Second disc on ReadyNas 102

[OscarW]

Hi

I have browsing the web for a couple of hours trying to rap my head around this, I'm a bit of a n00b to this. I previously only owned a simple Lacie nas.

So here is my issue/question.

I have two discs, one (brand new) 3 TB disc that I aim to put in the 102 and one older 500GB, which was previously in the Lacie.

I want to transfer all of the data I have on the old Lacie disc on to the new 3TB and then wipe that clean and put into the 102. But I have som concerns regarding what will happen to the 3TB disc if I put a previously formatted disc into the 102. Will putting a previously formatted disc into the 102 also wipe the 3 TB clean, if I use the default setup guide?

I would really appreciate some clarification and help. How would I go about?

[Nhellie]

If you insert the 500Gb/3Tb disk on the NAS, it will reformat it (so your data will be erased).

My suggestion is to install the 3TB drive on the NAS first, then attach your 500Gb drive on a computer or an HDD enclosure then copy it to the NAS.

[OscarW]

Ok. That was my idea. Install the 3TB, copy the stuff from the 500GB to the 3 TB. But after that I want to add the 500GB to the 102.


But, from what I can understand reading all the FAQ:s, that will then erase the 3TB. Or will the 102 just reformat and accept the 500GB in addition to the 3TB?

[OscarW]

I read http://kb.netgear.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/22896

[Nhellie]

First, check if the 500GB will be compatible to the unit.

http://kb.netgear.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/20641

What type of Raid are you planning to use?

And yes, you will have to reformat the 500GB disk. If you have reformatted the 500GB and inserted it to the NAS with the 3TB already in place, the 3Tb will not be reformatted, the 500Gb will be added.

[OscarW]

Great thanks.

It is not on the list, but from what I understood reading some forum post. The disc will work, but netgear doesn't recommend it due to warranties and such.

I think I'm going to use xraid, that seems to be the recommendation with the 102. Would you recommend anything else?
I'm going to use it to store media files as well as use it for backups.

[Nhellie]

X-raid is good, I'm using it myself. 🙂

I gues it depends on how you want to use it. But play around with the calc.

http://rdconfigurator.netgear.com/raid/index.html

[StephenB]

If you try to use xraid, you'll end up with a 500 GB RAID-1 volume at best. So that would be a bad idea.

The best approach is to change to flexraid, and add the second drive as a jbod volume. I don't see the value myself, for me 500 GB is not enough space to be interesting.

[OscarW]

Ok, so if I was to add the 500 Gb to 102 with xraid option, the 102 would only recognize the 500? Or would it recognize both but only utilize the size of the smaller one? Why is that? Can it be solved so that I get 3,5 TB

[StephenB]

If you start with 3 TB XRAID then the NAS will basically ignore the 500 GB drive.

If you start with the 500 GB XRAID, the you end up with a 500 GB RAID-1 volume, wasting 2.5. TB of space.

The only practical approach is to start with one drive, switch to flexraid, then add the second drive as its own volume.