Move hard drives from 1 server to another without losing data

[Dwdmdave]

I see posts about moving the OS around, but I want to move my 4x4TB hard drives from one physical machine to another. I have an older machine that has reached its life expancey. I only have the 4 hard drives so I can't build the new machine and transfer the data. Can I just unplug the drives and put them in the new machine?

 

[Dwdmdave]

My Apologies if this is redundant. I just found this but it is from 2014 so I want to be sure this is still valid

What's the process to move a zpool to another server?

I'm planning a new FreeNAS installation for my home, and the one question I wasn't quite sure about is if my hardware fails how can I move my drives to another machine and recover my data. I'm using an older system I built years ago, but I plan on buying new 1-2TB drives to build the pool...

www.truenas.com

 

[Dwdmdave]

Ok, now I found this. Amazing what you can find once you post :) Sorry for the noise. HOwever I do not want to move the OS drives. Mostly because they won't fit in the new machine, so I was going to build it from scratch. I might be able to do something with USB ports. The current boot drives are 2x3.5 SSD and the new machine is going to use 2xM2 drives.

"So, you want to move from your crusty old hardware to a shiny new server? Here's what you have to do:

1. Assemble and test your new hardware
2. Turn off both systems
3. Disconnect your boot device from the old server and connect it to the new server
4. Disconnect your hard drives from the old server and connect them to the new server
5. Turn on the new server
6. If necessary, reconfigure networking

That is it."