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readynas 102 can't expand storage by adding a new hard drive
I have tried twice to install a new hard drive in bay 2 to expand my storage but the readynas does not automatically expand and go to raid 5 as it should. I have not changed x raid. The drive has been recongnised and synchronised but usuable space has not increased.
I then tried changing x raid to add a new volume to see if that changed anything but can not select new drive to add volume as it is greyed out.
Any suggestions as I'm stumped.
walamt wrote:
I have tried twice to install a new hard drive in bay 2 to expand my storage but the readynas does not automatically expand and go to raid 5 as it should.
You need at least 3 disks to change to RAID-5. With XRAID, the second disk converts the array to RAID-1. That adds redundancy, but does not increase storage.
If you want to increase storage, you'd switch to flexraid. The best approach is to then add the second disk as JBOD - creating a second volume that you can put new shares on.
If your array is already RAID-1 (likely), then you'll need to create a new volume - you can't downgrade it back to jbod. The simplest way to do that is do a factory reset with only one drive in place. Then switch to flexraid after the NAS is set up.
3 Replies
walamt wrote:
I have tried twice to install a new hard drive in bay 2 to expand my storage but the readynas does not automatically expand and go to raid 5 as it should.
You need at least 3 disks to change to RAID-5. With XRAID, the second disk converts the array to RAID-1. That adds redundancy, but does not increase storage.
If you want to increase storage, you'd switch to flexraid. The best approach is to then add the second disk as JBOD - creating a second volume that you can put new shares on.
If your array is already RAID-1 (likely), then you'll need to create a new volume - you can't downgrade it back to jbod. The simplest way to do that is do a factory reset with only one drive in place. Then switch to flexraid after the NAS is set up.
Thanks Stephen, that worked. You know I couldn't find any information relating to that issue.
There are some knowledge-base articles and some info on RAID in the user manual (starting on page 22) here: http://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/GDC/READYNAS-100/READYNAS_OS_6_SM_EN.pdf
But lots of people do get surprised when they add a second disk and the available space doesn't increase. Perhaps adding some specifics about that situation to the user manual and in this knowledge-base article would help.
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