Hi All, I have a question about how I would go about replacing my 2TB array with new disks and controller, while keepinig the data intact from my existing array. I currently have:

mATX motherboard
500W PSU
2Gb RAM
AMD 5000+X2 CPU
Highpoint Rocketraid 2310 PCI-e Card (4 SATA ports)
4x 750Gb WD SATA Drives
2TB capacity

I want to upgrade the RAID Card and Drives with:
Rocketraid 2320 PCI-e card (8 SATA ports)
8x 1TB WD SATA drives
6.5TB capacity

How would I move the 2TB of data onto the new array? Thanks!

Since you have 2095GB of data with the 4x750GB drives (assuming RAID 5), are you using a 64 bit OS or did you use another method to get around the 2TB (2048GB) limit?

To do what you are talking about I would use a second system and do it over the network. If you have enough Power Supply and slots you could do it all with 1 system and just hang the 4 old drive out the side until the data is copied. But just make sure you either have enough Power or possibly even use 2 power supplies.

What chassis are you using?

What OS are you using? If you are on XP is it 32 bit or 64 bit?

If you are on 32bit OS your DATA and OS drive can be back-up on a disk (DVD) or network drive (if you have a network) or USB drive.

You can take out your OLD DRIVE. Replace it with new RAID (whatever form). Then restore your original OS Drive (drive c:\) and data files.

Norton Ghost can do this....

Okay, thanks guys, I was afraid I was going to have a second machine to do it. I really didn't want to tear apart my HTPC to put the old card/drives in temporairily. I'll do that and copy files over the network. Leon, isn't 2TB a little much to be ghosting to another machine? Wouldn't that be alot of DVD's? Besides my NAS doesn't have a optical disk, it's a modified cube case with a mATX board and a 5-disk SATA backplane crammed into it.

Okay, thanks guys, I was afraid I was going to have a second machine to do it. I really didn't want to tear apart my Vista x64 HTPC to put the old card/drives in temporairily. I'll do that and copy files over the network. Leon, isn't 2TB a little much to be ghosting to another machine? Wouldn't that be alot of DVD's? Besides my NAS doesn't have a optical disk, it's a modified cube case with a mATX board and a 5-disk SATA backplane crammed into it, running 32-bit XP.

OK, let me see if I've got this right. You are going to move your current rocket raid to another machine, then set up your new raid in your HTPC, then copy the files over the wire? Has your rocket raid ever been on this other machine? (driver gotchas...)

Have you calculated how many watts this new setup will pull? (60w, according to WD, mostly on the 12vdc rail.) Should not be a show stopper, but you need to check your PSU specs.

No, I am going to buy a 8-port rocketraid card, replacing my 4-port, and i will be replacing my four 750Gb drives with eight 1TB drives. My NAS motherboard only has 1 PCI-e slot. I assume I will have to install my current card/drives in another machine, and copy all the data over LAN to the new card/drives in my NAS. The current PSU is a 550w Silverstone which I believe should be up to the task. Here's some pics of the NAS:


The NAS pulled out of it's home in the entertainment center.


The cover pulled off, a pic of the left side showing the RAID card.


The right side showing the CPU & cooler (very tight fit between it and the the bottom of the SATA hotswap enclosure)


A pic of it next to the mini-ITX motherboard I need to put in it for the upgrade.


A pic of it back in it's home in the entertainment center, hooked up to my HTPC above the TV.

Questions I know that will be asked:

1- There isn't room in that case for 8 drives.
2- Where did you get that case?
3- Won't you have cooling issues in that case with that many drives?
4- That mini-ITX board doesn't have a PCI-e slot, just PCI.

Answers:

1- Actually- I'm pretty sure there is- Barely. If I buy another 5-drive SATA backplane (exactly like the one you see), and turn them vertically, there should be enough room- If I replace the motherboard with the much smaller mini-ITX board you see in the fourth pic.

2- That case is actually an Aopen G35 mATX cube case like this:



With the front fascia and top corner rails removed. I replaced the front plastic with a black plastic cutting board cut to fit the front of the case and the SATA hotswap enclosure. The side vent grilles are taped shut from behind with wide black electrical tape to promote airflow through the drives, and out through the PSU in the back.

3- Currently the 135mm fan on the PSU pulls air through the drives, helped midway by a 80mm fan mounted at the back of the hotswap enclosure. So the drives stay cool, and the mini-ITX motherboard I plan on replacing the current mATX board with is a low-power board that doesn't expel much heat.

4- The board shown in the pics isn't the mini-ITX board i will be using. The board in the pics with the PCI slot is the VIA SP13000, While I will be using the VIA SN18000 1.8Ghz board which has a PCI-e 16x slot.

This is the plan, so now you can see why I wanted input on how to transfer the 4-drive array to the 8-drive array . Questions, comments welcome.

When it's done it should look like this: