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Larger drives in legacy NAS
I have ReadyNAS 516 that has 4TB and 8TB drives in it. I also have an old ReadyNAS Business Pro that has 3TB and 4TB drives in it. Both are working fine. I'm thinking of putting 2 larger drives (...
Sandshark wrote:
Note that there are expansion limits if you are still running RAIDiator 4.2.x ...
Yes, though it is unlikely Blues11 will hit them in just yet, since he'd end up with a 9 TB volume after expansion. Unlikely he'd have started with < 1 TB.
But I agree that if there's ever a need to do a factory default (for whatever reason), you should consider converting to OS-6.
Blues11 wrote:
However, they are not on the Hard Disk Compatibility List for the BusinessPro.
Netgear hasn't updated the legacy NAS HCLs for years, so it's not surprising.
These are enterprise-class drives, so they should work fine in your pro.
Note that there are expansion limits if you are still running RAIDiator 4.2.x, but you can always factory default with the larger drives in place.
If you are doing a factory default, now is the time to consider if switching your Pro to OS6 is right for you. The big down side is loss of Netgear support, even paid. But if that's not a concern, there are some big up sides. One is that if your NAS dies (it is getting long in the tooth), you can move the drives directly to a new OS6 NAS and they'll "just work" -- no hoops to jump through and data to back up. Then there is the more up to date Linux kernel, newer apps, and an all-around better GUI (IMHO).
Sandshark wrote:
Note that there are expansion limits if you are still running RAIDiator 4.2.x ...
Yes, though it is unlikely Blues11 will hit them in just yet, since he'd end up with a 9 TB volume after expansion. Unlikely he'd have started with < 1 TB.
But I agree that if there's ever a need to do a factory default (for whatever reason), you should consider converting to OS-6.
StephenB and Sandshark, thank you for the information in your posts. Several years ago I upgraded the OS in the legacy ReadyNAS Business Pro to 6. It's now at 6.10.1 and all the upgrades since going to 6 have been smooth. Although it runs 24/7 the machine is almost solely used as a nightime rsync backup machine for the (newer) ReadyNAS 516.
If you're interested:
I use an extrenal backup device also and I purposely put 2 8TB mirrored drives that on the compatibility list for the 516 in it. It only gets turned on occasionally just for additional backup. However, I'm considering a 12TB drive in there and replacing two 4TB drives in the 516 with the 8TB drives. BTW, the 12TB drive is also on the 516 compatibility list.
Thank you both again for your useful information.
Blues11 wrote:
the 12TB drive is also on the 516 compatibility list.
Generally speaking, any NAS-purposed or enterprise SATA drive should work well in the NAS. Although the wording on the HCL page is pretty strict, the mods here often refer to the HCL as guidelines/recommendations and not something that needs to strictly followed.
One thing you will find (if you haven't already). Many of the larger drives have dropped the side center mounting points in order to maximize the platter size they can fit into the drive. When there is no center mount point, you need to remove the plastic mounting bracket from the tray, and just use the screws to attach the drive to the tray bottom. Often only one set of mount points lines up with the tray holes, but that is enough to hold the drive in securely.
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