[Share] Praise: smoothest upgrade from F4-423 to F6-424 [SOLVED]

[jollino]

Hi all,
this is just a post to share my experience with upgrading from a F4-423 to a F6-424, using four 8 TB disks in TRAID / RAID 5.

What it took:
1) Shutdown the F4
2) Move the disks keeping the same order (not even sure if this is strictly needed)
3) Turn on the F6

That's it. Everything is set up the same, including the IP address. The "hardest" part was guessing which port was Ethernet 1 or Ethernet 2.

I'm seriously and positively impressed, and wanted to share my experience. Also, thank you to the TerraMaster customer service via Amazon, I really appreciated the pre-purchase support!

(Next step for me: adding a new disk to the array, and converting to TRAID+!)

[OrionXie]

Thank you for sharing and your spirit of exploration. I think this guide might help you before you start: https://toshelp.terra-master.com/web/#/en/storage_pool

[jollino]

Hello OrionXie,
Thank you for the link. I have a question: I added a 5th disk (so now I have 5 x 8 TB) and expanded the TRAID array.
I thought I would be able to convert to TRAID+ after the fact, but it looks like I am unable to do so now (and likely should have migrated to TRAID+ _instead_ of doing the expansion).
Can you confirm that that is indeed the case, and I have to add a 6th 8+ TB disk to convert it to TRAID+?

Also, I noticed that on the Disk page the new disk is not marked as "System Disk". Is that going to be an issue if I were to replace the disks one by one in the future?

Thanks.

[TMjack]

Hello, you can migrate your existing TRAID array to TRAID+ by adding an 8TB hard drive. In the TOS 6 system, the system disk is exclusively composed of two hard drives, so the new drive will not be marked as a "system disk." Rest assured, TOS system disk migration functionality will be introduced in upcoming releases of TOS 6, which will resolve this concern for you.

[jollino]

Hi TMjack, thanks for the confirmation about the migration. I will be acquiring a new disk soon (possibly 12 TB, even though it won't be fully used now, to have a headstart towards future upgrades.)

Just for clarity, my NAS currently reports FOUR disks as System Disks, not two. I'm not sure if this is because the array was created with TOS 5, upgraded to TOS 6, and then moved from the F4 to the F6. Either way, as long as it's all within the normal range, it's all good.
My current plan is to add a 6th disk, migrate to TRAID+, and only then start replacing the disks, starting from the first one which is the oldest. It'll be a while.

[TMjack]

Hello Jollino ! Your TOS system was upgraded from TOS5 to TOS6, and during this process, the system retained multiple (4) system disks. However, for new users who install the TOS6 system directly, the default number of system disks is 2 disks.

[jollino]

Hello Jack, thanks for the clarification! I guess I got some extra safety while a future TOS upgrade allows managing system disks.