NETGEAR is aware of a growing number of phone and online scams. To learn how to stay safe click here.
Forum Discussion
Max_NAS
Aug 23, 2018Tutor
ReadyNAS 316 additional drives
I have two 3.0TB WD Red drives (WD30EFRX, September 2014) in my 6 bay RE316.
It's time to expand my data capacity, and I was hoping someone could advise on my best options.
Would I need to buy an...
- Aug 23, 2018
Max_NAS wrote:
I have two 3.0TB WD Red drives (WD30EFRX, September 2014) in my 6 bay RE316.
It's time to expand my data capacity, and I was hoping someone could advise on my best options.
Would I need to buy another pair of the same drives to double capacity? Or can I install a single higher capacity drive?
The capacity rule for XRAID single redundancy is "sum the drives and subtract the largest". So in your case adding one additional 3 TB drive will double your capacity.
You could add a larger drive (say a 6 TB WD60EFRX), but you'd only be using 3 TB of it's capacity until you added a second one of that size. Some do plan ahead and do that - over the long haul, larger drives are often more cost effective. But you still have plenty of empty bays, and if your storage needs are growing slowly it might not be a good strategy for you.
You can't add a smaller drive though.
Max_NAS
Apr 07, 2025Tutor
Hi all,
I'm starting to get capacity notifications again, so it's time to add a new hard drive(s).
As my ReadyNAS 316 is 10 years old, and two of the three WD Red 3Tb drives also quite old, I decided to run a disk test - but have no idea how long it's going to run for or what kind or results to expect (see attached).
Regardless of the results, would the community recommend adding a new WD Red to my current system? It seems WD Red 3Tb is no longer available, but a WD Red Plus 4Tb should give me 3Tb. (3+3+3+4-4 = 9Tb)
Or should I replace all drives to be safe?
Thanks,
Related Content
NETGEAR Academy

Boost your skills with the Netgear Academy - Get trained, certified and stay ahead with the latest Netgear technology!
Join Us!