Advice on transferring data from one NAS to another (same pair of drives)

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jonathan18

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#279954 18-Nov-2020 20:10

So I have purchased a new NAS to replace an ancient slow machine; I want to re-use the existing drives (both are just two-drive NASs), and I don't have access to a spare drive large enough to temporarily store the data. What is the safest way (if there is one) to transfer the data between NASs?

The current NAS is set up with RAID 1, which would (I assume) allow me to do the following (which I found via a Google search):

If you have mirrored your current NAS, then I'd recommend that you pull one drive from your existing and put it in the new synology. Reformat it, and then copy the data from your original NAS. Once that's done and you confirm that everything copied ok, simply pull the last disk from your original NAS, put it in the synology and create a mirrored volume for the one already in the synology.

I get that there's a risk for a period where there's no back-up of the data, but I've been through that same problem when one of the drives died, so that doesn't seem that big a deal. Does this seem the most feasible option given these limitations, or are there other methods I could explore?

Thanks for any ideas.

phrozenpenguin

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#2606547 18-Nov-2020 22:54

What are the devices? If they are both Synology, depending on the models and the formatting on the hard drives, you can "just" take them out of one and put them in the other. Synology has a detailed guide on their website. If not Synology then things will vary!

jonathan18

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#2606562 19-Nov-2020 05:18

Original is a Netgear ReadyNAS Duo 2.

Replacement is a Synology DS220+.

So, yeah, I’m assuming no dice on the direct swap! I couldn’t find any advice on Synology’s site for my kind of situation.

As opposed to borrowing an external drive and copying the data to that as an interim stage (which will be a real slow option), or purchasing a new drive of the same capacity and starting with just that in the new machine as it’s copied over (which leaves me with an unneeded drive), the solution I quoted above does seem a better option...

jpoc

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#2606578 19-Nov-2020 07:07

jonathan18:

So I have purchased a new NAS to replace an ancient slow machine; <snip>

So, how ancient are the drives that you propose to re-use?

How much will two new drives cost?

How much might you get if you sell the old NAS complete with the old drives?

Yoban

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#2606610 19-Nov-2020 08:57

Hi there, Did this recently from ReadyNas 314 to Qnap via Rsync. Both NASs made this easy in their respective UI.

This would require you to pull one drive from old and place it in new at which point it will be reformatted. Depending on volume copy could take a while.

Your appetite for risk comes in to play as the source will have no redundancy.

jonathan18

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#2620824 13-Dec-2020 10:04

I finally got around to setting up the new NAS this morning, after deciding to go with the approach outlined in my original email and the post directly above; hit a snag in that the new NAS is reporting bad sectors on the drive I took out from the old NAS, and it failed in creating the volume. The weird thing is the old NAS has not reported any issues with that drive, and having stuck the 'damaged' drive back in the old NAS it's merrily recreating the volume (it's set up with RAID 1).

So, if there is indeed nothing wrong with the drive (and I'll get the old NAS to do a scan once it's re-built), is there anything I can do here? Would formatting the drive before putting it into the new NAS help? (I'm not sure how I'd even do this via the NAS, as I have no HDD enclosure to connect it directly to a computer.)

I know I'll be told to buy one or two new drives, but if the current drives are ok it seems a lot of money just to get the transfer sorted... If I must I will but interested in if there are other options...

Thanks for any ideas.