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I would like to top out my ReadyNas Ultra 6 to the max.
Its been running 6 3TB disks for a number of years now, and 4TB disks are getting cheap.
Reading a few threads, i wanted to get some confirmation on the path forward.
The threads from 2013/2014 indicate that there is a 15TB limit for maximum size of volumes created under 15TB. i.e. you can't expand larger than that if you started below 15TB. Question is, how can i tell? I think i'm right on the edge.
Bare drives, 6x2794GB = 16,764 GB (above limit), but the volume size with raid 5 is 13,000GB (below limit).
So, Do i need to copy the data off, and remake the vol with the new drives or can I expand up?
Using the HWCL from Netgear it didn't show any compatible drives for the Ultra 6 above 4TB. Best drive on the HWCL looks like Hitachi 7K4000 HUS724040ALE640 which are going for 65 bucks on Amzn. (used obvi)
Do you have any other info supported drives for the Ultra 6?
The HCL for the Ultra hasn't been updated for a very long time (likely 2013, when they stopped shipping it). In general, I recommend either NAS-purposed drives like the WD Red Plus or the Seagate Ironwolf, or enterprise-class drives. Those will work reliably, and desktop drives might not. Avoid SMR drives (the WD Red line is all SMR now, and many desktop drives are). I don't recommend trying to find ancient drives on the HCL.
As far as size goes, you can certainly use larger drives than 4 TB in the ultra. With 4.2.31 software you do need to stay within the volume expansion limits. But even 4.2.31 can handle much larger drives, as long
they are all the same size
you do a fresh factory install with all drives in place.
But you wouldn't be able to expand the volume once it is created.
OS-6 removes that limitation, and you should be able to use any currently shipping NAS-purposed or enterprise-class SATA CMR drive.
One thing to keep in mind is that the resync time increases as the volume size increases. Every sector in the volume is either read or written as part of the resync. So 6x12TB would take 4x longer than your current 6x3TB.
Also is there an OS-6 Upgrade walk thru somewhere? (Is that different than the Radiator sw?)
It is different from RAIDiator, and it is the firmware for currently shipping ReadyNAS.
The upgrade path is:
(Optionally) make sure the latest BIOS is installed before you do the conversion. To do this you install http://www.readynas.com/download/addons/x86/4.2/BIOS_Update_Package_0.5-x86.bin as an add-on and reboot the NAS. Do this after you backup the NAS. This isn't necessary, but if you so want to update the bios it is easiest to do it prior to conversion
Basic instructions for the conversion itself are
BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP
Upload PREPR4TOR6_0.1-x86.bin as an add-on using the ReadyNAS web gui, but do not reboot afterwards (avoids the need to do manual factory resets)
Upload R4toR6_6.9.5.bin using the ReadyNAS web gui firmware update
After you upload the addon+firmware and reboot, it will update the firmware and start a factory default.
Go through the setup process on the converted NAS
Update the NAS to the current OS 6 (check for updates will work).
Restore files from the backup.
Netgear won't provide paid support on a converted NAS, so that is one consideration. There is a small risk that the process could fail, and if that were to happen it might not be possible to get the NAS running again.
Some folks have also found that their NAS loses its serial number in the update process. So far the mods here have fixed that for people as a courtesy.
I didn't run into any issue converting my own NAS. I varied the procedure slightly - I removed all the disks first, and did the conversion with just a new (blank) disk in place. Then after I checked it, I added the other disks and did a factory default (which is faster than adding disks one by one). That just kept the original volume completely intact until I was sure the conversion had gone ok,
Bare drives, 6x2794GB = 16,764 GB (above limit), but the volume size with raid 5 is 13,000GB (below limit).
The limit is on volume size, not raw disk size. You want to be careful on mixing TB (1000*1000*1000*1000 bytes) with TiB (1024*1024*1024*1024 bytes). The limits are TiB.
You have a ~15 TB volume - which is ~13.64 TiB. The maximum you can get w/o exceeding the limit is 17 TB (18 TB is ~400 GB over). It wouldn't be a cost effective upgrade.
There is also a second expansion limit, which is that a volume cannot expand more than 8 TiB from it's starting size. It's harder to tell if you are hitting that limit.
The best option is to convert the NAS to run OS-6 - which has no known expansion limits. You would need a full backup, as the process does require reformatting the disks (which of course erases the contents). The downside is that you'd give up the possibility of paid Netgear support.
FWIW, my Pro-6 also had 6x3TB, and I decided it was time to expand it. So I converted it to run OS-6 a couple days ago, and am restoring the data now.
Its been running 6 3TB disks for a number of years now, and 4TB disks are getting cheap.
As it turns out I've also upgraded to 20 TB. A cheaper way to get to 20 TB is to get two 8 TB drives, and continue to use 4 of your 3 TB drives. That also makes future upgrades less expensive - you can get to 25 TB later on by simply replacing another 3 TB drive with an 8 TB model.
Six 4TB Ironwolf drives would cost about $600 USD (today's Amazon price). Two 8 TB ironwolf drives would cost about $400. It'd be similar with WD Red plus. I went with two WD80EFAX myself (and will reuse four WD30EFRX).
Note that many desktop drives are using SMR technology now, which is not a good choice for RAID. So you should those. Avoid WD Red drives for the same reason (the Red Plus or Pro drives are fine).
Bare drives, 6x2794GB = 16,764 GB (above limit), but the volume size with raid 5 is 13,000GB (below limit).
The limit is on volume size, not raw disk size. You want to be careful on mixing TB (1000*1000*1000*1000 bytes) with TiB (1024*1024*1024*1024 bytes). The limits are TiB.
You have a ~15 TB volume - which is ~13.64 TiB. The maximum you can get w/o exceeding the limit is 17 TB (18 TB is ~400 GB over). It wouldn't be a cost effective upgrade.
There is also a second expansion limit, which is that a volume cannot expand more than 8 TiB from it's starting size. It's harder to tell if you are hitting that limit.
The best option is to convert the NAS to run OS-6 - which has no known expansion limits. You would need a full backup, as the process does require reformatting the disks (which of course erases the contents). The downside is that you'd give up the possibility of paid Netgear support.
FWIW, my Pro-6 also had 6x3TB, and I decided it was time to expand it. So I converted it to run OS-6 a couple days ago, and am restoring the data now.
Its been running 6 3TB disks for a number of years now, and 4TB disks are getting cheap.
As it turns out I've also upgraded to 20 TB. A cheaper way to get to 20 TB is to get two 8 TB drives, and continue to use 4 of your 3 TB drives. That also makes future upgrades less expensive - you can get to 25 TB later on by simply replacing another 3 TB drive with an 8 TB model.
Six 4TB Ironwolf drives would cost about $600 USD (today's Amazon price). Two 8 TB ironwolf drives would cost about $400. It'd be similar with WD Red plus. I went with two WD80EFAX myself (and will reuse four WD30EFRX).
Note that many desktop drives are using SMR technology now, which is not a good choice for RAID. So you should those. Avoid WD Red drives for the same reason (the Red Plus or Pro drives are fine).
Thanks
Using the HWCL from Netgear it didn't show any compatible drives for the Ultra 6 above 4TB. Best drive on the HWCL looks like Hitachi 7K4000 HUS724040ALE640 which are going for 65 bucks on Amzn. (used obvi)
Do you have any other info supported drives for the Ultra 6?
Also is there an OS-6 Upgrade walk thru somewhere? (Is that different than the Radiator sw?)
Using the HWCL from Netgear it didn't show any compatible drives for the Ultra 6 above 4TB. Best drive on the HWCL looks like Hitachi 7K4000 HUS724040ALE640 which are going for 65 bucks on Amzn. (used obvi)
Do you have any other info supported drives for the Ultra 6?
The HCL for the Ultra hasn't been updated for a very long time (likely 2013, when they stopped shipping it). In general, I recommend either NAS-purposed drives like the WD Red Plus or the Seagate Ironwolf, or enterprise-class drives. Those will work reliably, and desktop drives might not. Avoid SMR drives (the WD Red line is all SMR now, and many desktop drives are). I don't recommend trying to find ancient drives on the HCL.
As far as size goes, you can certainly use larger drives than 4 TB in the ultra. With 4.2.31 software you do need to stay within the volume expansion limits. But even 4.2.31 can handle much larger drives, as long
they are all the same size
you do a fresh factory install with all drives in place.
But you wouldn't be able to expand the volume once it is created.
OS-6 removes that limitation, and you should be able to use any currently shipping NAS-purposed or enterprise-class SATA CMR drive.
One thing to keep in mind is that the resync time increases as the volume size increases. Every sector in the volume is either read or written as part of the resync. So 6x12TB would take 4x longer than your current 6x3TB.
Also is there an OS-6 Upgrade walk thru somewhere? (Is that different than the Radiator sw?)
It is different from RAIDiator, and it is the firmware for currently shipping ReadyNAS.
The upgrade path is:
(Optionally) make sure the latest BIOS is installed before you do the conversion. To do this you install http://www.readynas.com/download/addons/x86/4.2/BIOS_Update_Package_0.5-x86.bin as an add-on and reboot the NAS. Do this after you backup the NAS. This isn't necessary, but if you so want to update the bios it is easiest to do it prior to conversion
Basic instructions for the conversion itself are
BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP
Upload PREPR4TOR6_0.1-x86.bin as an add-on using the ReadyNAS web gui, but do not reboot afterwards (avoids the need to do manual factory resets)
Upload R4toR6_6.9.5.bin using the ReadyNAS web gui firmware update
After you upload the addon+firmware and reboot, it will update the firmware and start a factory default.
Go through the setup process on the converted NAS
Update the NAS to the current OS 6 (check for updates will work).
Restore files from the backup.
Netgear won't provide paid support on a converted NAS, so that is one consideration. There is a small risk that the process could fail, and if that were to happen it might not be possible to get the NAS running again.
Some folks have also found that their NAS loses its serial number in the update process. So far the mods here have fixed that for people as a courtesy.
I didn't run into any issue converting my own NAS. I varied the procedure slightly - I removed all the disks first, and did the conversion with just a new (blank) disk in place. Then after I checked it, I added the other disks and did a factory default (which is faster than adding disks one by one). That just kept the original volume completely intact until I was sure the conversion had gone ok,
