Migrating HDDs between machines - what to watch out for? (keeping config the same)

[petr]

Hello!

I am planning a following migration:

Source machine:

• Customer-grade motherboard with onboard SATA (combination of chipset and additional ports)
  • 4x WD RED 3TB, 2x2TB consumer-grade for, 2 volumes
• 12GB of RAM
• single quad-core CPU
• Intel NIC

Destination machine:

• Dell 2950 with IBM M1015 cross-flashed to IT mode
• 32GB of RAM
• 2x quad core CPU
• onboard Broadcom NetXtreme II 5708

My plan is to first get FreeNAS upgraded to the latest version on the source machine, then just move over the HDDs and dd the USB stick to a SATA-attached small 8GB module I got for permanent install inside the server (or another USB stick - have not decided yet).

My question is, what happens next? Would FreeNAS automatically identify the HDDs again? Are there any obvious steps I am missing in the migration process? This also ties in to my previous question re. the original system upgrade - would jails "just work" when I upgrade the source machine from 9.1.1 to the latest, and I just get additional access to the VirtualBox template?

As a preparation step, I intend to install a clean version on the destination machine and set it up with an old drive for testing purposes to iron out any general issues.

 

[SweetAndLow]

Just make sure to only change one variable at a time. So do the upgrade on the original box first then make sure everything is working the way it should be. Next I would take that same USB and move it to the new hardware along with your drives and test the boot and that everything works the way you want it. Finally I would save your config and re install the OS on your SATA-attached module and upload your config file to the new install. All the while making sure you have a backup of all your data that is saved to your FreeNAS.

 

[petr]

Just make sure to only change one variable at a time. So do the upgrade on the original box first then make sure everything is working the way it should be. Next I would take that same USB and move it to the new hardware along with your drives and test the boot and that everything works the way you want it. Finally I would save your config and re install the OS on your SATA-attached module and upload your config file to the new install. All the while making sure you have a backup of all your data that is saved to your FreeNAS.

Thank you! I am glad to hear that I should not need to do any re-assigning of the volumes etc. Still waiting for the M1015 and few more caddies to arrive, then I will pull the trigger, will keep it updated here!

 

[petr]

Thank you! I am glad to hear that I should not need to do any re-assigning of the volumes etc. Still waiting for the M1015 and few more caddies to arrive, then I will pull the trigger, will keep it updated here!

... happy to say that all is well so far!