Options now my FreeNAS mini has died

[Redcoat]

The Asrock M/B in my mini did the Intel-bad-silicon dance-of-death a couple of days ago. After informing iXsystems of my need for support I began to consider my options for the interim until they respond with a working replacement.

My mini has 4 4TB WD Red drives in one pool/vdev RaidZ2. My backup test Dell system presently has 6 4TB WD Red drives in one pool/vdev RaidZ2 - and has 6 open drive bays. So my thoughts turned to any (sensible) options where I could put the mini's 4 drives in the Dell and access the files they contain.

I read again Cyberjock's "ZFS Storage.." presentation and searched the forum for clues. Closest posting I could come up with was https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/multiple-zpools-vs-multiple-vdevs.38582 here in this section of the forum - but this was something of a "scholarly discussion" on the topic of multiple pools rather than a discussion or critique of the merits/demerits of a particular implementation.

I really don't want to lose or compromise the data on the mini's drives unnecessarily - though the Dell has a compete set of replicated snapshots from which I believe I should be able to reconstruct if I had to once the mini is running again. I want to be able to put the drives complete with data back in the mini later once it is functional.

But my current experience level and my reading so far have not equipped me with the confidence to install the mini's 4 HDD's in the Dell and "add the mini's pool" as I can find no information on how this might be done nor the risks associated with it. I'm certain that "Importing a Pool" is not what I want.

One other option I have considered is to clone the mini snapshots on the Dell and access the information in new mounted volume. I'm going to test this one as soon as my wife releases me from the chores round here today ...

I would be delighted to have any input readers will share.

 

[Dice]

I want to be able to put the drives complete with data back in the mini later once it is functional.

You can absolutely not add the drives to the 2nd machines pool without wiping the drives. That is not what you want.

You want to "import a pool". Importing simply means the pool is "mounted" into the system and accessible for FreeNAS. This way the pool remain intact as a unit and can be transplanted and mounted in any box.

Reference the manual:
https://doc.freenas.org/9.10/storage.html#import-volume

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

I'm certain that "Importing a Pool" is not what I want.

On the contrary, this is exactly what you want, @Dice is correct.

 

[Redcoat]

You can absolutely not add the drives to the 2nd machines pool without wiping the drives. That is not what you want.

You want to "import a pool". Importing simply means the pool is "mounted" into the system and accessible for FreeNAS. This way the pool remain intact as a unit and can be transplanted and mounted in any box.

Reference the manual:
https://doc.freenas.org/9.10/storage.html#import-volume

Thanks very much for the info. I did understand that I did not want to add the mini's drives to the Dell's pool. I was deterred from considering "Import Volume" by the caution about the need to export ZFS formatted disks on the origin system (which I cannot do) and not comprehending the potential implications of the mentioned error.

 

[Redcoat]

On the contrary, this is exactly what you want, @Dice is correct.

Thank you very much for the confirmation.

 

[Redcoat]

Dice and Robert Trevellyan, thanks once again, job done, no known issues with the import.

 

[Robert Trevellyan]