Requesting Advice On Migrating from Old NAS to New NAS

[smg669]

Currently have a DS920+ with 4 drives that are not in a RAID configuration (drives vary in size and are each their own Storage Pool with a single BTRFS Volume per drive ). Moving to a DS1520+ with 5 identical 14TB drives configured as RAID5 with a single Storage Pool.

Ideally I would like to mount the old drives (one at a time) from the 920+ in an eSATA/USB3 drive dock connected directly to the DS1520+... but am I correct in understanding that Synology will not allow me to mount a Synology BTRFS volume externally?

If that is the case, what is the fastest way to get this data (~34TB) from the old system to the new system? Internal network is gigabit.

Thanks in advance for any advice...

 

[Telos]

Why not simply transfer via Ethernet? No need to remove the drives from the 920+.

Shared Folder Sync could transfer (1 GbE limitations) the shared folder content to the new unit.

 

[smg669]

Why not simply transfer via Ethernet? No need to remove the drives from the 920+.

Shared Folder Sync could transfer (1 GbE limitations) the shared folder content to the new unit.

I was thinking I could potentially get more throughput via USB or eSATA. Is that not the case in a real world scenario?

 

[Telos]

I was thinking I could potentially get more throughput via USB or eSATA.

You could try that, but DSM is not always happy to read Synology partitioned drives from a USB dock. Can't hurt to try. USB3 will outperform a 1GbE connection.

I don't believe the eSATA connection will do what you are hoping, unless you have a DX available.

 

[smg669]

You could try that, but DSM is not always happy to read Synology partitioned drives from a USB dock. Can't hurt to try. USB3 will outperform a 1GbE connection.

I don't believe the eSATA connection will do what you are hoping, unless you have a DX available.

That's an interesting thought... if I acquired a DX517 and hooked it up to the new DS1520+ I should be able to pop those 4 drives that I pulled out of the old DS920+ and they should mount inside DSM on 1520+ and I should be able to copy that data from those individual drives onto the new RAID? I wonder if that's worth it?

The downside is that I will lose access to the files/apps on the 920+ while the transfer is taking place – so more downtime. I wonder how long the 34TB data migration is going to take over gigabit ethernet?

 

[Telos]

I wonder how long the 34TB data migration is going to take over gigabit ethernet?

If you get 500 Mb/s on average... it will take approx 150 hours to transfer 34 TB.

 

[itsjasper]

Another option - grab a couple of USB 2.5 or 5 GbE adaptors that are compatible with the below community drivers and use those to reduce the copy time:

Realtek up to 2.5GbE - GitHub - bb-qq/r8152: Synology DSM driver for Realtek RTL8152/RTL8153/RTL8156 based adapters
Aquantia up to 5GbE - GitHub - bb-qq/aqc111: DSM driver for Aquantia AQC111U(5Gbps) based USB Ethernet adapters

I’m using the Realtek driver on my DS720, it works well. You’ll likely not max out the links with spinning rust though.

 

[smg669]

Another option - grab a couple of USB 2.5 or 5 GbE adaptors that are compatible with the below community drivers and use those to reduce the copy time:

Realtek up to 2.5GbE - GitHub - bb-qq/r8152: Synology DSM driver for Realtek RTL8152/RTL8153/RTL8156 based adapters
Aquantia up to 5GbE - GitHub - bb-qq/aqc111: DSM driver for Aquantia AQC111U(5Gbps) based USB Ethernet adapters

I’m using the Realtek driver on my DS720, it works well. You’ll likely not max out the links with spinning rust though.

Interesting option – would at least max out the throughput of the single 3.5" mechanical drives (some might even be 5400rpm - I'd have to check). I assume I would need to also have a 2.5GbE hub/switch in the mix?

 

[itsjasper]

Interesting option – would at least max out the throughput of the single 3.5" mechanical drives (some might even be 5400rpm - I'd have to check). I assume I would need to also have a 2.5GbE hub/switch in the mix?

You could direct connect or go via a switch (I use a QNAP unmanaged 2.5Gbe switch). Both options would work fine.

 

[fredbert]

I’ve not investigated the SMB multi-channel feature that’s been added recently (is it still in a beta release? don’t remember). Maybe worth looking into since both NAS have multiple 1GbE interfaces. Then could use SMB to get improved inter-device transfers. I assume you have a switch with sufficient ports.

 

[Coop777]

Won't help you short term...but why not go with the DS1522+ ? It has an expansion port for adding a 10 GBE NIC. You of course then will need a switch with 10GBE ports and a minimum of CAT 6A cabling.