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Migrating a RAID 5 to a new PC

Go to solution Solved by ToTouchAnEmu,

I wanted to update this post (for anyone wanting to migrate their raid to a new pc).

I got the new motherboard in the mail and since it also uses rapid storage technology, it immediately recognized the raid and rebuilt it over about 12 hours. Then, after having issues with the new motherboard (unrelated to the raid), I bought a completely different brand of board (from msi to asus) and, once again, the raid controller recognized the raid and it rebuilt with zero trouble.

So obviously your mileage may vary, but twice in a row I was able to migrate my raid to a new motherboard without any trouble.

Yesterday, I went to boot my PC like any other day and I was greeted with a USB overcurrent error. Fast forward through a few hours of troubleshooting (even tried both of my bios options and reset both also) and finally ripping the motherboard out of the case and running minimal hardware (video card, cpu, and ram only), and I still am greeted with the same error. So from what little information I can find on the topic, it seems that the motherboard has just gone bad. I have ordered a new motherboard (it is the exact same model) and it is on the way.

However I am a bit worried. I have some extremely crucial data that isn't backed up (due to space limitations and stupidity).  I have a RAID 5 with three 3TB hard drives. I was wondering about the difficulty in moving this raid to a new motherboard. Even though it's the same exact motherboard and presumptuously the same raid controller, is there a step process I should follow to ensure that the data isn't accidentally erased when setting up the raid again? I cannot find much information on this topic. Thanks in advance!

Motherboard is MSI X99S and I use the built in raid controller with Intel Rapid Storage sofware.

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Intel raid normally will move to other intel boards without a data loss, but if the data is very important id make a full image of everydisk first.

 

Do you have any other systems to test with?

 

 

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2 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Intel raid normally will move to other intel boards without a data loss, but if the data is very important id make a full image of everydisk first.

 

Do you have any other systems to test with?

 

 

Unfortunately I do not have another system, otherwise I'd love to try it out first. I will look into making images of the disks before doing anything first, that's pretty smart. Do you have software you prefer for doing that? I've never done that sort of thing.

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1 minute ago, ToTouchAnEmu said:

Unfortunately I do not have another system, otherwise I'd love to try it out first. I will look into making images of the disks before doing anything first, that's pretty smart. Do you have software you prefer for doing that? I've never done that sort of thing.

I personally use dd on linux for imaging, but there are simmilar tools like hdd raw copy. You will need 9tb of free space to do this though.

 

 

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2 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

I personally use dd on linux for imaging, but there are simmilar tools like hdd raw copy. You will need 9tb of free space to do this though.

  

 

Yeah unfortunately that's the issue with this solution, is 9TB isn't cheap and I am not sure what I'd do with the HDD's afterwards. You think I could I get away with buying 2 5TB drives and set them up as a single drive with three 3TB partitions (and a 4th for the final TB).

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22 minutes ago, ToTouchAnEmu said:

Yeah unfortunately that's the issue with this solution, is 9TB isn't cheap and I am not sure what I'd do with the HDD's afterwards. You think I could I get away with buying 2 5TB drives and set them up as a single drive with three 3TB partitions (and a 4th for the final TB).

You can raid 0 those 5tb drives to get 10tb usable, but id just get a 10tb external

 

You don't want partitions, you want image files here nomrally. much easier to manage.

Id just get a pair of these

https://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Desktop-External-Drive-STGY8000400/dp/B07CQJBSQL/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=8tb+external&qid=1557782716&s=electronics&sr=1-3

 

 

 

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21 hours ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

You can raid 0 those 5tb drives to get 10tb usable, but id just get a 10tb external

  

You don't want partitions, you want image files here nomrally. much easier to manage.

 Id just get a pair of these

https://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Desktop-External-Drive-STGY8000400/dp/B07CQJBSQL/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=8tb+external&qid=1557782716&s=electronics&sr=1-3

 

 

 

You have any experience with network attached storage? I have always wanted to get one and this may be the push I need to just do it. If so, I am curious about diy nas vs prebuilt nas. Which is best?

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32 minutes ago, ToTouchAnEmu said:

You have any experience with network attached storage? I have always wanted to get one and this may be the push I need to just do it. If so, I am curious about diy nas vs prebuilt nas. Which is best? 

Yea I have made a few nas boxes and managed a few servers before.

 

Prebuilt vs diy really depends on what your goals are. DIY is more flexable, often a better value, but requires more tweaking with less support.

Id go diy if you want to tinker, go prebuilt, if you just wanna put drives in a box and be done. I have used both and both have their place.

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Thanks! I have already begun some research into this! Your help is super appreciated.

Seems like some people say you can just buy an older PC and throw some hard drives inside, as long as the specs are decent. May look more into that.

Should I be worried that I'm using 1Gb/s networking in my home? I am using all cat6 and ca7 cables running between my routers and switches, but those are all rated for 1Gb/s max (supposedly). I am just worried that upgrading to 10Gb/s networking is a hidden cost.

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52 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Yea I have made a few nas boxes and managed a few servers before.

 

Prebuilt vs diy really depends on what your goals are. DIY is more flexable, often a better value, but requires more tweaking with less support.

Id go diy if you want to tinker, go prebuilt, if you just wanna put drives in a box and be done. I have used both and both have their place.

Thanks! I have already begun some research into this! Your help is super appreciated.

Seems like some people say you can just buy an older PC and throw some hard drives inside, as long as the specs are decent. May look more into that.

Should I be worried that I'm using 1Gb/s networking in my home? I am using all cat6 and ca7 cables running between my routers and switches, but those are all rated for 1Gb/s max (supposedly). I am just worried that upgrading to 10Gb/s networking is a hidden cost.

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1 hour ago, ToTouchAnEmu said:

Thanks! I have already begun some research into this! Your help is super appreciated.

Seems like some people say you can just buy an older PC and throw some hard drives inside, as long as the specs are decent. May look more into that.

Should I be worried that I'm using 1Gb/s networking in my home? I am using all cat6 and ca7 cables running between my routers and switches, but those are all rated for 1Gb/s max (supposedly). I am just worried that upgrading to 10Gb/s networking is a hidden cost.

cat 6 will do 10gb fine up to about 30m.

 

1gbe is fine for most home nas uses, you can always upgrade to 10gbe later.

 

A old pc will work fine, you really don't need much in terms of specs, id just get what is lower power and cheap.

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19 hours ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

cat 6 will do 10gb fine up to about 30m.

 

1gbe is fine for most home nas uses, you can always upgrade to 10gbe later.

 

A old pc will work fine, you really don't need much in terms of specs, id just get what is lower power and cheap.

Very cool! Yeah I do have a cable that is longer than 30m, but it's a cat7 so that shouldn't be an issue. I actually just learned that 5e can also do 10Gb/s recently. I always figured that the networking devices could tell which type of cord was plugged and would adjust accordingly. I have some old 5e cables lying around too and may put them back into use.

So finally, I have a guy nearby who is selling this system for 90 dollars. https://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/product-support/servicetag/126w6y1/configuration

Seems like a fair deal, and seems like it may have the power needed to run a nas. (albeit maybe an updated networking card is necessary) Do you have any thoughts?

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2 hours ago, ToTouchAnEmu said:

actually just learned that 5e can also do 10Gb/s recently. I

It can get kinda iffy if you trying to do 10gbe over cat 5e, but if your using new switches and nics, most will do nbase-t and run at 2.5 or 5gbit if needed.

 

Yea optiplex 7010s will make a good basic nas. Add a 10gbe card if you want, but id try 1gbe first and see if it fast enough. They have reasonably good 1gbe nics built in. Ram and cpu that is included is fine.

 

Only issue is they don't hold that many drive, so you may need to add your own cages or an external drive enclosure if you want more drives.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I wanted to update this post (for anyone wanting to migrate their raid to a new pc).

I got the new motherboard in the mail and since it also uses rapid storage technology, it immediately recognized the raid and rebuilt it over about 12 hours. Then, after having issues with the new motherboard (unrelated to the raid), I bought a completely different brand of board (from msi to asus) and, once again, the raid controller recognized the raid and it rebuilt with zero trouble.

So obviously your mileage may vary, but twice in a row I was able to migrate my raid to a new motherboard without any trouble.

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