OK, I'm positive this has been spoken to before, I did find several posts similar but none that put it all in the same thread.
My machine is running WHS 2011 and StableBit 1.3.6.7585. I have 4 internal drives connected to the motherboard (SATA) and 1 USB3 drive (2 GB) attached to the pool. There are 2 additional USB drives attached, 1 for C: drive backups and 1 as a (manual) mirror for a few folders in the pool.
I'm getting ready to remove two drives (1 TB each) from my pool and install 2 new 4 TB drives, What is the BEST way to handle this?
Microsoft "server backups" are not an issue for me. I do use that function to backup the c: drive to a dedicated USB drive but don't run local backups on the pool drives. I consider the built in duplication plus an offsite mirror of the pool to be sufficient. I hate the thought of having to recover from the cloud (would take weeks) but hope to never have to do it.
My plan is to slap the new drives into the hot swap bay of my Windows 10 machine, format them GPT with 2 equal sized NTFS partitions. Once that is done I'll run an extended SMART test and assuming there are no errors install into the server and add the partitions to the pool. Once the pool balances I'll do the 2nd drive the same way.
---->> Questions <<-----------
Is there a better plan?
My research indicates that WHS is fine with GPT and I like the extra protection against MBR failures it offers. StableBit shouldn't care one way or the other should it?
I don't HAVE to partition at 2 TB but if I change my mind about "server backup" doing it that way keeps this option open. Is there any downside to partitioning the drives (aside from the microscopic capacity decrease)?
Thanks in advance for your advice and thanks for an awesome product. I'm 34 months in without a single issue. Flawless work guys!!
