order.
Do you think a reset of the firmware could help?
Title: Re: Disk Upgrade - replace both disks and rebuild RAID1
Post by: JavaLawyer on March 08, 2012, 09:05:46 AM
The problem was that one disk seems to be not really connected. Now I have access to my data again and the system shows the 750GB capacity again.
But, the system still does not show the 2nd disk. I'm really afraid that something is wrong with the 2nd slot, since it is always the right slot which does not show up. I'm pretty sure the disks are in the correct order.
Do you think a reset of the firmware could help?

Resetting the FW should do any harm, but I don't believe it will provide any benefit here either. If you reset the unit to the factory default settings, be sure to save your configuration settings file to your desktop for easy restoration of your user settings.
Title: Re: Disk Upgrade - replace both disks and rebuild RAID1
Post by: ivan on March 08, 2012, 09:42:09 AM
Oh, sounds great. So you are saying I could use an external hard disk case? Anybody has a hint what IFS driver to use for Windows 7 to read the data?
As long as the external case will accept SATA drives then you should have no problems.  As to an IFS driver for win7, have a look in the sticky thread mentioned by JavaLawyer earlier - I didn't have that problem as the client uses linux.
Title: Re: Disk Upgrade - replace both disks and rebuild RAID1
Post by: Bruegge on March 08, 2012, 11:59:43 AM
As long as the external case will accept SATA drives then you should have no problems.  As to an IFS driver for win7, have a look in the sticky thread mentioned by JavaLawyer earlier - I didn't have that problem as the client uses linux.

I tried the Ext2IFS driver but I got an error when I tried to install it - something like 'not compatible with this Windows version'.. The other two are not for free. If there is no other way I would probably first try to copy it manually via the network.
Title: Re: Disk Upgrade - replace both disks and rebuild RAID1
Post by: shabuboy on March 08, 2012, 01:29:48 PM
JavaLawyer brings a good point, make sure you have a backup while playing with the disks upgrade. I do have one.

Title: Re: Disk Upgrade - replace both disks and rebuild RAID1
Post by: Bruegge on March 09, 2012, 11:05:24 AM
By now I have stored all my data on a separate device, reseted all system settings and installed both formated new disks to set up the system. But it still does show only one disk, the left one. It seems like there is a problem with the right slot, since the system still shows the left disk once I changed the disks from right to left..
Let's test the d'link support team..  :(
Title: Re: Disk Upgrade - replace both disks and rebuild RAID1
Post by: palimpsest on October 25, 2012, 01:03:36 PM
Hmmm... I will be doing this pretty soon, I was under the impression there was a way to upgrade the HD capacity without the need for an external copy.

1: Take out one of the current Raid 1 disks
2: Add new disk and config as standard
3: Copy files from one volume to the other
4: Remove old Raid 1 disk
5: Add new disk as Raid 1

Will that work or not?
Resurrecting this old thread...  Can anyone confirm whether this technique works?
Title: Re: Disk Upgrade - replace both disks and rebuild RAID1
Post by: ivan on October 26, 2012, 12:34:06 PM
Sorry I can't confirm that it would work but assuming you have a validated backup of your data from your old RAID array you have nothing to loose by trying it.

If you do try let us know your results.
Title: Re: Disk Upgrade - replace both disks and rebuild RAID1
Post by: vvanchev on February 26, 2017, 07:25:36 AM
Well it's been a while, but I'll tell you the right way ;)
At least the half of it :)
Hope it will be helpful to someone :)

I did full backup to external HDD via usb.

The path is:

Attach USB HDD, then:
Applications -> Local Backups -> USB backups ->
Choose enable -> NAS to USB -> source Volume 1 -> destination ext. HDD -> save settings -> then press usb button in front of the 320L (this starts the process)
With me the backup was completed in about 30 hours (500gb)

Then change the disks with bigger and do the same but choose option USB to NAS.
At this point I received "backup failed: error 8", but it should work...
At least I have full backup to the external HDD with one click.
Now I'm copying the data back manually...
Title: Re: Disk Upgrade - replace both disks and rebuild RAID1
Post by: FurryNutz on February 26, 2017, 05:51:49 PM
Thanks for posting. Hope it helps any future users.

I suggest to get a quicker back up from DNS or xfer of data back to the DNS, would be to xfer the data to a networked PC with a Gb connection for maximum xfer rate speeds. USB will always be a bottle neck and USB performances can't match Gb LAN connection speeds.

Good Luck.
Title: Re: Disk Upgrade - replace both disks and rebuild RAID1
Post by: Foz on July 28, 2018, 02:16:39 PM
I did the copying process detailed above but managed to work a way how you needed after.

Leave your old drive in the NAS and add the new drive.

Format the drive as standard to get the full drive formatted.

Copy the data from the old drive to the new one.
 I did this by using the local back up feature so I didn't need to leave a PC running for it to complete. I struggled getting it back up the from the root so had to schedule each folder separately, that might have just been me making an error somewhere but I can't be sure.

Once all the data is copied over remove the old drive and add the 2nd new drive.

Format the new drive as RAID 1 and enable the auto rebuild, saves you have to rebuild manually after.

Title: Re: Disk Upgrade - replace both disks and rebuild RAID1
Post by: FurryNutz on July 29, 2018, 08:43:19 AM
Thanks for posting. Hope it helps any future users.


I did the copying process detailed above but managed to work a way how you needed after.

Leave your old drive in the NAS and add the new drive.

Format the drive as standard to get the full drive formatted.

Copy the data from the old drive to the new one.
 I did this by using the local back up feature so I didn't need to leave a PC running for it to complete. I struggled getting it back up the from the root so had to schedule each folder separately, that might have just been me making an error somewhere but I can't be sure.

Once all the data is copied over remove the old drive and add the 2nd new drive.

Format the new drive as RAID 1 and enable the auto rebuild, saves you have to rebuild manually after.