Change drives in 559 Pro II

[GHQ]

Hey all.

I have search Google and yes there is a lot of different opinions out there so not to do anything wrong i will try ask here also.

I have a good working TS-559 Pro II running RAID5 fine with 5 x 3TB disc's but 2 of the drives is standard consumer drives and i now have 2 more WD Red disc's i would like to change in the system.
How do i do this the most easy but also safe way

Can i just pull out one of the disc and put in a new one wile NAS is still running or do i need to shut down and change one disc at a time and turn back on ?

TS-559 Pro II RAID 5 latest firmware 4.2.6 (Sad no newer FW) but thats life, i'm only using my NAS for storage/file sharing and its doing alright but as i said i'm afraid the 2 standard disc will die on me
so now when i have to extra better WD Red disc i think i should swop them.

Thx everyone.

 

[Twiglets]

There are a number of questions that need to be asked first.

1. Is this NAS backed up ?
2. If not, do you have a means to do so ? i.e. some form of reliable tape backup etc that you can test to confirm the validity of the backup .

As you will have found out by browsing the internet there are many stories of RAID datasets being damaged in the process of adding new drives to existing RAID systems, usually when using consumer grade drives.

If the drives are *GOOD* it *should* work OK to add a new drive to re-build the RAID dataset ... BUT the problem is the word *should* !!!
You are already unsure about the consumer drives in use, it might possibly stress them too much to add a better quality drive not once but twice.

For my own piece of mind I would *much* prefer to have a good & verified backup before I do anything potentially dangerous (to my data).

If the process works ... all is good ... but I would have the insurance of having the data backed up *IF* the process fails because a drive or two fails.

Never had a problem using proper enterprise level kit (Big money), *with* the data backed up anyway.

I am sure that there are people who will shoot me down for being too risk-averse, but 'I told you so' is not very useful if the worse should happen.

 

[GHQ]

Hey @Twiglets

Yes your absolutely right. Thats why i'm doing a backup right now. Attached a external USB drive to the NAS and making the backup now... For sure

And yes all my drives are in the sate of GOOD i just remember that i had 2 normal drives in the RADI so i was thinking it could be a good idea to swop them.
But i also hear what your saying about stressing the drives etc, mmm. Not quite sure what to do.

But in 24 hours the backup is done. Talking a long time to do a 8TB backup through the NAS backup system but better safe that not.
And as i said all drives are in GOOD condition so i could try right. I would have to pull one drive at a time and install the new drive and wait for it to be rebuild and
then do the last drive swop and wait again wile NAS is powered up, that is the right way to do it right ?

BTW i forgot to say. All disc in NAS is now 3TB drives but the ones i want to swop is 5TB disc but that should still work right ?

Thx for your support

 

[Twiglets]

Good to hear !!!

To state the obvious, there should be some supporting information on the QNAP site advising the correct way to add/replace drives.
Not doubting the QNAP software/hardware but consumer grade kit does sometimes fail, hence the 'take no risks' stance.

example post regarding replacing a failing drive ... (https://forum.qnap.com/viewtopic.php?t=153420)

P.S.
Think I found your post on the QNAP forums ... https://forum.qnap.com/viewtopic.php?t=175270
I would follow the advice of QNAP, which also recommends a good backup before hand, so we are all in agreement.

 

[degrub]

Make sure the backup is readable/accessible on a windows or linux or mac machine before you start. Test some of the files.
Also, i always kept a second backup of my NAS handy.