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[bigwebb83]

I originally bought my DNS-323 as a birthday present for myself back in spetember.  I love it.  I bought 2 500 gig HDD's to keep the price down so my wife wouldn't wine so much about the cost.  I knew at the time that with these drives in a raid configuration, I would need to upgrade.  Since then I've setup automatic backups for one of my friends as well as my father who is trigger happy on a 15 megapixel dslr so that time is approaching.  My question is, if I buy 2 2tb drives and throw one in with one of the 500 gigs still in there will it automatically mirror the data so that I can just throw the other 2tb drive in later?  Or is there another process to do this?

[gunrunnerjohn]

Nope, won't work.

You have to remove the data from the machine, install and format the new drives, and then put the data back.

I'm assuming you're thinking RAID-1 here, right?

Note that you should have a provision to backup the data anyway, so this shouldn't be that much of a hardship.

[bigwebb83]

the dns-323 IS my backup.  There's nothing there that isn't on other machines as well.  Yes Raid-1

[gunrunnerjohn]

If it's your backup, just remove the existing drives, and run the backups to the new drives.  The existing drives can be put back in if you run into issues and the data will still be there.

[bigwebb83]

You're getting stuck in one train of thought here.  All of the data on the drives is available elsewhere.  I didn't say its all in one nice neat little place.  I have music there that has been compiled from several computers.  Backups that were made from several computers.  Photo's that were uploaded from multiple people etc.  All I was saying is that if the box were to be burned up in a fire the data wouldn't be gone.  That being said.  I don't want to reconstruct it.  I just need to know the easiest way to copy over to a larger drive and then run two of those larger drives in Raid-1

[jamieburchell]

Since you can't "upgrade" to a RAID-1 volume in the NAS without loosing data from both drives, the simple answer is, you can't.

As gunrunnerjohn says, if you were to put the new large drive in to replace one of the others, your RAID array will only be 500GB still.

Your best bet is to remove one of the hard drives from your RAID array and keep it safe. Then remove the other and attach it to your computer either directly or by using a SATA/USB converter or enclosure.
Then install and format your new 1TB drives in the NAS as RAID-1. Use your computer to copy back the data to the nas. You're best using a wired connection to the network port of the NAS from your computer, there's no need to go through a router first for this purpose.

If you're running Windows, you'll need a Linux filesystem driver to be able to read the contents of the drives.

http://www.ext2fsd.com

Another option if you're bored and like to tinker, is to connect the drive to your NAS's USB port using the mentioned converter cable/enclosure and running third party scripts to get the job done. This is a much more difficult process however and outside of the scope of this forum.

[grixx]

Another option if you're bored and like to tinker, is to connect the drive to your NAS's USB port using the mentioned converter cable/enclosure and running third party scripts to get the job done. This is a much more difficult process however and outside of the scope of this forum.

Is it outside the scope of this forum to point users towards solutions of their questions?

Bigwebb83, if you want to stick to your Raid1, the fastest way for upgrading your drives is indeed to simply replace the old drives by larger ones, set up Raid1 here properly and then connect one of the old drives to the DNS's USB port. Just copy or rsync your data from the USB drive to the new Raid volume and you're done.

All you need is to get command line access to the linux shell of the DNS and the howtos from http://wiki.dns323.info/.

I would prefer a single drive configuration with regular backups from one drive to the second above Raid1. But this is another topic. Actually in this case upgrading the drives would be absolutely no deal since you would be able to simply replace one drive, copy the contents from the second an then replace the second.
Maybe it's time for migration.

Regards,
grix

[magic999]

If you are planning to remove the original drives and store them in case you want to get the data back at a later date then do remember to label them "Left" and "Right" so that you can put them back into the correct slots if you do need to access the data on them again.

[jamieburchell]

Is it outside the scope of this forum to point users towards solutions of their questions?

If you engage your brain you will see that I offered a solution to the problem.

Third party applications and modifications, although possible, are not supported by Dlink and as such they have previously warned us about posting information that could cause a non savvy user to brick their NAS. I was simply stating that it is possible and there are other forums dedicated to these modifications. As with most questions, including this one that has been asked many times before, simply searching this forum or Google will provide the information in most cases.

[irotjaf]

Hi,

I am wondering whats the good side of using Raid 1. It only makes more vulnerable the data. Why not having 2T a part and 500 GB on the other side. Given the limitations of this NAS I dont see the point of using RAID. It's nearly the same speed, you hast have a big volume split in two HDD. Ergo, twice the possibility of loosing the data. Ok, it's just a backup, but why would you want to have more likely crashes for backups? It's still a pain to put everything back.

[47th_ronin]

i wonder why is everybody taking the you-will-lose-your-data-anyways-sooner-or-later point of view? i have only one failed hard drive to show for my 'career' with computers (40 gig laptop drive)..
anyways:

1. borrow 1t usb drive from a friend
2. attach it to your computer
3. copy stuff from nas to usb drive
4. upgrade nas with new drives
5. copy data back
6. return 1t usb drive to friend with thanks and maybe some p*n you had
7. verify on your computers that backups work as they should
8. use a lot of 'sudo' on your wife

hope it helps.

[fordem]

Hi,

I am wondering whats the good side of using Raid 1. It only makes more vulnerable the data. Why not having 2T a part and 500 GB on the other side. Given the limitations of this NAS I dont see the point of using RAID. It's nearly the same speed, you hast have a big volume split in two HDD. Ergo, twice the possibility of loosing the data. Ok, it's just a backup, but why would you want to have more likely crashes for backups? It's still a pain to put everything back.

Your post indicates an unfamiliarity with RAID technology - I suggest you research it - the purpose of RAID1 is to reduce or eliminate the downtime caused by a failed drive.

[fordem]

i wonder why is everybody taking the you-will-lose-your-data-anyways-sooner-or-later point of view? i have only one failed hard drive to show for my 'career' with computers (40 gig laptop drive)..
anyways:

1. borrow 1t usb drive from a friend
2. attach it to your computer
3. copy stuff from nas to usb drive
4. upgrade nas with new drives
5. copy data back
6. return 1t usb drive to friend with thanks and maybe some p*n you had
7. verify on your computers that backups work as they should
8. use a lot of 'sudo' on your wife

hope it helps.

There are two types of people in the world - those who have lost data and those who will.  Hard drive failure is neither the only, nor the most common cause of data loss - data loss caused by malware and user error is far more common.

If you choose not to backup your data, when it's gone, you'll probably b!tch & gripe & blame D-Link, but at the end of the day, who will be the one hurting?  You or D-Link?

[lookingforinfo]

Now that the family understands the benefits of the NAS, is there any chance they will agree to the purchase of a second 323 with one large drive?  It would be easy to install and make operational.  After the data is moved to the new unit, the original unit could become a secondary backup for even greater security.  Over time, a second disk could be added to unit #2 and then unit #1 could be expanded.

I know this does not answer your original question and my suggestion is more expensive initially, but sometimes taking the more expensive option makes all the difference when implementing future growth.

[jamieburchell]

Of course, you don't necessarily need a second NAS to create a good backup solution. I for one have a pool of four hard drives that I backup important files from the NAS on to each month, in a rotation.

i wonder why is everybody taking the you-will-lose-your-data-anyways-sooner-or-later point of view?

Because you are either incredibly optimistic or somewhat naive that your hard drives will last forever.