DEC-850v1 with Netboard A20 Revision 2.0.1-CN

[N0b0dy1985]

Hi, so this is not new information, but I am a dumbass. I was running Zenarmor, ntopng, crowdsec, etc, and logging to my m.2 SATA and NVME disks that are in a ZFS mirror. Predictably, I wrote those disks to 0% and 1% life left over about 18 months. I have now implemented ramdisk; moved all logs to local RAM or to a new remote ELK stack; and verified writes are now about 14GB/day. I am looking to install (2) new NVME disks in a ZFS mirror and ditch the SATA.

The datasheet on the Netboard A20 I have indicates that it has "2x M.2. socket (1x with SATA / PCIe x4 switchable & 1x PCIe x4)". How do I switch the first M.2 socket to be NVME? I am running the latest BIOS and I don't see an option to switch that socket between SATA/NVME.

Do I need a jumper or something? If so, is it in place already and I just need to move it, or do I need to procure one? If the latter, what jumper do I need to buy?

I'm also interested in any tips to migrate this ZFS mirror to a new one. I have recent config backups.

If this isn't the right place to ask, please point me in the right direction.

Thanks much in advance!

[newsense]

You can replace one disk at a time. I would practice with a vm first with a fresh mirrored install and then remove a disk and add another

There seem to be a lot of Linux centric tutorials out there but the commands should work fine

https://jordanelver.co.uk/blog/2018/11/26/how-to-replace-a-failed-disk-in-a-zfs-mirror/

[Patrick M. Hausen]

Make sure to create the mandatory FreeBSD GPT partition structure and use partitions of type freebsd-zfs. Also you will need to copy the boot loader to the new drives. Simply replacing one part of the mirror with an entire raw disk, and then the second part, will lead to an unbootable system.

Easiest way but with more downtime:

- create a configuration export/backup
- shutdown system, change both SSDs
- boot from USB and perform a fresh installation
- if you pick both SSDs in the installer it will create a mirrored setup automatically
- perform config restore

Done.

[pfry]

[...]Do I need a jumper or something?[...]

Given that the quote is "PCIe x4", I assume both sockets are M-keyed... There are shared signals between PCI-e and SATA, but it may auto-detect. I may have even tested it unknowingly - I'd have to go look at my pile o'motherboards. They're signal anyway - it should not be possible to damage an M-keyed SSD by sticking it into an M or M+B slot. I'd definitely look at the link width and version via "pciconf -lbcevV [device]" (format could be wrong) (assuming it's detected).