Is the storage media truly independent of the OS?

[Ravenb72]

I have a instance of FreeNAS (9.10) running with a RAID storage configuration. There is something wrong with my OS on the Flash drive it crashes when I try to update.
I want to start with a fresh install but I need to be sure that I will be able to access the storage media. I don't want to risk loosing or corrupting my storage media. Is it safe enough to try a new install?

 

[SweetAndLow]

Yes it's safe. Make sure to have a backup of your config file so you can get all your configurations setup easily.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

 

[wblock]

I have a instance of FreeNAS (9.10) running with a RAID storage configuration.

Not clear what you mean by this. Is it just basic ZFS, or is it on top of some RAID controller? Plain ZFS is independent, but RAID controllers frequently put their own hidden metadata on the disks. Sometimes that makes it difficult to move the array unless the RAID controller goes with it. Of course, the recommendation for ZFS is to avoid a separate RAID controller, but not everyone does that.

 

[Ravenb72]

Not clear what you mean by this. Is it just basic ZFS, or is it on top of some RAID controller? Plain ZFS is independent, but RAID controllers frequently put their own hidden metadata on the disks. Sometimes that makes it difficult to move the array unless the RAID controller goes with it. Of course, the recommendation for ZFS is to avoid a separate RAID controller, but not everyone does that.

Its just a standard install. no hardware RAID controller. Thanks for the warning.