I have a Readynas duo V1 which has served me well over the years with 2x2TB drives in flexraid.I had a drive failure, so am now down to one drive. I tried to put in a second drive, but the second drive I had was also faulty (not new). So I updated the firmware to latest version, though drive is still showing as failed. So now I am down to 1x 2TB drive. I want to extend by adding a 750GB drive in the second slot, while retaining the (almost full) 2TB of data on the first drive.I guess if I just insert the 750GB drive, then flexraid will kick in and I'll have problems with the NAS trying to rebuild a RAID array out of two differently sized disks. How can I revert from flexraid to independant disks, without losing the data on the first disk? thanksGuy

Hello GuyCarnegie, What you are trying to attain is a non-RAID architecture called JBOD where there is no parity and no redundancy. I want to ask first, what is the current RAID level? The ReadyNAS Duo v1 (Sparc-based) is an old and EOL system and does not have this option. You can only use XRAID (RAID1) and FlexRAID (RAID0) with this NAS. If you are currently on FlexRAID and you remove one of the disks, there may will be data loss. Remember, RAID0 does not have parity, the data is evenly distributed across the 2 disks, it has no fault tolerance. XRAID on the other hand, will still keep you data intact if one of the disks gets faulty, but you need to insert the same size as a replacement. If you can still access the files anyhow, with or without 2 disks or with just one disk, have a full backup. If you want to have more volume capacity, use FlexRAID (RAID0) with 2x2TB, this will give around 3TB volume capacity. Remember that Sparc-based ReadyNAS do not support more than 2TB disks, so the maximum size of disk that you can use with it is just 2TB. I hope this somehow helps. Regards,

HI Jenn, It might not be flexraid, probably just plan old raid-1. all I know is that it was a simple raid with redundancy, and it's still working with one disk, so I'm guessing it was just "mirroring", which is what, raid-1? I don't want to buy another disk, but I have a 750GB disk handy that I can put into the empty slot. I'm just concerned that the NAS might think that I want to rebuild the array onto the second disk. I don't. So will it be okay going from the remaining half of a 2TB raid-1 pair (which has good, albeit no longer redundant, data, to JBOD with the existing 2TB plus an arbitrary 750GB disk I have lying around? Are there any settings I need to change? thanksGuy

Hello GuyCarnegie, If you can still access the files then that must be RAID1 and you cannot add that smaller size of disk. You need to replace the old disk that died with the same size of the existing one. Once you have a replacement 2TB, insert it to the vacant bay and the NAS should let it resync. Regards,

Hi Jen. I realise that I can't retain the raid 1 function if I add the smaller disk. Is it not possible to revert to JBOD once I have selected to use RAID though?

Hello GuyCarnegie, Your unit does not support JBOD. Your only option here is get a replacement disk that is with the same size of the existing and working one. As always, I strongly recommend to always have full backup. Regards,

reverting from flexraid to two independent disks.

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JennC
NETGEAR Employee Retired
Apr 13, 2016

Hello GuyCarnegie,

What you are trying to attain is a non-RAID architecture called JBOD where there is no parity and no redundancy.

I want to ask first, what is the current RAID level?

The ReadyNAS Duo v1 (Sparc-based) is an old and EOL system and does not have this option. You can only use XRAID (RAID1) and FlexRAID (RAID0) with this NAS. If you are currently on FlexRAID and you remove one of the disks, there may will be data loss. Remember, RAID0 does not have parity, the data is evenly distributed across the 2 disks, it has no fault tolerance. XRAID on the other hand, will still keep you data intact if one of the disks gets faulty, but you need to insert the same size as a replacement.

If you can still access the files anyhow, with or without 2 disks or with just one disk, have a full backup.

If you want to have more volume capacity, use FlexRAID (RAID0) with 2x2TB, this will give around 3TB volume capacity. Remember that Sparc-based ReadyNAS do not support more than 2TB disks, so the maximum size of disk that you can use with it is just 2TB.

I hope this somehow helps.

Regards,
GuyCarnegie
Aspirant
Apr 13, 2016
HI Jenn, It might not be flexraid, probably just plan old raid-1. all I know is that it was a simple raid with redundancy, and it's still working with one disk, so I'm guessing it was just "mirroring", which is what, raid-1?

I don't want to buy another disk, but I have a 750GB disk handy that I can put into the empty slot. I'm just concerned that the NAS might think that I want to rebuild the array onto the second disk. I don't.

So will it be okay going from the remaining half of a 2TB raid-1 pair (which has good, albeit no longer redundant, data, to JBOD with the existing 2TB plus an arbitrary 750GB disk I have lying around? Are there any settings I need to change?

thanks
Guy
- JennC
  NETGEAR Employee Retired
  Apr 13, 2016
  Hello GuyCarnegie,
  
  If you can still access the files then that must be RAID1 and you cannot add that smaller size of disk. You need to replace the old disk that died with the same size of the existing one. Once you have a replacement 2TB, insert it to the vacant bay and the NAS should let it resync.
  
  Regards,
  - GuyCarnegie
    Aspirant
    Apr 13, 2016
    Hi Jen. I realise that I can't retain the raid 1 function if I add the smaller disk. Is it not possible to revert to JBOD once I have selected to use RAID though?

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reverting from flexraid to two independent disks.

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