add new disk to the pool

[nikkon]

Hi all,

I have a raidz1 pool where I need to add another disk to expand the storage capacity.
I am running TrueNAS-13.0-U2 and I can't add it anything I try.

zpool status Storage
pool: Storage
state: ONLINE
scan: scrub repaired 0B in 04:55:36 with 0 errors on Sun Oct 23 07:50:36 2022
config:

NAME STATE READ WRITE CKSUM
Storage ONLINE 0 0 0
raidz1-0 ONLINE 0 0 0
gptid/bd5b78b3-aeac-11eb-971a-7085c280dd5c ONLINE 0 0 0
gptid/52dabbbb-ab67-11ea-8fe6-7085c280dd5c ONLINE 0 0 0
gptid/1ee45a30-f92a-11ea-88ad-7085c280dd5c ONLINE 0 0 0
gptid/268f4564-1fcc-11ec-8521-7085c280dd5c ONLINE 0 0 0
gptid/f7e5c51a-f1f8-11e7-9aee-7085c2504b54 ONLINE 0 0 0

errors: No known data errors

the drive I want to add is mounted as /dev/da3 and is exposed through an HBA as all other disks.

any advice?

 

[danb35]

any advice?

Destroy the pool and rebuild. There's no current way to add a disk as part of RAIDZn vdev.

 

[nikkon]

That would be a huge problem. I can't loose the data

 

[danb35]

That's what backups are for. You do have a validated backup, right?

 

[Etorix]

Fair enough. But if you "can't loose the data", whose sole copy is in a not-so-secure raidz1, you already have a bigger problem than you acknowledge.
Consider buying a sufficiently large external drive (10 TB should do) to make an external backup, which you could also keep offline and/or off-site. (For redundancy, further use "copy=2", splitting data between multiple drives as may be needed.)

 

[nikkon]

I have snapshots. So far the size of data is around 8tb. I think of renting a bigger drive and move the data, redo the pool then move it back. Am missing any other option?

 

[Etorix]

Snapshots live in the same pool, so do not protect against hardware issues and are not "a backup".

Otherwise, there really is no other option. Either "backup-destroy-create-restore", or get a complete set of new drives and plug in both the old pool and the new pool.

Sub-question: Do you intend to merely widen the pool (5-wide -> 6-wide raidz1) to get more space (but the same poor safety), or to move from 5-wide raidz1 to slightly safer 6-wide raidz2 (but still no substitute for a full backup plan)?

 

[danb35]

move from 5-wide raidz1 to slightly safer 6-wide raidz2 (but still no substitute for a full backup plan)?

Since OP's stated intent is to increase storage capacity, it seems unlikely this is the plan.

 

[nikkon]

I need more capacity. The pool is over 80%

 

[MrGuvernment]

Once you do all of this, do not "rent" a drive, keep it and use it to make an actual "backup" of your data.

 

[nikkon]

already ordered a 6TB one

 

[souporman]

already ordered a 6TB one

There you go. Yeah, man, in TrueNAS there's no way to just "grow" a RAIDz1 like what you were hoping to do. It's one of those features that people like about other NAS offerings like Synology and unRAID. For what it's worth, getting your TrueNAS just right, is a really fantastic way of maintaining your data--the best in my opinion--but there are a feature or two like that are are deal breakers for some folks. So, you'll want to move to a RAIDz2 because with the sizes of drives these days, if you do a RAIDz1 and you lose a disk, it might take you forever to get that sucker replaced, and the chances of encountering an issue with another disk are not as low as we'd all like!! So, going to a RAIDz2 gives you that extra disk you need for resiliency these days. As you've learned, the most important part of a TrueNAS build is planning ahead properly! You know, now's the time to think about if you need a second boot disk, maybe the ZIL is necessary, maybe it's not? Maybe you'd be better off with a nice L2ARC for metadata, or something like that? So many things to think about.

 

[MrGuvernment]

There you go. Yeah, man, in TrueNAS there's no way to just "grow" a RAIDz1 like what you were hoping to do. It's one of those features that people like about other NAS offerings like Synology and unRAID. For what it's worth, getting your TrueNAS just right, is a really fantastic way of maintaining your data--the best in my opinion--but there are a feature or two like that are are deal breakers for some folks. So, you'll want to move to a RAIDz2 because with the sizes of drives these days, if you do a RAIDz1 and you lose a disk, it might take you forever to get that sucker replaced, and the chances of encountering an issue with another disk are not as low as we'd all like!! So, going to a RAIDz2 gives you that extra disk you need for resiliency these days. As you've learned, the most important part of a TrueNAS build is planning ahead properly! You know, now's the time to think about if you need a second boot disk, maybe the ZIL is necessary, maybe it's not? Maybe you'd be better off with a nice L2ARC for metadata, or something like that? So many things to think about.

This is where I am now myself with trying to plan out what should be a very simple build for home usage, but I over analyze everything and think about "what if..." "what about in 1 years time..."

So def some pre-planning is warranted when anyone is thinking of a TrueNAS set up.