RAID question (fill one drive and then mirror?)

[Xander]

I've had a NAS for a while and never got around to setting it up properly. I'd put a spare 320GB and a 1TB into it for data backup and media, respectively. I had recently decided to set it up as a RAID and picked up two 2TB discs for it. I was going to set that up this weekend.

Yesterday, I went into the NAS' settings to adjust a permission for my media player's access and, once done, decided to let the NAS run a check on the data disc. I went out and forgot about it until this morning.

Today, I woke up before a service call and quickly checked some things. Suddenly, the NAS' data disc shows empty. WhatTheFraggle‽‽ Opened NAS' UI and, even within that, it was showing no directories. In a mild panic and having to get out the door, I connected that drive to and booted up my bench machine on a Linux disc... disc and contents visible. Whew. Copied the contents to that machine's 1TB disc. Crisis averted. I'll check that disc out later.
(Actually, the panic was because I originally thought it was the NAS' 1TB disc that had had all the media on it. That stuff is less important and isn't backed up but would have been a royal bitch to restore.)

Now, breathing better, I'm setting up that RAID today. No postponing. NAS is formatting the two discs as I type this. Here's my question --- rather than trying to copy all the files from one system with the old files over the network to the NAS w/RAID, can I take one disc out, plug it into my bench machine, copy all files to it and, pop it into the NAS for mirroring? I have a big hunch the answer is no but it can't hurt to ask. If it helps, it's a Dlink DNS-323. Otherwise, is there a faster-than-network option for this that you can recommend?

 

[Rob_NNCC]

Have a look see at page 77 of http://www.dlink.com/us/en/support/...ucts/DNS/DNS 323/Manual/DNS-323_Manual_US.pdf

According to that, you can 'reconfigure to RAID 1'

Good luck!


EDIT: Herm, perhaps I did not read that as well as I could have, excellent comments below. I guess it really matters if your NAS can read it and recognize it off of your bench pc!

 

[SAG]

I have done that many times using Linux mdadm. In fact, you can take a live and running single disk Linux install and turn it into a RAID1 by adding a second disk and pretty much doing what you are referring to.

Now, if you have a hacked DNS323, you should be able to plug a USB device into the rear port and transfer at USB2.0 speed.

With a stock DNS323 I can not say for sure if what you want to do will work, though my first thought is... yes.

 

[SAG]

Have a look see at page 77 of http://www.dlink.com/us/en/support/...ucts/DNS/DNS 323/Manual/DNS-323_Manual_US.pdf

According to that, you can 'reconfigure to RAID 1'

Good luck!

I read his post as saying he picked up 2x2TB drives and already configured them (or was in the process) for RAID1 and was just wanting to know if he could pull a drive, mount it, fill it with data, and reinsert it.

Maybe I read him wrong.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Some RAID controllers allow you to take a single disk that has current data/partitions on it....pair it with another...and create a RAID 1 volume with it non-destructively.

Other RAID controllers will be destructive...wipe all data and create a fresh volume.

Gotta refer to the documentation.

 

[Xander]

Non-hacked DNS-323

"I read his post as saying he picked up 2x2TB drives and already configured them (or was in the process) for RAID1 and was just wanting to know if he could pull a drive, mount it, fill it with data, and reinsert it."

Correct. The GUI doesn't allow for setting up one for RAID and then adding the other half later (which makes a fair bit of sense). It only offers a destructive setup for the two originally with an optional "auto-rebuild". I was hopeful that the auto-rebuild might kick in if I made major changes to one and it might force the other to catch up.

 

[SAG]

Non-hacked DNS-323

"I read his post as saying he picked up 2x2TB drives and already configured them (or was in the process) for RAID1 and was just wanting to know if he could pull a drive, mount it, fill it with data, and reinsert it."

Correct. The GUI doesn't allow for setting up one for RAID and then adding the other half later (which makes a fair bit of sense). It only offers a destructive setup for the two originally with an optional "auto-rebuild". I was hopeful that the auto-rebuild might kick in if I made major changes to one and it might force the other to catch up.

I just gave it a quick shot with my DNS323.... but mine is hacked.
However, I pulled one drive, mounted it, added a few files, put it back in, and all was good.
Once again, mine is hacked so take that for what it is worth.

 

[Xander]

What hack are you using? And what OS are you running that you can drop files into an Ext2 (or 3) FS?
Out of curiousity, how is the file management handled? Through the web UI or can you see the external in your OS and move files that way?

I've just spent part of my evening pulling files off the 1TB ext3 partition onto an NTFS so I can get them into the network itself. I'm now procrastinating knowing what a pain it will be to transfer ~600GB of stuff.

Edit: If I pull one of the two NAS drives, pop it into my bench (running a Linux disc), and copy some files over to it ... other than "because that's what it's supposed to do", how do I know the files are being mirrored properly onto the other NAS drive? Must I pull the second drive out after a reasonable amount of time to check?
...looks like I can't do that. Drive wasn't showing up by itself so opened Gparted and tried to mount it... refused as it was a "linux_raid_member".

 

[SAG]

What hack are you using? And what OS are you running that you can drop files into an Ext2 (or 3) FS?
Out of curiousity, how is the file management handled? Through the web UI or can you see the external in your OS and move files that way?

Using Linux, Debian to be exact. And Debian is what I'm running on my wokstation as well.
There are TONS of sites/threads devoted to mucking around with the 323.
My 323 is just a toy to play with anymore, I have an OMV datastore for all important stuff. I manage the 323 on the command line but there are web front ends... xterm is just easier/quicker for me... same goes for my OMV, I use the command line alot.

I've just spent part of my evening pulling files off the 1TB ext3 partition onto an NTFS so I can get them into the network itself. I'm now procrastinating knowing what a pain it will be to transfer ~600GB of stuff.

I've honestly never used the EXT(2|3|4) driver for NTFS, so I can't comment about it. I've always had a native filesystem OS to access those drives.
Unless you are really wanting to test it out, just transfer your stuff over the network to it at night. If you don't have a GB switch then crossover.

Edit: If I pull one of the two NAS drives, pop it into my bench (running a Linux disc), and copy some files over to it ... other than "because that's what it's supposed to do", how do I know the files are being mirrored properly onto the other NAS drive? Must I pull the second drive out after a reasonable amount of time to check?
...looks like I can't do that. Drive wasn't showing up by itself so opened Gparted and tried to mount it... refused as it was a "linux_raid_member".

Seriously sounds like you should just do a night time transfer of all the stuff, unless of course you are just wanting to learn and play around.

 

[Xander]

Transfer's mostly done. All the TV/Movies switched, halfway through Music and then the various data folders that I don't use much but want proper backups for.