Migration Strategy

[randy771]

After watching this forum intently for the past 6 months I can hardly believe that the Apple Store is down and hopefully adding my new Mac Pro config as we speak.

So as I anticipate a replacement for my MP1.1=> MP2.1, it occurs to me I have never done a MP replacement before. My concern is that I am running my drives (which were recently upgraded to Sata III 6GB) in a raid zero via Softraid. These are backed up via esata to an external 4 drive raid. My boot drive is an SSD in the optical bay. I KNOW, IT WILL BE ALL 2.5 DRIVES...RIGHT?

My question is, what is my best option to upgrade, Could I just retrofit my existing drives into the new MP and just boot it up? How can I ensure that I don't lose my internal Raid. Should I do a fresh install and copy back from my external raid to a fresh OS and drive install?

So, what is the council you would share and what is your upgrade strategy?

PS, After daily reading this site for 6+ months, I'm also concerned about the separation anxiety that is sure to follow... although since there is already a "what next" thread, I guess I'll be OK.http://cdn.macrumors.com/vb/images/smilies/smile.gif

 

[flatfoot]

Provided the new MP will have 3.5" HDD sleds, which I think it will, you can just take the HDDs/SSDs from your old MP, put them in the new one, and be good to go.

The only caveat would be if it is shipped with ML, which is probable, and the software implementation of Apple's SoftRAID has been changed. In case the OS can't handle your "old" RAID, it might get screwed up. That is the less likely scenario.
The bigger problem would be the new MP not supporting Lion due to missing drivers. Then just slapping in the drives won't work at all.

Bottom line: If it ships with Lion, just migrate your old data to it using Migration Assistant, preferably from the eSATA backup since this way it will restore faster than from your old MP.

 

[bpd115]

I also have a 1,1 - 2,1 (was a 2.66 4 core, just dropped in the octo cores last week.)

Are you keeping the 1,1? Pulling the drives out and moving them to the new Pro? I have a 128 Gig SSD Boot partition but keep my home directory on a 1.5 TB standard HD.

I'm keeping my 1,1 and putting the new pro right next to it. What I think I'm going to do is get the 128 gig PCI Express SSD from OWC for the new pro. I'll do a fresh OS install on that, then I'll either just pull the 1.5 TB HD with my home directory and put it in the new pro or move my home directory onto the default HD that came with the new pro....

As for your soft raid, I don't think that will work if you just move the drives. Better to back up that data, pull the drives, raid them on the new pro and move the data back I would imagine.

 

[flatfoot]

...

As for your soft raid, I don't think that will work if you just move the drives. Better to back up that data, pull the drives, raid them on the new pro and move the data back I would imagine.

Yes, it will. All RAID info data is stored on the RAIDed drives themselves, so you can definitely move them between Macs using the same OS. From Lion to ML it should work, too, but see my previous post.

 

[thefredelement]

Is your boot SSD part of the RAID0? If the 0 is just internal data then it should hopefully transfer over fine. If the SSD is part of the raid 0 and that's the boot drive there could be some driver stuff happening there as mentioned above.

I'd freshly install Lion on your SSD after moving it to the new MP, then restore your apps/user from the external drive and drop in your 0 array in there, which would hopefully be all good. Worst case scenario you have to re-crate it and restore from your external data.

Either way I don't think it'd take too long! I kind of like the idea of a fresh start with new hardware

 

[flatfoot]

Is your boot SSD part of the RAID0? ...

How could an SSD be part of a RAID0 of obviously higher capacity mechanical HDDs?

This would

1. totally defeat the speed benefits you gain from an SSD boot drive,
2. limit the total size of the RAID0 to x*(capacity of SSD) despite the fact that the HDDs are higher capacity, and
3. defeat the advantage of having OS/apps on a separate drive.

 

[randy771]

Thanks for the responses I have a stand alone boot drive with home on my raid. I spend this weekend upgrading my gen 2 Airport express to a gen 5 and saw really good results. I also made 3 SSD back up's of my boot drive so I have the option to play with this a bit without to much damage.

I have a pair of Hanns G 27 inch monitors that I think I will also upgrade to Mac TB assuming that is an option. Does anyone think there will be a monitor update any time soon or should I just bite it while the euphoria is abounding?

I do believe it makes sense to start with a fresh Boot OS.
I assume my esata card will be backwards compatible. I guess we can start the "where can I get a memory upgrade" conversation shortly. I feel like an expectant father waiting for the site to come back up..... Cigars all around hopefully shortly...