I've been running ESXi 6.5 for some time on an old Dell T110 server. It hosts a Centos 7 distro, running one main application - Plex Media Server.
It all runs on one 1TB WD Red disk, and the disk is getting nearly full. Before I run out of space as I add more media, I want to increase the storage capacity.
I have a 120GB SSD, and a 4TB WD Red hard disk. I'd welcome advice as to how best to upgrade the storage.
I can see several options of increasing complexity. In all cases I would back up the media data first, to another disk on another machine (I'm doing that as I write).
1. Just add the 4GB disk, and move the data onto it, then configure the Plex Media Server to use that instead of the present location and leave the 1TB disk in place.
2. Start over with a completely new install of ESXi on the 4GB disk, create a VM and install Centos 7 or 8, then reinstall Plex Media Server and copy the media data back onto it.
3. Fit both the SSD and 4TB disk into the server, install ESXi and Centos 7 or 8 then Plex Media server on the SSD, and copy the media data back onto the 4TB disk.
4. Somehow move ESXi and the VM onto the SSD from the 1TB disk, remove the 1TB disk, add the 4TB disk, then move the media data back onto the 4TB disk.
I've no real idea how to do 4 - can it be done without completely starting from scratch? If so, how?
What would you advise for most secure long term performance?