How can I migrate data from an old NAS to a new NAS using a JBOD?

Last modified date: 2025-06-19

Applicable Products

QTS, Storage & Snapshots, JBOD

Scenario

My old QNAP NAS is no longer bootable, but the internal hard drives are still in good condition.

I want to migrate my data to a new NAS, and I have a TL series JBOD. Can I just move the drives from the older NAS to the JBOD and then connect the JBOD to the new NAS?

Explanation

Yes, you can recover data using your TL series JBOD (e.g., TL-D800C) to migrate your data to a new NAS.

What you will need:

A new QNAP NAS
A TL series JBOD
Note
A TL series JBOD is required for data recovery because it can integrate with the NAS as part of the system’s storage pool, allowing you to use the “Attach and Recover Storage Pool” feature. In contrast, a TR series JBOD is detected as an external storage with hardware RAID and cannot be used to recover system volumes or RAID configurations from a failed NAS.
The original hard drives from your failed NAS (keep them in the same order)

Procedure

Important

DO NOT insert the old hard drives directly into the new NAS.

Connect the TL JBOD to the new NAS using an appropriate USB cable.
Power on both the NAS and the JBOD.
Insert the original hard drives from the old NAS into the JBOD in the same order.
On the new NAS, go to Storage & Snapshots in QTS / QuTS hero (or Storage Manager in newer OS versions).
Select Attach and Recover Storage Pool.

The system will scan existing storage pools on the inserted drives and allow you to mount the recovered storage pool.

What happens to volume and folder names after data recovery?

To prevent naming conflicts with existing volumes or folders on the new NAS, the system will automatically rename recovered data:
- Example:
  - DataVol1 → DataVol1_1
  - Public → Public-1
This ensures that your recovered data remains intact and accessible without overwriting or interfering with any existing configurations on the new NAS. Please see the following screenshots of the new NAS after successfully mounting the data using a TL series JBOD.
The following screenshot shows the recovered and renamed folders in File Station.