NAS storage upgrade

pelegbn · Apr 22, 2018

Hello community,

I'm planning to purchase a NAS [leaning towards the PR4100] for local file server, backup, cloud access [which is remote file server?] and of course - Plex.
For the drives, I'm thinking of 4x4Tb array [WD red or Seagate Ironwolf, whatever] in RAID 5, which should give me, if not mistaken, 12Tb of usable space [which is way more than enough, for the time being].

My question - when the time comes, how do I upgrade the storage? meaning - if I, later on, want to upgrade the array to a 4x8gb [for example], how do I go about it, without losing the data?

Thank you.

RealBeast · Apr 22, 2018

Well you would have to back the data up to somewhere else, but then if it's important data you should have it backed up anyway since RAID 5 is not sufficient as a backup, just as a fault resistant storage.

I've seen a number of RAID 5 arrays that lost a member drive crash on rebuilding due to a URE on another drive and this likelihood increases as drive sizes get larger. I use a separate NAS that is only on during backups, and all critical data is also backed up to other locations. You have to do a mental calculation on the difficulty of recreating all the data on the array, the easier it is to do the less of a problem that data loss is for you. But for the rare family photos different story.

smashjohn · Apr 22, 2018

I don't know about the PR4100, but some NAS will allow you to upgrade drives on the same controller. This means you'll replace one disk, rebuild, replace another disk, rebuild, replace the 3rd disk, rebuild, replace the fourth disk and rebuild. You'll still have the same array. At this point you have unallocated space and can grow the array. It takes forever, but it works if the system supports it.

USAFRet · Apr 22, 2018

pelegbn :

I have a Qnap TS-453a.
4 x 4TB Seagate Ironwolf, RAID 5.

A future drive size upgrade with that is...
Power off
Swap Drive 1 with a larger
Power up, and let the array rebuild
Repeat for each drive, one at a time.

I did exactly this when upgrading from 4 x 3TB to 4 x 4TB.
Took about 6-7 hours for each rebuild.
At the end of the last drive swap...the available space automatically increased.
It did take 2 days to do this, though.

And of course I had a full backup of ALL the data on an 8TB USB connected drive before I tried it. I wanted to verify exactly what happens with a drive removed and a new one swapped in.
If things had gone south, I would have simply put all 4 new drives in, built the RAID array, and copied the data over from the backup.

Whatever you get, test your backup and dead drive procedures before you actually need to do it.

pelegbn · Apr 22, 2018

RealBeast :

If RAID 5 is not safe enough then I might as well buy the PR2100 [a two slot NAS] and use RAID 1, but still I'll be remaining with the same upgrade predicament, which doesn't make any sense to me.
Keeping an extra NAS to backup a NAS [which is a data redundancy configured]?? that also means that whenever I choose to upgrade, I will have to do so for the backup NAS, as well!
This whole thing is too pricey to be so inadequate...

pelegbn · Apr 22, 2018

smashjohn :

Sounds, reasonable... You know, by any chance, how's this feature called?

USAFRet · Apr 22, 2018

pelegbn :

Any RAID level is not a real backup.
It only wards off physical drive issues.
It does nothing for the far more common forms of data loss. Virus, malware, accidental deletion, ransomware...

My PC's are backed up to the NAS every night.
The entirety of the NAS is backed up to a USB connected 8TB drive once a week.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-3383768/backup-situation-home.html

And other, really critical stuff also lives in a drive that is offsite. Gets refreshed 'once in a while'.

pelegbn · Apr 22, 2018

USAFRet :

pelegbn :

I have a Qnap TS-453a.
4 x 4TB Seagate Ironwolf, RAID 5.

A future drive size upgrade with that is...
Power off
Swap Drive 1 with a larger
Power up, and let the array rebuild
Repeat for each drive, one at a time.

I did exactly this when upgrading from 4 x 3TB to 4 x 4TB.
Took about 6-7 hours for each rebuild.
At the end of the last drive swap...the available space automatically increased.
It did take 2 days to do this, though.

And of course I had a full backup of ALL the data on an 8TB USB connected drive before I tried it. I wanted to verify exactly what happens with a drive removed and a new one swapped in.
If things had gone south, I would have simply put all 4 new drives in, built the RAID array, and copied the data over from the backup.

Whatever you get, test your backup and dead drive procedures before you actually need to do it.

Great! Thanks for the step by step answer [shoutout to smashjohn, as well. for giving the same answer, although less guided]. Do you know how's this feature called [so I could verify the NAS I'm buying supports it]?

mdd1963 · Apr 22, 2018

Back up important photos/data to the plethora of/multiple free cloud websites...DropBox, Amazon Drive, MS OneDrive, Google Drive, P-Cloud, I-CLoud, Degoo, etc...(Encrypt anything sensitive such as personal info, tax returns etc...)

RAID 5 is fine for a NAS storing movie media, files that can easily be redownloaded anyway, etc., which is non-critical data, stuff that can be redownloaded...(the aforementioned caution of RAID 5 not being recommended for large drives anymore is indeed becoming a concern, especially as drives get larger)

(I used to clone my entire system every month or so to an external drive, but, as it takes only 5 minutes to format/reinstall, I now just 'risk it', but I realize the time spent reinstalling all utilities and games will take longer, which I accept, but, do back up anything important to the cloud...and to my local 4 TB storage disk...of which I've only used like 10 GB in 5 months....)

pelegbn · Apr 22, 2018

USAFRet :

pelegbn :

Any RAID level is not a real backup.
It only wards off physical drive issues.
It does nothing for the far more common forms of data loss. Virus, malware, accidental deletion, ransomware...

My PC's are backed up to the NAS every night.
The entirety of the NAS is backed up to a USB connected 8TB drive once a week.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-3383768/backup-situation-home.html

And other, really critical stuff also lives in a drive that is offsite. Gets refreshed 'once in a while'.

Yeah, I know. I don't really need that kind of backup. Physical drive issues are my main concern. Plus, I don't have the extra money, right now, for another separate 16TB HDD [or 2x8TB NAS]... maybe in the future.

pelegbn · Apr 22, 2018

mdd1963 :

Back up important photos/data to the plethora of/multiple free cloud websites...DropBox, Amazon Drive, MS OneDrive, Google Drive, P-Cloud, I-CLoud, Degoo, etc...(Encrypt anything sensitive such as personal info, tax returns etc...)

RAID 5 is fine for a NAS storing movie media, files that can easily be redownloaded anyway, etc., which is non-critical data, stuff that can be redownloaded...(the aforementioned caution of RAID 5 not being recommended for large drives anymore is indeed becoming a concern, especially as drives get larger)

(I used to clone my entire system every month or so to an external drive, but, as it takes only 5 minutes to format/reinstall, I now just 'risk it', but I realize the time spent reinstalling all utilities and games will take longer, which I accept, but, do back up anything important to the cloud...and to my local 4 TB storage disk...of which I've only used like 10 GB in 5 months....)

Good advise, I will back my critical documents to some cloud based service. Thanks

Search

NAS storage upgrade

pelegbn

Distinguished

USAFRet

RealBeast

Titan

smashjohn

Reputable

USAFRet

Titan

pelegbn

Distinguished

pelegbn

Distinguished

USAFRet

Titan

pelegbn

Distinguished

mdd1963

Titan

pelegbn

Distinguished

pelegbn

Distinguished

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page