Dell PERC6/i raid 5 question

[viper92086]

Hi i have a server running raid 5 with 3 500gb sata hard drives. the card is a PERC6/i RAID Controller (SATA/SAS Controller). It is currently running an old version of ubuntu and i want to do a fresh installation of the latest LTS version using new drives. I figure i can take all 3 of the old 500gb sata drives out and then install 3 new 1tb drives. Now the question is, if i ever need to revert back to my old drives can i do that? If i need data can i just throw the old drives back in and the old array should become active?

 

[cafcwest]

Upon first boot, the controller would warn you of a foreign configuration. You would need to tell the controller to import the foreign configuration (from the metadata on the discs that were/are in the array). Sounds scary, but it is fairly easy. Just read all the prompts carefully on first boot.

Of course, a good backup would also be a good idea!