Exchange M.2 SSDs

Discussion on setting up QNAP NAS products.
Post Reply
hmeschede
New here
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Dec 03, 2016 7:47 pm

Exchange M.2 SSDs

Post by hmeschede »

Dear all,

my TS-473 shows that one of the built-in M.2 SSDs is reaching its end of life.
I am therefore planning to exchange both and at this opportunity to increase capacity from 250 GB to 500 GB.

Can somebody please point me to an instruction that shows how to do it in a most efficient way? :idea:

Actually, I do not know better than to remove all hard disks. Install the new M.2 SSDs and the entire system from scratch, build in the four old HDDs and re-mount them.

It would be perfect if there is a way to clone the old SSDs, copy them to the new SSDs and then exchange them.

Many thanks for your advice.

Herbert
User avatar
dolbyman
Guru
Posts: 34903
Joined: Sat Feb 12, 2011 2:11 am
Location: Vancouver BC , Canada

Re: Exchange M.2 SSDs

Post by dolbyman »

What are the disks doing?

Chache
Tier
Volume


Cache: To swap, disable the cache and then remove and exchange the disks
QTier: Disable the tier (make sure there is enough free pool space) then remove and swap the disks
Volume: If it's the system Volume do and in place expand, as removing the System volume would kill default programs and shares)
hmeschede
New here
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Dec 03, 2016 7:47 pm

Re: Exchange M.2 SSDs

Post by hmeschede »

thanks for your swift reply.

SSD2 is for chaching.... looks like this one is easy to replace... :-)

SSD1 is the system volume. So, how can I clone current SSD1 with the TS-473? Can I disable chaching, remove SSD2, install one of the new SSDs and clone SSD1 to the new SSD2? If yes how to clone from SSD1 to SSD2?
hmeschede
New here
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Dec 03, 2016 7:47 pm

Re: Exchange M.2 SSDs

Post by hmeschede »

I just thought again how to migrate to the new SSDs... here is my idea:

1. disable caching for SSD2
2. replace SSD2 with a new 500 GB SSD
3. migrate the old 250 GB SSD1 with the new 500 GB SSD to a new RAID 1
4. replace the old 250 GB SSD1 with a new 500 GB SSD
5. expand the first newly installed SSD to 500 GB
6. migrate tge first 500 GB SSD with the second 500 GB SSD to a new RAID 1

Does it work that way?

Does it make sense to use a part of the new system volume consisting of the two new 500 GB SSDs (let's say 100 GB) as cache for the 4 data HDDs?
User avatar
dolbyman
Guru
Posts: 34903
Joined: Sat Feb 12, 2011 2:11 am
Location: Vancouver BC , Canada

Re: Exchange M.2 SSDs

Post by dolbyman »

neither system volume nor write cache should be done on a single ssd...you have painted yourself into a corner with the single disk system volume ...cloning disks onto a new one will probably not work

so either convert the volume to raid1 ..then expand the raid1 ..or kill the system volume and start from.scratch
hmeschede
New here
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Dec 03, 2016 7:47 pm

Re: Exchange M.2 SSDs

Post by hmeschede »

ok, I will try as I desribed above. I can't see that this won't work to migrate the SSDs.

The remaining question is: Do I really need a cache as I won't have a full disk left.
I do not run any application on the TS-473 that requires lot of resources such as video transcoding. I am using the system for holding data only and for DLNA streaming based on Plex. (The QNAP apps are all rather poor).

So, out of the 500 GB newly installed M.2 SSDs in RAID 1 I could carve out x GB for cache. Any recommendation of the size of the cache I would need?

BR
User avatar
dolbyman
Guru
Posts: 34903
Joined: Sat Feb 12, 2011 2:11 am
Location: Vancouver BC , Canada

Re: Exchange M.2 SSDs

Post by dolbyman »

there is nothing to "carve", drives cannot have mixed functions
Last edited by dolbyman on Thu Apr 15, 2021 9:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.
hmeschede
New here
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Dec 03, 2016 7:47 pm

Re: Exchange M.2 SSDs

Post by hmeschede »

ok, that means no cache anymore in the future... what a pity

I am now going to upgrade the SSDs...
Post Reply

Return to “Turbo Station Installation & Setup”