ReadyNAS Duo V2 Memory expansion and organisation

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Sabedi wrote:

 

It is definitely a Duo V2 - I have both RAIDar 4.3.8 & 6.0 and they both state it is a V2.

I think I will pursue option 1 - but a few follow up questions if I may:

• If I install the WD40EFRX in the 2nd bay, it will backup my existing 2TB drive and I still only have access to 2TB space (effectively losing 2TB on the new drive)?
• Once the back up is done, if I then swap the original 2TB in the 1st bay with another WD40EFRX, that will then back up the drive in the 2nd bay but now I have a total of 4TB space to utilise?
• This way will not require me to do any factory reset of the original 2TB drive?

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Yes to all.  Simply hot-inserting the WD40EFRX will convert your existing volume to RAID-1 with no expansion of space.  Hot-swapping the 2 TB drive later on with another WD40EFRX would expand your storage to 4 TB.  No need for a factory reset.

As an aside - there is a newer version of the 4 TB Red called the WD40EFAX.  This newer model uses SMR ("shingled magnetic recording") instead of CMR ("conventional magnetic recording").  There are some downsides to using SMR in RAID, so I'd recommend sticking to the EFRX if you can (at least for now).  There is a youtuber who is posting some detailed performance tests on these two models - though the most important tests haven't been posted yet.