Motherboard + CPU Replacement - Need for a Fresh Install?

[edusantos]

Hi everyone,

First, I'm very new to FreeNAS so please apologise me if I make any mistake here. I'm starting and I would appreciate any help you could provide. :) No background experience with any unix based OS as well.

Anyway, I'm currently running a FreeNAS setup.

Release:
(FreeNAS-8.3.1-RELEASE-p2-x64) in a 8GB USB Thumb Drive.

Hardware:

Gigabyte GA-C847N
Gskill NT PC3-10700 (1333MHz) 2x8GB (16GB)
Bitfenix Prodigy Artic
Corsair CX430M
Western Digital Green WD30EZRX (3TB)
Western Digital Green WD30EZRX (3TB)
Western Digital Green WD30EZRX (3TB)
Western Digital Green WD30EZRX (3TB)

I have each pair in (software) ZFS raid 1 as follows:

[3TB + 3TB] in raid 1 (mirror)
+
[3TB + 3TB] in raid 1 (mirror)

I'm thinking about replacing the motherboard with a new one (CPU as well as it is integrated with the motherboard), is there any need to do a fresh install of FreeNAS? If yes, how should I proceed in order to keep all my settings and raid configuration mounted + data safe?

Thank you very much!

 

[gpsguy]

A fresh install isn't necessary. Some folks might do it, if they are replacing hardware and a newer version of FreeNAS is available.

The settings file is on your thumb drive. You should back it up periodically, in case the thumb drive fails, so you can restore your settings. You can back it up (or restore it) via the GUI, or automate it with a cron job.

 

[edusantos]

Thanks a lot man. :D Appreciated for the help.

 

[engmsf]

Hello, I'm new to setting up Freenas as well and have a similar setup as the OP. Three WD Red 3TB in zfs raidz1. I too am thinking about going the server ECC memory hardware upgrade in the near future.

My questions are:
1) I think this was answer above but just want to reiterate. If I move to a Supermicro and Xeon, do I just simply plug in the current WD Red hard drives and boot up the new computer with the current 8GB usb drive? Freenas will detect and configure everything? My current Zpool is maintained?
2) Is the process similar if I decide to add an IBM M1015 raid card? Hook the three drives to the raid card and just boot up from the usb drive?

 

[anodos]

Hello, I'm new to setting up Freenas as well and have a similar setup as the OP. Three WD Red 3TB in zfs raidz1. I too am thinking about going the server ECC memory hardware upgrade in the near future.

My questions are:
1) I think this was answer above but just want to reiterate. If I move to a Supermicro and Xeon, do I just simply plug in the current WD Red hard drives and boot up the new computer with the current 8GB usb drive? Freenas will detect and configure everything? My current Zpool is maintained?
2) Is the process similar if I decide to add an IBM M1015 raid card? Hook the three drives to the raid card and just boot up from the usb drive?

It should work, but don't jack with your hardware without having a viable backup. When you upgrade your hardware, you should seriously consider transitioning off of raidz1. At a minimum add a drive and move to raidz2 or mirrors. Once again, make sure you have proper backups in place.