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Upgrading all Drives in ReadyNas 2304 with RAID-6
I have a couple RR2304 units, both in RAID 6 with 4x8TB storage. One is primary and the other is backup. I am about to deploy a third, off-site NAS to accomplish full redundancy, local, and remote ...
UPDATE: I completed this project and the Flex-RAID volume expanded automatically after the last added drive completed the RAID sync.
Sandshark wrote:Then assuming you have XRAID enabled, your plan will work. Note that this will likely save your time, but the overall time will typically be longer than backing up, starting over with all new drives, and restoring data. With RAID6, at least it won't start off by creating a RAID1 of the additional space once you have two new drives installed, then a RAID5 when you have three, so you'll save that time. It will also put a strain on your older drives, so a drive failure during one of the syncs is a possibility. So, start replacements with the oldest or any that is showing any SMART issues.
I do NOT have XRAID enabled. Will the RAID6 volume not auto expand with a single disk replacement plan? Yes, I know it will take "longer," but I am good with that to keep the production system up and running.
TheDurb wrote:
Will the RAID6 volume not auto expand with a single disk replacement plan?
It is supposed to expand when the fourth disk is upgraded, but that's not something I've tested with FlexRaid/RAID-6.
I don't believe a FlexRAID volume will ever expand automatically. It will definitely not even give you the option to expand if you've not replaced all drives (I have seen that on my NAS). While it is supposed to allow it when all drives are replaced, I've not done so. But it not expanding as you go is a good thing. With each drive added, it will only re-sync the amount of the original drive. When you do expand, it will sync all the new partitions in one operation, saving overall time.
In XRAID, a RAID6 volume will not expand until you have at least 4 drives replaced, so that the new layer can also be RAID6. The basic "rule" is that it won't expand until the new layer can have at least the same level of protection (same failed drives and still operate) as the other(s). So, a RAID5 will expand with two larger drives because the volume can lose either of those drives and both the original RAID5 and the new RAID1 will survive. But to maintain two-drive loss survivability, both layers must be RAID6, which requires four drives.
Sandshark wrote:
I don't believe a FlexRAID volume will ever expand automatically.
The 6.10 software manual says otherwise, and we did get a post from a recent poster confirming expansion with a RAID-5 array. See page 40 here:
But I haven't tested this myself - the only NAS I have running FlexRAID is using jbod volumes, so inherently not expandable.
TheDurb: You could see if the system will let you switch to X-RAID. There would be no downtime (and no adverse consequences). If it lets you switch, then the question of expansion doesn't arise.
Actually, the manual doesn't say it will expand automatically, but it also doesn't say you have to do anything other than replace the drives. I've never done that -- I replaced some in a 12-bay rack-mount system and had to manually expand via SSH. But if a user confirmed it's automatic, I'll accept that. It doesn't really matter in this case. The big thing is that it won't expand until all drives are replaced, which will save time.
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