Question Need some advice on doing HDD to SSD RAID upgrade

[EngineerMind]

Hi, I am looking for some advice on doing an HDD to SDD upgrade.

I know a good amount about hardware and software, but since I haven't done an upgrade like this before, I just want to make sure I am not missing any detail(s) that would prevent this upgrade from working.

I have a 2013 Dell XPS 8700 running Win7 with two 1TB HDD in a Raid 1 (clone) configuration and I want to replace the 2x 1TB HDDs with 2x 2TB SSDs.

The device manager lists the RAID controller as a "intel(r) Desktop/Workstation/Server Express Chipset SATA RAID Controller) - but I don't know how to get the chipset model number yet.

So, these are the steps I was planning to do:

1. Take the 2x 1TB HDDs out of the computer
2. Using a desktop standalone disk duplicator device, clone one of the 1TB HDD to a "2TB" SSD
3. Install the Cloned 2TB SSD along with the blank/new 2TB SSD into the PC
4. Boot up the PC and do a Rebuild so the SSD's are synced
5. Run partition software to realign to 4k sectors
6. Run partition software to hopefully resize the SSD to its full 2TB capacity. (I'm ok if I won't be able to do this step)

Will the above procedure work to simply replace my HDD with SSD?

If not, what changes to those steps should I make?

Do I need to modofy the BIOS in anyway?

My goal is to not have to do a backup/restore of the system.

Another goal is to not modify the raid controller settings in anyway so that if I can't get the SSD's to work properly, I can always simply re-install the original HDDs and at least I will be back up and running.

(p.s. I don't want to get a new PC because the newer win os will probably introduce new incompatibilities with my apps/drivers, so I don't want to fix anything that is not currently broken

I appreciate your time in reading this and look forward to any replies.

 

[USAFRet]

My goal is to not have to do a backup/restore of the system.

So what is your fallback plan if this conversion fails?

Beyond that, what is your current backup procedure, besides the RAID 1?

 

[EngineerMind]

So what is your fallback plan if this conversion fails?

Beyond that, what is your current backup procedure, besides the RAID 1?

Doing a backup/restore is the fallback.

 

[USAFRet]

Doing a backup/restore is the fallback.

I meant...total fail during the process.

Your data should be backed up at all times.
Especially when doing a major change like this.

The time to backup the data is before the BadThing happens.
If you don't need it, great.
If you do need it, its too late to go back and do it.

Like buying car insurance 5 minutes after the crash. Doesn't work like that.


Might your procedure work?
I think so.
But I personally would not undertake that without a known good full backup of the whole thing.

Then again, I don't turn my systems on without a full backup.

 

[EngineerMind]

I meant...total fail during the process.

I agree - and since my current system uses 2x 1TB RAID drives, and as I mentioned in step #2, I am making a clone of one of those drives onto the 2TB SSD.

So when I power on the PC with the SSD's in it, the two original drives are not even connected, so they both act as full backups that I can revert to.

 

[USAFRet]

I agree - and since my current system uses 2x 1TB RAID drives, and as I mentioned in step #2, I am making a clone of one of those drives onto the 2TB SSD.

So when I power on the PC with the SSD's in it, the two original drives are not even connected, so they both act as full backups that I can revert to.

And ignoring all the other ways things can go sideways.

As said, "I think" this will work.

But as unanswered, what is your real backup plan for daily operations, besides the RAID 1?

RAID 1 is good for ensuring continued uptime, in the event of a physical drive fail.
It is NOT good for actual data security.

 

[EngineerMind]

I appreciate your concern for my data, but trust me, my data is safe.

So lets just keep this thread on-topic of my specific need - thank you.

 

[USAFRet]

I appreciate your concern for my data, but trust me, my data is safe.

So lets just keep this thread on-topic of my specific need - thank you.

OK.

The reason I went down that road is because far too many people consider a RAID 1 as the only data security thing they need.
We see this here ALL the time.

As to your procedure?
"I think so."