Ready for expansion (RN Pro Pioneer Edition)-Seeking Advice

Thanks all for the detailed responses. I will need some time to digest the info and find where I can buy the drives. Also, the 3TB's vs. 2TB's upgrade comparison is very nice to see - I appreciate the detailed example provided.

First, yes I will need to updated my firmware. I originally stopped upgrades at v .12 because of an issue I ran into sharing an Outlook .pst from the NAS (to all pc's on the network). Now, since I have taken the .pst file off the NAS, I can upgrade the firmware.

I have two couple of questions so far from what I read.

1.

StephenB wrote:
I was assuming you had a four slot unit. You can get more space by using your two empty slots. If you add 2 more disks ( 1 TB or greater) then your array will expand by 2 TB, and any extra will be wasted for now, until you upgrade the second pair to the larger size....

Are you saying if I added only one 2TB (to empty slot #5), I only gain 1TB (over current capacity), and only if I add another 2TB (to empty slot #6) will I gain a full 2 TB of space?

2. I am comparing the two upgrade routes you listed (THANKS for this!), and want to understand what you stated:

For upgrading with 2TB's:

StephenB wrote:
(1) adding 2x2TB ... You gain 2 TB of space - double what you have now.

and
For upgrading with 3TB's:

StephenB wrote:
(1) Adding 2x3TB ... You gain 2 TB of space

Does adding a pair of 3TB's (into empty slots #5 and #6) yield only 2 TB of space, which is the SAME as adding a pair of 2TB's? If yes, why is this? I originally thought adding the pair of 3TB's yields a gain of 3 TB of space.


3. How dependable are 3TB's now? When I first purchased the NAS in 2000, I read of many issues with drives larger than 1.5TB. This is the main reason I decided to start with 4x 1TB's.

4. Will there be a good chance SATA drives will not be found (at least at good prices) over the next four to six years time frame, replaced by Solid State drives? This
is one concern as having SATA's either no longer being manufactured or sky-rocket in price because of limited supply will limit my future upgrade abilities.

5. Where are good vendors to search for good supply of approved (on HCL) drives? I tried Tiger Direct and Directron (two vendors I am familiar with) but cannot find any approved drives.