Can I migrate QNAP drives to a new QNAP?

Moving a full set of drives from one QNAP to another to carry your data (and often settings) across is a supported migration, QNAP documents it, but there are firmware and model conditions that decide whether it will be smooth.

The key conditions

• Firmware direction: the target NAS should run the same or newer firmware than the source. Migrating into an older-firmware NAS can fail: update the target first.
• Model compatibility: not every source-to-target pairing is supported (for example between different architectures or between QTS and QuTS hero). Check QNAP's migration compatibility for your exact pair.
• Drive order: keep the drives in the same bay order when moving them.

How to do it safely

1. Back up first. A migration touches the pool metadata; a verified backup is your safety net.
2. Update the target NAS firmware to at least the source version.
3. Power down both units, move all drives keeping their order, and boot the new NAS.
4. Follow QNAP's on-screen migration steps to import the pool.

If the pair is unsupported

When a direct drive migration is not supported, the fallback is to set up the new NAS fresh and copy data over the network (or via QNAP's backup/restore tools). Confirm your specific models against QNAP's documentation before pulling any drives. If you add drives during the move, use CMR NAS drives; the table lists options.