Server Migration: Windows Server to Unraid

[kkhan 16]

I am a long time emby user on Windows with a storage RAID pool of 60TB. Need some guidance on the best practice for migrating my emby server from Windows Server to Unraid.  Have to do this as tRaid is no longer supported and is causing stability issues.

Ideally, I would like to keep all bookmarks intact in the migration.  In the past when migrating between Windows servers, I have merely copied the entire Emby-Server directory to the new platform taking care to ensure that all the UNC paths are identical between machines.  Can I do this when moving to Unraid? Or should I do a virgin install and setup the libraries anew keeping same UNC paths; then update bookmarks and users using the backup plugin.

Any advice would be welcome.

 

[Neminem 1524]

It really depends on your setup.

Are you keeping the storage pool, on windows ?

If not then your UNC paths will not work.

 

What I did when i moved to unraid.

I borrowed a Copple of big usb drives and made a copy of my storage pool.

With that i place I converted my server to unraid and setup my storage pools there.

And copied my files over.

 

I would backup your users data with the "Server Configuration Backup" plugin.

Then start a new on Unraid.

When everything is ready restore the Server Configuration so users dont lose watch history.

If you have meta data within your folder rebuilding will be pretty fast.

 

[rbjtech 5284]

If you are using proper unc paths (ie \\server\share\filename) - then it really should be that that easy.

Obviously backup the emby config etc first - but all users, config, watchstate etc should come across without issue.

[kkhan 16]

Thanks guys.

I will not be keeping my storage pool in windows; that machine will be decommissioned and repurposed.  I have a backup of the entire pool so will restore the data into Unraid.  I would have thought that if i duplicate the UNC paths exactly (by renaming the docker instance network name to match the original windows machine and setting appropriate shares), the old UNC paths would work. rbjtech, you appear to contradict jaycedk on this point or am I misunderstanding your meaning?

A final question: are watchstates path dependent?  If yes, then I will absolutely need to duplicate the unc paths exactly otherwise the watchstates will not restore correctly.

Thanks again for your advice.  I can tell you one thing: I am most definitely not looking forward to copying 60TB of data!

[rbjtech 5284]

That is one of the major benefits of using UNC path names even if the drives are 'local' - it makes them 'portable'.

So lets say your unc pathname is \\server\share\filename.mkv - it doesn't matter to emby if that actual file is on local storage or on the moon - as it will reference it via the UNC and it's up to the OS to translate it to the real storage location.

Watch states are based on the provider ID of the item (imdb, tmdb/tvdb etc) - so again, it doesn't matter if the actual path changes. 

60TB will take DAYS to copy via a 1Gig network, but that's just the way it is ..  

[pwhodges 2012]

As I understand it, watch states are tied to the tvdbid/tmdbid.

Paul

[kkhan 16]

Thanks everyone for your very helpful advice; much appreciated. 60TB ... sigh!  I am considering getting two 10GB SFP+ NICs and a DAC cable to speed things up.  It will be a sound investment.

 

[rbjtech 5284]

13 hours ago, kkhan said:

Thanks everyone for your very helpful advice; much appreciated. 60TB ... sigh!  I am considering getting two 10GB SFP+ NICs and a DAC cable to speed things up.  It will be a sound investment.

 

Don't bother - your disk I/O will max out well before the 10Gb Ethernet - possibly worth going 2.5Gb as that will match the ~200Mbytes/sec speed of the disks but in all honesty as it's a one off operation - then just be patient lol. 

Edited March 4, 2023 by rbjtech

[kkhan 16]

I agree but am upgrading my network to 10GB anyway so have just brought forward the purchase of a couple of 10GBE NICs. Every little bit will help