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Can I setup an active RAID 1 drive to another computer without losing data?

Is there a specific method to disconnecting a USB 3 RAID 1 drive from an old computer to a new Windows 10 computer? My fear is that once I reconnect the drive to a new computer I'll be forced to re-format the drive or create a new simple volume.

My raid setup is a Lacie 2big Quadra 8TB in RAID 1 on a windows 10 machine. I'm getting a new Win 10 pc to replace this one.

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

David Favor

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Mike Schrock

If this is an external device it shouldn't matter in a RAID 1 setup, that is setup to be mirrored, no loss of data should occur if 1 drive is lost.
Seems to be in an enclosure like a small NAS but in USB form. Could eject it first (Safely remove hardware) to ensure.

Have you unplugged it from this computer before?
Have a laptop or another device to try it on?

David Favor

Oh... Maybe you mean actually removing one drive from a RAID 1 array enclosure, where you break RAID 1.

If this is what you mean, the biggest problem will be the on drive format.

Some RAID devices use a proprietary format.

Best bet is just to make a backup of your RAID 1 array, then pull a disk from one location, insert it in another location.

If the drive format isn't recognized, reformat the drive + restore your backup.

Dave Zamora

ASKER

Thanks, guys. David, this is for moving a RAID 1 USB 3 enclosure to another computer. Wasn't sure if it behaved like a non-raid external drive in this regard. Thanks! This answered my question.

David Favor

You're welcome!

Yes, moving entire enclosures is very easy.

Do remember, if you RAID hardware stores data in some proprietary format, then be sure to take a backup first, if you're breaking RAID + pulling one disk to move to another machine/enclosure.