Replacing Old Deller

[aultako]

Executive summary:

Working HDD from a dead Ubuntu file server. Seeking advice as to the best plan for moving the data to a new NAS.

Details:

About 2-3 years ago I repurposed an old Dell as a file server (pretty much just my photographs)- put in a 2TB WD Caviar Black HDD and installed Ubuntu on the original HDD. Pretty much just turned it on and left it running, except for vacations.

Just returned from a week away, pushed the on button, and nothing. I have pulled the drives from the machine and they are both in working order.

My thinking is that a RAID 1 NAS will fit the bill nicely. The question is, How do I get the data from the working 2TB hdd onto the NAS? I have about 600GB of data on the old disk (backed up to Amazon S3).

Ideally, I'd like to get a box-only NAS, get a twin for the working HDD, plug them both in, and dupe the old onto the new, then continue as before. I have no idea if this is possible. FWIW, all my other devices are Windows 10, except for an old Windows 7 laptop which I could happily convert to Ubuntu.

Any thoughts, advice, etc. are most welcome. Please feel free to question the underlying assumption that an NAS is the way forward, etc.

 

[Ralston18]

Well you know Ubunto so I would feel the natural way to go would be to install Ubuntu on the old Windows 7 laptop and temporarily establish the old 2TB HDD as an external drive on the laptop.

Get the laptop on your network again (in lieu of the old Dell) and that should set you up for further data transfers/backups as you deem necessary.

If things go astray you should still the original data on the old 2TB drive and can try again.

 

[aultako]

Well you know Ubunto so I would feel the natural way to go would be to install Ubuntu on the old Windows 7 laptop and temporarily establish the old 2TB HDD as an external drive on the laptop.

If things go astray you should still the original data on the old 2TB drive and can try again.

This had occurred to me, but being a cheap so-and-so, I was hoping to recycle the old drive in the NAS, rather than add it to the growing pile of working but redundant HDDs sitting on my shelf.

 

[Ralston18]

Would not consider that as being "cheap". Reuse, Repurpose, Recycle....

Even if you use physically identical HDDs the two drives will not be twins per se if one drive is older and has seen more use.

The real issue is keeping the process simple.... While still keeping the original data source secure or verifiably backed up.

Would be nice if there was some one-step application that could manage all of the "interim" steps that you will need. However, I would want full control from start to finish to both learn how and if it is all working. Plus being confident that the original source is protected from my own "user error".

The process may take several steps. However, you may be able to take further advantage of some of those redundant drives. Pick two that are the closess match, set up a RAID1 and experiment. Establish your own hardware/software SOPs on a smaller scale and test. Then you will be able to determine the next, larger scale, requirements. See if the old drive/NAS can fit in somehow.