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SolwayMist's avatar
SolwayMist
Aspirant
Jul 06, 2017
Solved

Which RAID should I use

I have a ReadyNas Pro 6 which runs on Radiator 4.2.31 The Pro 6 has 3TB, 3TB, 1TB, 2TB, 3TB, 3TB disks installed   I am in the processing of backing up my files before upgrading to OS6 I currentl...
  • StephenB's avatar
    Jul 06, 2017

    SolwayMist wrote:

     

    I currently have X-RAID2 on my Pro 6 which gives me dual disk redundancy.

     

    This is a common mistake.  While you can set up X-RAID2 for dual redundancy, the "2" doesn't mean you have done so.  It just means XRAID version 2.  Note OS6 just calls it XRAID again.

     

    The rule for single-redundancy is "sum the disks and subtract the largest".  With 4x3TB + 1 TB + 2 TB, that works out to 12 TB.  Frontview shows space in TiB (labeling it incorrectly), so it would show about 10.9.  If that's about what you are seeing, then you are using single redundancy now.

     

    The rule for dual-redundancy is to "sum the disks and subtract the two largest".  That would be 9 TB (or ~8.2 TiB).  If you are seeing that now, then you are dual redundancy.

     

    OS-6 will give you the same sizes, though you get to dual redundancy is a somehat different way.  The calculator is confusing you because straight RAID-6 requires equal size disks.  Dual redundancy XRAID2 only requires that the four largest disks be the same size.

     

    To answer your original question:  Which RAID should I use?

    I recommend single redundancy XRAID in your case, with the caution that you should put a backup plan in place.  (You should do that no matter what RAID mode you use).  Investing in a backup solution is better choice than investing in dual redundancy.

     

    Of course you could do both, but the backup solution is the higher priority.

     

     

     

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