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Is it possible to DECREASE the number of disks?
Hi, currently I have 5x2TB discs in the NAS (iOS 6.10.2). I'd like to move to 2x10TB configuration as the next step (and later add other 10TB ones as needed). Is this possible somehow? I do not want ...
Welcome to the Community!
It would be possible if you will use Flex-RAID and add 1 disk to your 6 Bay NAS and create a new volume (JBOD) transfer the data to that disk but we recommend doing a backup on another one to make sure you don't lose any in case of an incident and then remove your 5x2TB disks once all data has been transferred. You will have then 5 bays available so you can add the 2nd disk and then expand to RAID1.
It's not possible to just replace the disks since what will happen is that it will be part of the current RAID configuration (RAID5) so achieving the goal without creating another volume or without transferring the data to a new volume is not possible.
RAID configuration will also change from RAID5 to RAID1 since you will only use 2 disks in total.
HTH
Regards
Welcome to the Community!
It would be possible if you will use Flex-RAID and add 1 disk to your 6 Bay NAS and create a new volume (JBOD) transfer the data to that disk but we recommend doing a backup on another one to make sure you don't lose any in case of an incident and then remove your 5x2TB disks once all data has been transferred. You will have then 5 bays available so you can add the 2nd disk and then expand to RAID1.
It's not possible to just replace the disks since what will happen is that it will be part of the current RAID configuration (RAID5) so achieving the goal without creating another volume or without transferring the data to a new volume is not possible.
RAID configuration will also change from RAID5 to RAID1 since you will only use 2 disks in total.
HTH
Regards
Marc_V wrote:
It would be possible if you will use Flex-RAID and add 1 disk to your 6 Bay NAS and create a new volume (JBOD) transfer the data to that disk but we recommend doing a backup on another one to make sure you don't lose any in case of an incident and then remove your 5x2TB disks once all data has been transferred. You will have then 5 bays available so you can add the 2nd disk and then expand to RAID1.
Note any installed apps are stored on your current data volume. So you also need to uninstall the apps before you destroy that volume, and reinstall them afterwards.
FWIW, RAID isn't enough to keep your data safe, so you really should have a backup plan in place for the NAS. If you do make a backup as Marc_V recommends, I'd suggest that you might as well just do a fresh install with the new disks in place, and restore the data from the backup.
Thank you for the answers. I have X-RAID.
So most probably I'll keep the old 2TB discs and replate them iteratively as needed ... other options seem too complicated.
jardako wrote:
So most probably I'll keep the old 2TB discs and replate them iteratively as needed ... other options seem too complicated.
That is the simplest way. Then all you need to decide is which disks to replace first. All things being equal, replace the oldest. You can see the smart info (including power-on hours) in the log zip file. Look in disk_info.log.
The capacity rule for XRAID is "sum the disks and subtract the largest". The NAS reports space in TiB (1024*1024*1024*1024 bytes), not in TB (1000*1000*1000*1000).
If you start with 5x2TB, then you have an 8 TB volume now (~7.2 TiB). If you add the first 10 TB disk to the empty slot, then the volume will expand to 10 TB (not using the "extra" 8 TB in the new disk). After the resync completes, you replace one of the 2 TB drives with the second disk. That resync will take longer (and might require a reboot along the way). You'll end up with a 20 TB (~18.1 TiB) volume. If you leave an empty slot, and replace two of the existing disks you'll end up with an 18 TB (~16.3 TiB) volume.
I also suggest hot-inserting (or hot-swapping) the new disks with the NAS running. That ensures that the NAS will properly detect the removal and insertion. Also, it's wise to update your backup first. The data isn't protected during the resync, and the each resync requires every sector of all the drives to be either read or written. If there's an undetected issue with one of the existing disks it will likely result in a failed resync and your data will be lost.
It is possible via SSH to reduce the number of drives: Reducing-RAID-size-removing-drives-WITHOUT-DATA-LOSS-is-possible . But given you have an open bay, the method suggested above is easier and safer. It is also possible, again usng SSH, to save the apps when you destroy the original volume: How-to-save-your-apps-when-destroying-your-main-volume , but unless you have a difficult to duplicate configuration, it's not normally worth it.
You also lose your personal folder contents when you destroy the original main volume. So, make sure you create shares or folders for their contents and copy or move them to the new drive before you destroy the original volume. Note that if you do make them shares, you cannot name them the same as the user since that's reserved for the bullt-in ones. And you won't get a new personal folder for any user until they log in (just like for a new user).
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