HDD Failing? ("Reallocated sector count has increased...")

Hi All,

I'm after some help/advice please. I have a Ready NAS duo (sparc, which I think is v1), with 2 x 2TB HDDs in RAID (mirrored), however, for a looooong time now I've been getting the message "Reallocated sector count has increased..." on one disk, the count is crazy high ("Current count: 2958")!

I keep having issues with the NAS box itself, primarily, the box will be running and I can connect to Frontview, however, I can't access the shared drive from any device (windows laptop, phone, tablet, etc). Nothing but a reboot of the box seems to sort this out.

Today, I arrived home from work to hear the fan going full blast, I couldn't connect to Frontview and pressing and holding the power button didn't switch it off, I had no choice but to pull the power :shock:

I'm not sure if these events are related to the HDD issues or not, which is why I'm asking for advice.

I have a number of options I think, the first being simply replace the HDD, however, I don't think the Duo v1 can take anything higher than 2TB (if I'm going to buy a new HDD I may as well upgrade on space), is this correct?

If I do replace with a 2TB, I can't replace with the same model since it doesn't seem to be available any more, does it really matter that the two drives aren't identical?

My second option is to replace the NAS box, if the issues are actually with the NAS box as opposed to the HDD, in this case I'd get 2 new HDDs as well. Obviously this option is considerably more expensive.

So to summarise, my HDD is definitely on it's way out eventually and will get replaced one way or another. But I don't know if there is also an issue with my NAS box itself, is there a way I can determine for sure? And, if I need to put a new HDD in my existing NAS box, does anyone have any recommendations?

Apologies if I've waffled on, hopefully someone much more knowledgeable can help me.

Dex

Other Discussions

Questions

11 Replies

Replies have been turned off for this discussion

Nhellie
Virtuoso
Jan 21, 2015
What you can do is to test the disk with a drive utility tool like seatools or WD lifeguard. This will determine if the drive is still okay, but having 2958 reallocated sector count, there is a big chance that it is dead.
Nhellie
Virtuoso
Jan 21, 2015
On replacing the disk, it is true that you cannot go higher than 2 TB since drives with higher capacity is not supported by the unit. It should not matter even if it is not the same brand or model, what's important is it belongs in the compatibility list.

Your second option about getting a new unit is okay since it appears that you might need more space in the future.

Do you have a back up of your data?
StephenB
Guru - Experienced User
Jan 21, 2015
2958 bad sectors is failed, there isn't any point testing it. Try booting the NAS w/o it. Do you have a backup?

If you want to keep the duo, I'd get a WD20EFRX to replace the failed disk. It works fine (I have one in my duo). It's not on the compatibility list (but that's not a concern since you are out of warranty anyway). The duo v1 HCL is too old to be useful.

The new RN202 is a nice replacement option. It's much faster than the duo, and has a MSRP of $360. You'll have to wait a bit for it to reach the retailers though.

The RN102 is less expensive than the RN202, and still is 3x faster than what you have now.
Dexter1759
Aspirant
Jan 22, 2015
Cheers for all the replies, surely Frontview would tell me if it's failed completely? At the moment it just keeps telling me the reallocated sector count is too high... luckily i haven't lost anything because my Duo is set to mirror everything via the RAID set up and their are no errors on the second drive.

I'll have a look into SeaTools, though I assume it would run on my Windows PC and would need the HDD connected locally? Alas, I don't have the means to do this at the moment.

I'll also have a look at the RN202.

I think best, case, I get a WD20EFRX, pop it in and everything is happy and runs for another couple of years, worst case, it doesn't help with the issues I'm having with the Duo and I still need to buy another unit. If that's the case, I think I'll buy another unit, and use the 2 working disks I have in it, then upgrade the disks when the time comes.

Thanks again for your replies I'll update my progress when I can.
mdgm-ntgr
NETGEAR Employee Retired
Jan 22, 2015
A rapidly rising count or a count that exceeds 50 would suggest a failure. Though the figure may vary a bit depending on the disk model. But 2958 certainly indicates a disk is bad.

Yes the drive would need to be connected locally to your PC to test it using SeaTools
StephenB
Guru - Experienced User
Jan 22, 2015
Dexter1759 wrote:
Cheers for all the replies, surely Frontview would tell me if it's failed completely?
Frontview won't necessarily tell that its failed completely. In fact it hasn't. But it is dying for sure. You can't trust a disk with hundreds (in your case thousands) of reallocated sectors.
Dexter1759
Aspirant
Jan 27, 2015
So, I decided to simply replace the HDD with a Western Digital 2TB, since it's the cheapest option to begin with.

If it doesn't solve my problem, I replace the NAS box and keep my 2 x 2TB HDDs, then when I run out of space I upgrade them, helps spread the cost a bit!

Anyway, wanted to say thanks for all your input and to ask just one more question.

It's been a while since I've needed to read/do this, but I assume I can simply open the front door on the NAS, take out the faulty disk, insert the new one, and it'll automatically sync the new drive to the existing without me needing to do anything right?

Thanks again,
Dex
jaffacake
Tutor
Jan 27, 2015
Should work that way, yes...but be warned that both original drives are likely the same age, so the other one may be on the way out soon too.
Dexter1759
Aspirant
Jan 29, 2015
jaffacake wrote:
Should work that way, yes...but be warned that both original drives are likely the same age, so the other one may be on the way out soon too.

Final update: Disk synced and seems toe be working smoothly, the box actually seems a bit a quieter too....guess it's not having to constantly worry about reallocating sectors. Hopefully this will fix my problems with the unit too.

Thanks again...until next time! :?
vandermerwe
Master
Jan 29, 2015
Your comment in an earlier post about the "data being mirrored and therefore you hadn't lost anything" suggests that you don't have a backup of the data on the nas.
This is not a good idea, I'd suggest creating a backup strategy.