Is it possible to replace a TrueNAS computer with an other

[hAtul]

Hi,

I am going through changes with my hardware and I am facing some challenges right now. I'll explain the situation:

• I got a new computer, so I want to replace the super old computer with the old computer (3 different computers in total).
  I have TrueNAS installed on a USB stick connected to my super old computer and I want to move all 3 drives to the old computer (which is actually newer and better).
  If I just disconnect the hard drives from the super old computer and connect them to the old computer, and connect the USB stick, will it run normally? or will it require any adjustments? (if so, would it be faster to set everything up from the beginning?)
• If I have a hard drive that has data on it and i do not want to delete/format it, how do I set it up on my truenas? is that even possible?

Thanks!

 

[sretalla]

If I have a hard drive that has data on it and i do not want to delete/format it,

If it's already ZFS (I guess not though), you can. Otherwise, no.

If I just disconnect the hard drives from the super old computer and connect them to the old computer, and connect the USB stick, will it run normally?

Mostly, yes. A few small caveats around network cards if the previous and current computers don't have the same NIC model, where you might have to change some jail and VM settings.

You just need to ensure that the BIOS boot setting is pointing at the USB stick and all should go fine.

 

[Stux]

there should be no harm in shutting down one and trying to boot the other with the USB. If it boots you should be good to shutdown and transfer the HDs.

Then about the only issue would be that if the networking has changed (most likely) you may need to use the console to reconfigure the network interfaces.

And then perhaps jail/vm settings will need their NIC devices updated, as mentioned before.

Of course, this is normally a good time to simply implement a new NAS with the new old computer, and keep the super old nas as a backup for the new old nas.

 

[Basil Hendroff]

Have a look at this resource Moving FreeNAS to new Hardware by @Ericloewe. It should allay any concerns you may have.