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Forum Discussion
novice ReadyNAS user: "volume expansion failed", how to address this problem?
Hi all, I'm very much a novice when it comes to this machine (I just have put in drives and used it) and I'm having a problem, really hope someone can help.
I've just added a WD 6TB drive to my last open slot (4 bay unit) and, after almost 2 days, I got the message in the website log: "volume expansion failed".
The model name I can find is "ReadyNAS NV+ v2" and "RND4000v2", it's configured as X-RAID2 and it's running firmware RAIDiator 5.3.11
The drives in the ReadyNAS are (in order of adding, they were added one by one):
1) Western Digital WDC WD30EFRX-68AX9N0 2794 GB
2) Seagate ST4000VN000-1H4168 3726 GB
3) Seagate ST4000VN000-1H4168 3726 GB
4) Western Digital WDC WD60EFRX-68L0BN1 5589 GB (this is the drive that led to "volume expansion failed")
Not sure what to do at this point, can anyone help? (I've read many posts in this forum on the issue, but they're mostly beyond my understanding). Without the new drive, the ReadyNAS is completely full, and I could sure use some more space!
Thanks very much in advance for any help.
Chas
28 Replies
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HI chasg,
The HDD you wont to insert in the ReadyNAS NV+ v2 is not supported. The max size of the HDDs for this model are 4 TB.
http://kb.netgear.de/app/answers/detail/a_id/20641/~/readynas-hard-disk-compatibility-list
Second the Max capacity that you can use for your NAS is 12 TB
http://www.netgear.de/images/ReadyNAS_Duov2_NV_deut22-40014.pdf
You are running your NAS system with different size HDDs in X-RAID2. You are losing right now 2 TB of space. Should change the X- RAID to flex RAID. But to do this, you need to save your data external and do a Factory Reset. ( By change the RAID the data will be lost)There is no technical reason why the 6 TB drive won't work - Netgear essentially never updates the HCL for end-of-life NAS. There is at least one other v2 user who reported here that he success with this drive.
As far as XRAID expansion goes, on the v2 it does support mismatched drive sizes. The original 3 TB + 2x4TB configuration would not have wasted any space. Adding a 6 TB drive to the mix will result in 2 TB of wasted space, but it should have expanded from 7 TB to 11 TB (10 TiB would be shown on the dashboard).
What volume size are you seeing?
Hi StephenB, thanks also for the help!
That's very helpful info (and I suspected as such, given that specs are often set long before new tech, like 6TB drives, exist).
The volume size I'm seeing now is 6.3TB (the 6TB drive is in, but of course not being used).
I have an 8TB drive coming in (it was going to be an archive drive). With it, I can offload all of the data on my ReadyNAS to start from scratch. Is there a way I can use all the 4 drives I have (3TB, 2 x 4TB and 6TB), avoid any wasted space and keep redundancy? If the 2TB of wasted space is inevitable, I'll just get a 4TB drive instead.
Cheers!
Chas
Thanks very much for the reply BlueScreen101.
Ok, so as I understand your reply (thanks for the links):
1) I can't use the 6TB WD Red drive in my ReadyNAS because
a) my ReadyNAS can use 4TB drives max
b) my ReadyNAS is already close to 12TB (it already has 10TB)
2) I can gain an extra 2TB by changing from X-RAID2 to flex RAID. Could you point me to a way to do this, please? (I'm such a novice that I don't even know how to do a factory reset!). Does Flex RAID offer all of the benefits that X-RAID2 does? (for me, it's using different sized drives will full redundancy). I have an 8TB drive on order that I was going to use as an archive drive, so I can safely offload all the data from my NAS to do a factory reset.
Cheers!
Chas
chasg wrote:
Thanks very much for the reply BlueScreen101.
Ok, so as I understand your reply (thanks for the links):
1) I can't use the 6TB WD Red drive in my ReadyNAS because
a) my ReadyNAS can use 4TB drives max
b) my ReadyNAS is already close to 12TB (it already has 10TB)
2) I can gain an extra 2TB by changing from X-RAID2 to flex RAID. Could you point me to a way to do this, please? (I'm such a novice that I don't even know how to do a factory reset!). Does Flex RAID offer all of the benefits that X-RAID2 does? (for me, it's using different sized drives will full redundancy). I have an 8TB drive on order that I was going to use as an archive drive, so I can safely offload all the data from my NAS to do a factory reset.
Well he said both (a) and (b) but both are incorrect. The 12 TB ceiling he quotes is assuming RAID-5/xraid with 4x4TB installed. It is just a consequence of the 4 TB max size on the HCL. The actual volume size ceiling on the v2 NAS is 16 TiB.
If you want full redundancy, you either need a second 6 TB drive or you need to waste 2 TB. There's no way to get both (flexraid won't get you there).
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