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schlaraffen's avatar
schlaraffen
Aspirant
Aug 27, 2020
Solved

X-RAID change/upgrade question

Hello,

 

I do have a tiny question about upgrading an X-RAID setup. I am running a RN104 with 4 x 4TB disks with a total 10.90TB of capacity. Currently I am looking for some possible disk upgrade possibilities.

  1. If I would exchange 1x 4TB disk with ...lets say a 8 TB disk, nothing would change regarding the total capacity of 10.90TB. Right?
  2. If I would exchange 2x 4TB disks with 2x8TB disks, the total capacity of the X-Raid would increase to 14.90TB. Right?

 

Is a mixed disk environment like mentions in option number 2 possible and would it work? Of course I would plan to exchange the other 2 x 4TB disk for performance reason after a while to get a native 4 x 8TB config at the end.

Any feedback is welcome.

 

Thank you very much.

Stefan

 

 

 

 

 

 


  • schlaraffen wrote:

     

    1. If I would exchange 1x 4TB disk with ...lets say a 8 TB disk, nothing would change regarding the total capacity of 10.90TB. Right?
    2. If I would exchange 2x 4TB disks with 2x8TB disks, the total capacity of the X-Raid would increase to 14.90TB. Right?

    Close.  with 4x4TB, you actually have a 12 TB volume.  But the NAS reports TiB (1024*1024*1024*1024 bytes), not TB (1000*1000*1000*1000 bytes).  12 TB is the same as 10.9 TiB.

     

    upgrading 2 drives to 8 TB will give you a 16 TB volume - which is the same as ~14.5 TiB (not 14.9).

     


    schlaraffen wrote:

    Is a mixed disk environment like mentions in option number 2 possible and would it work?

     


    Yes.  The capacity rule is "sum the disks and subtract the smallest".  Note there are some rules with mixed sizes.  For instance, you can't put a 3 TB drive in your existing array.    And after you add 2x8TB you won't be able to upgrade one of the 4 TB drives with a 6 TB drive.  You will be able to replace it with a 4TB drive if you like.

     


    schlaraffen wrote:

    Of course I would plan to exchange the other 2 x 4TB disk for performance reason after a while to get a native 4 x 8TB config at the end.


    There won't be much (if any) performance gain.

3 Replies

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  • StephenB's avatar
    StephenB
    Guru - Experienced User

    schlaraffen wrote:

     

    1. If I would exchange 1x 4TB disk with ...lets say a 8 TB disk, nothing would change regarding the total capacity of 10.90TB. Right?
    2. If I would exchange 2x 4TB disks with 2x8TB disks, the total capacity of the X-Raid would increase to 14.90TB. Right?

    Close.  with 4x4TB, you actually have a 12 TB volume.  But the NAS reports TiB (1024*1024*1024*1024 bytes), not TB (1000*1000*1000*1000 bytes).  12 TB is the same as 10.9 TiB.

     

    upgrading 2 drives to 8 TB will give you a 16 TB volume - which is the same as ~14.5 TiB (not 14.9).

     


    schlaraffen wrote:

    Is a mixed disk environment like mentions in option number 2 possible and would it work?

     


    Yes.  The capacity rule is "sum the disks and subtract the smallest".  Note there are some rules with mixed sizes.  For instance, you can't put a 3 TB drive in your existing array.    And after you add 2x8TB you won't be able to upgrade one of the 4 TB drives with a 6 TB drive.  You will be able to replace it with a 4TB drive if you like.

     


    schlaraffen wrote:

    Of course I would plan to exchange the other 2 x 4TB disk for performance reason after a while to get a native 4 x 8TB config at the end.


    There won't be much (if any) performance gain.

      • Sandshark's avatar
        Sandshark
        Sensei - Experienced User

        When you vertically expand a ReadyNAS, the OS creates another RAID "layer" on top of the old one.  Expanding a 4-drive unit by replacing two with bigger drives will make the second layer RAID1.  Replacing yet another will convert it to RAID5, and the last will expand the RAID5 to 4 drives.  But it will never consolidate those layers into one like you would get if you started fresh with the 4 bigger drives.

         

        But that doesn't really matter.  BTRFS in OS6 is designed to span devices like that.

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