n00b-ish user seeking procedural advice

[tigerdog]

Hi,

I currently run FreeNAS 0.7.2 with two 1G drives in a GEOM RAID 1 configuration. I want to do the following:

- shut down 0.7.2
- physically disconnect the two 1TB drives (to preserve data)
- Create a new NAS4Free 9.1 embedded server using the old mobo/mem/CPU/PS but with a new USB key and two new 3TB drives.
- copy the data from one of the old drives to the new system.

Questions:
What is the best way to set up RAID 1 with 9.1, continue to use GEOM/UFS or move to ZFS? What are the pros and cons of each?
After the new system is built, can I temporarily connect one of the old drives? Will it be recognized and/or automounted?
Once mounted, can I simply use the file explorer/manager to copy the old files to the new RAID 1 volume?

Many thanks in advance!
Doug

[al562]

Hi Doug,

Welcome to the NAS4Free forum. Below is information you may find helpful.

Please read and follow the Forum Rules & Guidelines and the FAQs.
By doing so you will:

• Understand what information you should provide when you ask a question or report a problem/bug. By providing all information upfront you will get faster and better answers; that's what you want right?
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• Help us understand your problem and allow us to provide an accurate answer/solution without asking additional questions.
• Help the community by keeping the forum clean, focused and professional.
• Remember to use WebGUI Tab> Help|Report Generator when creating new topics/threads.
• If you have not, then please read the latest Setup & User Guide.

What you are proposing to do makes sense and should be simple if you prepare properly. You will be building a new server, configuring all services from scratch, then attaching one of your old drives to restore your data. You cannot restore the old config file to the new server so make sure you are prepared to set-up your services again.
The only information I have about your setup is:

I currently run FreeNAS 0.7.2 with two 1G drives in a GEOM RAID 1 configuration.

If any of this information is incorrect my instructions will be worthless and you are doomed, that's why we recommend using the Report Generator to start a new topic.
I recommend the following:

1. Make sure your hardware properly supports your shiny, new 3Tb drives because you don't even want to start this process and then find out they don't work right. There's no point in doing this if your controller will only report them as 2Tb. If you are not sure about this don't go to step #2 until you have attached a single 3Tb drive to the system, removed your current system drive/config storage device, booted from a LiveCD and added only the 3Tb drive, then formatted it UFS/GPT and verified it is 3Tb, well at least 2.7 something or other. Now that you are sure they work, go to step #2.
2. Backup your current configuration file.
3. Look at your SoftRAID1 in WebGUI Tab> Disks|Software RAID|RAID1|Information.
   1. Make sure the array is COMPLETE, not DEGRADED.
   2. Print this page out, it will help if you have trouble later.
4. Go to WebGUI Tab> Disks|Mount Point|Edit, make sure the filesystem listed for your SoftRAID1 mount point is "UFS". If it is not UFS stop and tell me what it is. Continue with the next step only if it is UFS!
5. Go to WebGUI Tab> Disks|Mount Point|Tools, unmount the filesystem.
6. Go to WebGUI Tab> Disks|Mount Point|Fsck, FSCK the filesystem.
7. Go To WebGUI Tab> Advanced|Execute command and manually FSCK, execute:

   Code: Select all

   fsck_ufs -p /dev/mirror/YourDriveYourPartition

   You should know what "YourDriveYourPartition" is from the previous steps.
   The results should look like this:

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   $ fsck_ufs -p /dev/mirror/r1p1
   /dev/mirror/r1p1: FILE SYSTEM CLEAN; SKIPPING CHECKS
   /dev/mirror/r1p1: clean, 506234 free (34 frags, 63275 blocks, 0.0% fragmentation)

   If you do not see "FILE SYSTEM CLEAN; SKIPPING CHECKS" stop! Post the results so we can determine if there is a problem with your filesystem. If the file system is clean then you may proceed.
8. Shut the server down.
9. Remove any hardware you are going to remove. Save your current USB Key. Put one of your old SoftRAID1 drives into an anti-static bag, then into a sturdy box and don't touch it again until after all your data is copied to the new SoftRAID1. Put the other one into an anti-static bag and keep it handy, we'll use it later to restore your data. Put in the new hardware.
10. Boot the server from your NAS4free 9.1 installation media and install Embedded to your new USB Key.
11. Remove installation media and reboot the server. Check to make sure everything looks OK.
12. Configure basic networking, add your 3Tb drives and create new SoftRAID1, then configure all services as needed.
13. Verify everything is working to your satisfaction. If it is then we can now proceed to restore your data. This is the part where most people destroy their data. You only have 2 tries at this, make me proud and get it done properly the first time, or at lest try not to erase your old SoftRAID1 drive because I will be very unhappy if you have to go get the other one our of its box!
14. Backup your configuration file!
15. Shutdown the server.
16. Attach one of your old SoftRAID1 drives to the next available controller port.
17. Add this drive in WebGUI Tab> Disks|Management. Make sure you specify it is Pre-Formatted (UFS/GPT & Soft Updates) - NOT Software RAID!
18. Go to WebGUI Tab> Disks|Mount Point|Management, you should already have a mount point for your 3Tb array. Create a new mount point using the old SoftRAID drive (this should look exactly like the original mount point under 0.7.2, except you probably want to use a different name, like temp, or olddata, you get the idea, right). Your configuration is simple, this should be a walk in the park.
19. Verify your old data is accessible.
20. Now that you have access to your old data and place to copy it to, it's time to transfer it. The easiest and fastest way is a direct disk to disk copy. You can use the cp command, or local rsync, it's up to you. You will read the cp man page. I will give you a basic example using cp.

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    cp -a /mnt/temp /mnt/YourShinyNewMountPoint

    you should know what to substitute for YourShinyNewMountPoint.
21. Depending on how much data you have this could take some time. Wait for it, watch the drive lights blink.
22. I don't know how you were using your server. Since you have configured all your services from scratch, remember that ownership and permissions for files may not be the same anymore. You may have to adjust these to ensure all user have proper access to their data.
23. Once it is done verify all your data has been copied to the 3Tb array. If it is not, stop and let me know what happened. If it is, then proceed to the next step.
24. Delete the temporary mount point you created for your old drive.
25. Delete your old drive from WebGUI Tab> Disks|Management.
26. Shutdown the server and remove the old drive. Reboot.
27. Make sure everything is working to your satisfaction, verify your old data is accessible.
28. If everything looks good proceed.
29. Backup your configuration file!
30. Finally make a complete backup of all your data for disaster recovery purposes.
31. Do whatever you want with the old drive you copied the data from.
32. Get the box with the other drive in it. Don't take it out of the box, don't look at it, drop it or get it wet. If you mishandle this drive I will personally make sure weasels invade your house and chew off all your fingers! Take it and place it in a safe deposit box at your bank.
33. Use your server for 90 days minimum, verify everything works to your satisfaction. If it does, then make a complete backup of your data. Backup your configuration file.
34. Wait 90 more days, if everything is still working well, go to the bank, get your other drive out of there and do anything you want with it.

Wait you had some questions:

What is the best way to set up RAID 1 with 9.1?

Same as you did in 0.7.2.

After the new system is built, can I temporarily connect one of the old drives?

Yes, see procedure I have painstakingly written above.

Will it be recognized and/or automounted?

With this question you are assuming something that is unnecessary and dangerous. If it was your goal to preserve your original SoftRAID1 and transfer it intact after the hardware upgrade then the procedure I have written is not what you want. It is what you should do! Because it provides the highest chance of succeeding without putting your data at risk of loss. For someone who self identifies as a

n00b-ish user seeking procedural advice

this is the best way because most people usually make an obvious/dumb mistake and wind up destroying their data when they attempt a complete transfer. They panic when they add the drives incorrectly or in the unlikely event the system does not properly recognize their drives, start messing around with commands they are not familiar with thinking they will just fix it and wind up with a mess impossible to repair through this forum. You will be better off if you wait and make a backup after everything is running properly, then get your old drives add them to the system and start using them again.

Once mounted, can I simply use the file explorer/manager to copy the old files to the new RAID 1 volume?

Quixplorer is not intended for bulk file transfers, it is intended for small, simple file management tasks. I recommend using the method form my procedure above or local rsync, who knows, if you really like a GUI, you might prefer local rsync to cp. Look at it, see if you want to try it, remember that it will not prevent you from "copying" the blank new array to the drive containing your old data. If you do it wrong it will be very fast since all it has to do is erase your stuff. If you use and understand cp it is less likely you will make a mistake it think.

Ready? Set? Go!

Let us know if you have any further questions or problems.

Good luck,
Al

[tigerdog]

Hi Al!

First, my apologies for not finding/using the Help/Report Generator. As requested:

FreeNAS 0.7.2 (revision 8191) i386-embedded
AAMMII OEMRSDTA Intel(R) Celeron(R) CPU 430 @ 1.80GHz 1016MiB RAM

port=2 interface=0 Intel ICH7 UDMA100 controller Intel 82801GB/R (ICH7) USB
2.0 controller UHCI (generic) USB controller RTL8201L 10/100 media
interface

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Subject:
Attachment to NAS4Free update procedure request

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Description:
as requested by Al

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Code: Select all

none - preemptive info prior to upgrade.

Second, WOW! My sincere thanks for the incredibly helpful and detailed response. This is far beyond my expectations and will undoubtedly make the procedure a snap compared to my own personal muddling. I will undertake this project later this month if my schedule allows, so I may not provide immediate feedback but I will update the thread to let you know how it all goes together.

Regards,
Doug

[al562]

Hi Doug,

No apologies necessary . We give that welcome to anyone with less than 10 posts, otherwise it's like pulling teeth to get accurate system info and very difficult to answer questions, thanks.

By all means post here again if you get stuck or find a problem and definitely let us know if all goes well, the idea is to have the write up available for the next person as well, so all feedback is welcome.

All the best,
Al

[tigerdog]

Amazing how time just flies by. I'm finally getting ready to buy the bits and upgrade the server but have one more question: when using RAID 1 mirroring, do the two drives have to be physically identical (same brand/model/physical geometry) or just same capacity? Both Hitachi and WD make 3TB drives at the identical price point at my local Frys. the Hitachi is a 7200RPM unit, WD is their "red" series which seems to have some kind of variable speed and firmware optimization for home server use (to reduce temperature, etc.)

Can I use one of each or must both drives be completely the same?

[al562]

Hi Tigerdog,

For both RAID and ZFS my recommendation always is that you match the drives since there are subtle differences from one manufacturer to the next (as you've already noticed). Matching them makes for easier maintenance, troubleshooting and consistent performance. For RAID1 the most important thing is that they have the same capacity, if one is bigger than the other you are wasting space and money. If you decide to get exactly the same drives, try to get them from different suppliers, that way you have a chance of getting different lots so hopefully they won't all have the same defects and die at the same time.
In your particular case, mixing a Hitachi and a WD Red, I would not do it unless the data/performance was not so important. Remember that writes have to occur simultaneously, if the drives have different spin-up characteristics/speeds you may see performance issues. If the worst occurs one will be ready before the other and if the system has to wait long enough, it will offline the laggard. In this scenario you will be finding a degraded array every so often, for no apparent reason since all drives will be good. Why make your life difficult?

REgards,
Al

[tigerdog]

Thanks, Al. Sage advice, especially clever is the bit about different suppliers leading to different lots.

[al562]

You're welcome, let us know how everything turns out.

[tigerdog]

The problem with FreeNAS /NAS4Free is, it just works. I never did get around to upgrading, instead finding enough junk to get me the space I wanted. Now, one of the drives is starting to act odd (went offline, no reason and didn't come back until I restarted the machine.) So new drives are waiting at local Frys and I'll start in on this today, as soon as the original array brings itself back into alignment.

[tigerdog]

HELP! Now that I'm into this, I've successfully created the new USB with NAS4Free, added my new drives and formatted the partition. What I cannot do is mount the old drive. The hardware is recognized, the drive has been added as preformatted UFS. I cannot create a mount point for the drive. Here is the error message:

The following input errors were detected:

Wrong partition type or partition number.
/dev/ada2p1: Can't get UFS ID.
dumpfs: /dev/ada2p1: could not find special device

[tigerdog]

NAS4Free 9.2.0.1 (revision 972) x86-embedded
AAMMII OEMRSDTA Intel(R) Celeron(R) CPU 430 @ 1.80GHz 1016MiB RAM

bus=2 hubaddr=2 port=4 devaddr=3 interface=0 bus=1 hubaddr=2 port=4
devaddr=2 interface=0 Intel ICH7 UDMA100 controller
RTL8169S/8110S/8211 1000BASE-T media interface bus=3 hubaddr=1 port=4
devaddr=4 interface=0 bus=3 hubaddr=1 port=4 devaddr=4 interface=1
bus=3 hubaddr=1 port=4 devaddr=4 interface=2 bus=1 hubaddr=4 port=4
devaddr=7 interface=0 Intel 82801GB/R (ICH7) USB 2.0 controller bus=2
hubaddr=4 port=4 devaddr=6 interface=0 Intel 82801G (ICH7) USB
controller USB-A Intel 82801G (ICH7) USB controller USB-B RTL8201L
10/100 media interface Intel 82801G (ICH7) USB controller USB-C Intel
82801G (ICH7) USB controller USB-D

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Subject:
cannot mount UFS drive

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Description:
unable to mount UFS-formatted drive from FreeNAS 0.7.2 RAID1 as UFS

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Code: Select all

The following input errors were detected:

    Wrong partition type or partition number.
    /dev/ada2p1: Can't get UFS ID.
    dumpfs: /dev/ada2p1: could not find special device

[tigerdog]

I was finally able to mount the old drive by using the GUI|Disks|Management-> Import Software RAID button to discover the disk. After that, mounting using GUI|Disks|Mount Point and selecting the old RAID volume.

Thanks for all the help. Here's hoping I get another 6-7 years of trouble free storage.