Expanding RAID 5 from 3 to 4 discs would erase data ??

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rderimay
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Expanding RAID 5 from 3 to 4 discs would erase data ??

Post by rderimay »

Hi,

I have a 3-drives RAID 5 array to which I want to add one disc more to have a 4 disc RAID5.
When I start to add a disc to the array, I get a message saying, that all data would be erased !!

Is it misleading or is it true ???

Thansk !
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pwilson
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Re: Expanding RAID 5 from 3 to 4 discs would erase data ??

Post by pwilson »

rderimay wrote:Hi,

I have a 3-drives RAID 5 array to which I want to add one disc more to have a 4 disc RAID5.
When I start to add a disc to the array, I get a message saying, that all data would be erased !!

Is it misleading or is it true ???

Thansk !
  1. How are you expanding your RAID5 array on your "NAS Model: none"?
  2. What NAS model are you actually using?
  3. What QNAP Firmware are you actually using?
  4. What Make/Model of drives are you actually using?
  5. Have you reviewed article: When you're asking a question, please include the following
  6. Have you considered updating your Forum profile to include your NAS mdel?
  7. Have you reviewed the Expand Capacity (Online RAID Capacity Expansion) section of the QNAP Turbo NAS User Manual

Patrick M. Wilson
Victoria, BC Canada
QNAP TS-470 Pro w/ 4 * Western Digital WD30EFRX WD Reds (RAID5) - - Single 8.1TB Storage Pool FW: QTS 4.2.0 Build 20151023 - Kali Linux v1.06 (64bit)
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Don
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Re: Expanding RAID 5 from 3 to 4 discs would erase data ??

Post by Don »

rderimay wrote:Hi,

I have a 3-drives RAID 5 array to which I want to add one disc more to have a 4 disc RAID5.
When I start to add a disc to the array, I get a message saying, that all data would be erased !!

Is it misleading or is it true ???

Thansk !
It's TRUE! Data will be erased on the new (target) disk. Re-read the message.
Use the forum search feature before posting.

Use RAID and external backups. RAID will protect you from disk failure, keep your system running, and data accessible while the disk is replaced, and the RAID rebuilt. Backups will allow you to recover data that is lost or corrupted, or from system failure. One does not replace the other.

NAS: TVS-882BR | F/W: 5.0.1.2346 | 40GB | 2 x 1TB M.2 SATA RAID 1 (System/VMs) | 3 x 1TB M.2 NMVe QM2-4P-384A RAID 5 (cache) | 5 x 14TB Exos HDD RAID 6 (Data) | 1 x Blu-ray
NAS: TVS-h674 | F/W: 5.0.1.2376 | 16GB | 3 x 18TB RAID 5
Apps: DNSMasq, PLEX, iDrive, QVPN, QLMS, MP3fs, HBS3, Entware, DLstation, VS, +
rderimay
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Re: Expanding RAID 5 from 3 to 4 discs would erase data ??

Post by rderimay »

Sorry for this topic !

I misunderstood the dialog message. I understood "The data from array will be deleted" and that was crazy. Of course it was not meant like so but like "All the data on the new disc will be added" which is totally standard procedure of course !

Thanks
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pwilson
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Re: Expanding RAID 5 from 3 to 4 discs would erase data ??

Post by pwilson »

rderimay wrote:Sorry for this topic !

I misunderstood the dialog message. I understood "The data from array will be deleted" and that was crazy. Of course it was not meant like so but like "All the data on the new disc will be added" which is totally standard procedure of course !

Thanks
Don't be sorry at all. Better to ask before disaster rather than after. Besides the message in question is a little vague. You did well by asking.
A complete backup before starting the Expansion is strongly recommended, as disaster can occur.

No answers to my questions previously asked?

Patrick M. Wilson
Victoria, BC Canada
QNAP TS-470 Pro w/ 4 * Western Digital WD30EFRX WD Reds (RAID5) - - Single 8.1TB Storage Pool FW: QTS 4.2.0 Build 20151023 - Kali Linux v1.06 (64bit)
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rderimay
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Re: Expanding RAID 5 from 3 to 4 discs would erase data ??

Post by rderimay »

I am using a TS-469 PRO with now 4 x Seagate NAS HDD ST4000VN000 4TB running 4.0.7 :-)
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pwilson
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Re: Expanding RAID 5 from 3 to 4 discs would erase data ??

Post by pwilson »

rderimay wrote:I am using a TS-469 PRO with now 4 x Seagate NAS HDD ST4000VN000 4TB running 4.0.7 :-)
You skipped a few....
pwilson wrote:
  1. How are you expanding your RAID5 array on your "NAS Model: none"?
  2. What NAS model are you actually using?
  3. What QNAP Firmware are you actually using?
  4. What Make/Model of drives are you actually using?
  5. Have you reviewed article: When you're asking a question, please include the following
  6. Have you considered updating your Forum profile to include your NAS mdel?
  7. Have you reviewed the Expand Capacity (Online RAID Capacity Expansion) section of the QNAP Turbo NAS User Manual
Please update your Forum profile to display a NAS model of "TS-x69 Pro".

You'll find the QTS v4.0.x instructions for Expanding Storage Pools here.
If you are still using "legacy" storage volumes, you won't find any instructions at all, so you should submit a ticket with the QNAP Helpdesk for further assistance.

Patrick M. Wilson
Victoria, BC Canada
QNAP TS-470 Pro w/ 4 * Western Digital WD30EFRX WD Reds (RAID5) - - Single 8.1TB Storage Pool FW: QTS 4.2.0 Build 20151023 - Kali Linux v1.06 (64bit)
Forums: View My Profile - Search My Posts - View My Photo - View My Location - Top Community Posters
QNAP: Turbo NAS User Manual - QNAP Wiki - QNAP Tutorials - QNAP FAQs

Please review: When you're asking a question, please include the following.
rderimay
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Re: Expanding RAID 5 from 3 to 4 discs would erase data ??

Post by rderimay »

Good point !
Any idéal how to upgrade from legacy raids to storage pools ?
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Don
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Re: Expanding RAID 5 from 3 to 4 discs would erase data ??

Post by Don »

rderimay wrote:Good point !
Any idéal how to upgrade from legacy raids to storage pools ?
Only way is to wipe the system and start over from scratch.
Use the forum search feature before posting.

Use RAID and external backups. RAID will protect you from disk failure, keep your system running, and data accessible while the disk is replaced, and the RAID rebuilt. Backups will allow you to recover data that is lost or corrupted, or from system failure. One does not replace the other.

NAS: TVS-882BR | F/W: 5.0.1.2346 | 40GB | 2 x 1TB M.2 SATA RAID 1 (System/VMs) | 3 x 1TB M.2 NMVe QM2-4P-384A RAID 5 (cache) | 5 x 14TB Exos HDD RAID 6 (Data) | 1 x Blu-ray
NAS: TVS-h674 | F/W: 5.0.1.2376 | 16GB | 3 x 18TB RAID 5
Apps: DNSMasq, PLEX, iDrive, QVPN, QLMS, MP3fs, HBS3, Entware, DLstation, VS, +
CarlSchulz
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Re: Expanding RAID 5 from 3 to 4 discs would erase data ??

Post by CarlSchulz »

Re: Warning Message that all data will be deleted.

I was also "alarmed" by this message. It seems completely counter to what I expected. Thanks to discussion between @pwilson, @don, and @rderimay I think that the expansion will work as expected by only deleting the data on the "new" expansion disk.

This message is completely misleading.
sangaras
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Re: Expanding RAID 5 from 3 to 4 discs would erase data ??

Post by sangaras »

+1 to CarlSchulz. I was expanding my backup NAS wiht 4th disk and when it told me it was going to erase all the data on selected disks then I thought that I need to rethink my solution. Luckily I found this thread quickly.
Now I understand that "selected disks" was a few clicks back and not "all disks in this RAID".

Thanks. (Would have hated to do backups of backups when being out of space.)
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