Moving External USB Drive to another port.

  • I am new to OMV, just got it set up on an old Dell T100 server. Internal hard drive space is very limited (2 drives) So I have opted for some externals. So here is my question.


    I am going to install a USB 3.0 PCI card into the server. I want to move the one USB hard drive to the ports on the USB 3.0 card for faster transfer. But it already has data and is mounted into the system with shares set up. If I move it do I risk losing the data as it might change the drive designation (sdb1) ?


    Can the data remain on the drive and be mounted re-mounted after the port swap without doing a format?


    Any help will be appreciated. thanks

    • Offizieller Beitrag

    If I move it do I risk losing the data as it might change the drive designation (sdb1) ?

    Your drive device name (/dev/sdb1) may change, but the data will still be on the drive.


    Can the data remain on the drive and be mounted re-mounted after the port swap without doing a format?

    Yes - don't reformat - the drive can be remounted (under Storage, Filesystems). After mounting, check your shares to see if they exist and are on the network.


    ______________________________________________________


    The following may not be necessary - but is provided if needed:


    Existing shared folders, on the drive, can be re-pointed to the new device under Access Rights Management, Shared Folders. Edit a share and the following dialog box appears. In the drop down Device menu, select the appropriate drive/device label. (Device name to label info can be found in Storage, Filesystems.)


    Once a shared folder is re-pointed, the SMB (network) share layered onto it will follow. Repeat for the remaining shared folders on this drive.



  • Sweet, that is what I was hoping. Now to get a Sata power extension so I can run my USB PCI card. Thank you

    As drives are mounted "by-label" there should me no issue if the device name changes (sda, sdb, sdc).

    Thank you as well.

  • I am going to install a USB 3.0 PCI card into the server

    Bad idea since USB3 storage with Linux could be best described as worst choice possible due to a lot of reliability issues popping up.


    You didn't say which OMV version you're using (matters since different OMV versions reference drives by different means). When disks are referenced by label be prepared that the label might change depending on the USB enclosure in question so from OMV's point of view the disk is another one after attaching it via USB. Some USB-to-SATA bridges also 'eat' the last one or two sectors so the disk might not even be of same size afterwards.


    Better look for a 2 port eSATA card based on ASM1061 or ASM1062 chipset combined with a separately powered eSATA enclosure. No hassles then since the drive is still accessible via SATA and from OMV's view nothing has changed.


    Edit: only now realized that you're moving an already existing USB disk enclosure from an USB2 port to an USB3 port. Still opting for eSATA is the better idea.

  • Bad idea since USB3 storage with Linux could be best described as worst choice possible due to a lot of reliability issues popping up.
    You didn't say which OMV version you're using (matters since different OMV versions reference drives by different means). When disks are referenced by label be prepared that the label might change depending on the USB enclosure in question so from OMV's point of view the disk is another one after attaching it via USB. Some USB-to-SATA bridges also 'eat' the last one or two sectors so the disk might not even be of same size afterwards.


    Better look for a 2 port eSATA card based on ASM1061 or ASM1062 chipset combined with a separately powered eSATA enclosure. No hassles then since the drive is still accessible via SATA and from OMV's view nothing has changed.


    Edit: only now realized that you're moving an already existing USB disk enclosure from an USB2 port to an USB3 port. Still opting for eSATA is the better idea.

    Hey thank you for the input. Sorry for late reply. I never did do that but when I do I will go the eSATA route. Thanks.

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