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RAID Confusion on ReadNAS 628X
I currently have 5 of my 8 drive bays all filled with identical HDDs. They are configured in "X-RAID". I have two questions:
1. What is the difference, if any, between X-RAID and RAID 5?
2....
Hi XrayDoc88,
1. What is the difference, if any, between X-RAID and RAID 5?
X-RAID is the auto-expandable RAID technology that is available only on ReadyNAS systems. It uses the standard RAID levels, RAID 1, 5 and 6.
With two disks, it will use RAID-1. With three disks, it will use RAID-5. With 4 or more disks, you can optionally select X-RAID with dual redundancy(RAID-6).
With X-RAID, you can add storage space without reformatting the drives or moving the data from another location. You may check this link for more information about X-RAID.
2. I currently get 4 x my drive size as usuable storage space. If I add a sixth HDD, will I get 5 x my drive size as usuable space, or will the NAS automatically convert to RAID 6?
If the volume is configured with X-RAID with single redundancy (RAID-5), it will not automatically convert to RAID-6 when you add the 6th drive. Changing to X-RAID with dual redundancy (RAID-6) would require you to destroy and recreate the volume.
Regards,
Thanks TeknoJnky. My future goal is to back up my ReadyNAS in total as you describe. Currently I have specific folders backed up on various external hard drives located in my house. It is a clunky, manual system. I don't truly trust cloud storage or mainly don't want to spend the money. But as my NAS grows, it almost becomes necessary to build another NAS just to use as the backup. That gets expensive. I currently have about 11 TB of data on my NAS. I guess I could compare the cost of perpetual cloud backup to the cost of building the 2nd NAS. :)
Yes, as storage requirements go up, so does the expense.
Welcome to the club. :)
As you mention, upgrading to or building a new nas, then using the old nas as a backup is a fairly common solution.
And after several years of upgrades, you might find yourself with a good selection of devices which can be used to continously back each other up.
I myself have 4 active readynas devices, my main nas which is then backed up in sections to the others.
Over time, as I upgrade to larger hard drives, I reuse them to upgrade the older nas's as well.
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