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HowTo: create an encrypted Vol w. X-RAID (xraid) with different disk sizes (2x4, 2x3, 2x2TB @RN426)?
Hello,
I've just purchased the RN426 (ReadyNAS 426; Firmware: 6.10.3) and attached 6 drives:
- 2 x 4TB
- 2 x 3TB
- 2 x 2TB
Sum (capacity): 18 TB (no redundancy)
So I booted up (1st time) and I was asked (from the wizard), to select the RAID level; I selected 5. In the web-ui I saw RAID (raid 5), X-RAID active and the RAID was build...at the beginning the free capacity was ~9TB...after one night of building...in the morning the build was completed and the capacity was ~12TB. (cool )
But: not encrypted! (found no option in the wizard to encrypt the volume)
So I switched from X-RAID to FlexRAID, destory the volume and create a new volume in RAID 5 with encryption. During RAID Build I switched form FlexRAID to X-RAID.
BUT: after finishing RAID build, the capacity stays at 9TB.
Now my (one million dollar) question:
How to build an encrypted X-RAID volume with different disk sizes and get the better/higher capacity (like above mentioned with X-RAID, no encryption and 12TB)?
How to build an encrypted X-RAID volume with different disk sizes and get the better/higher capacity (like above mentioned with X-RAID, no encryption and 12TB)?
I believe the answer (sadly) is that you can't. Last time I checked on this, you could not vertically expand an encrypted array.
You could try creating a second 4x1TB RAID-5 group, and see if you can concatenate it with the existing flexraid volume. If that works, you could then add a third 2x1TB RAID-1 group for the 4 TB drives.
FWIW, I personally don't think volume encryption adds much real security, since the key always needs to be on hand (and likely will end up left in the NAS). IMO network security is much more important. But of course different folks will have different views on that.
How to build an encrypted X-RAID volume with different disk sizes and get the better/higher capacity (like above mentioned with X-RAID, no encryption and 12TB)?
I believe the answer (sadly) is that you can't. Last time I checked on this, you could not vertically expand an encrypted array.
You could try creating a second 4x1TB RAID-5 group, and see if you can concatenate it with the existing flexraid volume. If that works, you could then add a third 2x1TB RAID-1 group for the 4 TB drives.
FWIW, I personally don't think volume encryption adds much real security, since the key always needs to be on hand (and likely will end up left in the NAS). IMO network security is much more important. But of course different folks will have different views on that.
Re: HowTo: create an encrypted Vol w. X-RAID (xraid) with different disk sizes (2x4, 2x3, 2x2TB @RN4
From my small amount of research on LUKS (which I believe the ReadyNAS to be using for encrypotion), encryption is down to the partition level. I've seen it described as akin to "Russian nesting dolls" for partition, volume, and file system. And while expansion is possible, it's a complex process that must be done in the right order. It's not hard to see why Netgear would not try to put all the logic in to accomplish that on every possible configuration.
)
