How do I move RAID 1 drives from one setup to another?

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HDDs in a RAID array have some extra data to identify what RAID array the HDD is a part of before user data. Because of that, you cannot directly take a regular-format HDD and turn it into a RAID, it needs to undergo a conversion process. You might be able to create a RAID1 array with only one HDD installed and then have it mirrored to the other HDD when you add it in later. But then you only have one copy of your "very precious data" until the process is completed.

If you use an extra HDD, you could set it up as a single drive RAID1, copy your data, move one of your other HDDs in your PC, set it up as a mirror for the new drive and maintain two whole copies through the whole process. If you want to keep your original drives paired...
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Titan
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May 18, 2007
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Since the enclosure appears to be doing RAID1/0/JBOD internally, its internal data format might not be compatible with any chipset or OS software RAID format. You may end up having to backup your 3TB array elsewhere, move the drives, reinitialize your array with chipset or software RAID and move your data back to it.
 
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Sneezer

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Dec 28, 2015
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Thanks for the reply!

This next question will make my level of understanding clear.

If I move one hard drive, format the other, can I then set them up in RAID 1 and have the one with data copied to the other?

Maybe the better question:

The data on these drives is very important to me. How would you move them? Stick with backing them up elsewhere then redo the array completely? I have no problem buying another hard drive to make this possible - not losing data is my top priority.
 
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InvalidError

InvalidError

Titan
Moderator
May 18, 2007
23,815
5,265
108,890
HDDs in a RAID array have some extra data to identify what RAID array the HDD is a part of before user data. Because of that, you cannot directly take a regular-format HDD and turn it into a RAID, it needs to undergo a conversion process. You might be able to create a RAID1 array with only one HDD installed and then have it mirrored to the other HDD when you add it in later. But then you only have one copy of your "very precious data" until the process is completed.

If you use an extra HDD, you could set it up as a single drive RAID1, copy your data, move one of your other HDDs in your PC, set it up as a mirror for the new drive and maintain two whole copies through the whole process. If you want to keep your original drives paired together, then you can copy to the new drive, move one of your old HDDs into your PC, set it up as RAID1, copy the data to that, move the other drive, mirror, done.

If your data is that important to you, using at least one extra drive to hold a spare copy until the array migration is completed is the safest way.
 
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Sneezer

Sneezer

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Dec 28, 2015
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Thanks for the info. I really appreciate it.

I thought I knew what I was doing so I'm glad I stopped by here to learn a bit first. I probably would have ended up screwing it up.

Thanks again.
 
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