I am looking to consolidate my drives between my NAS and Expansion Unit, so that I can maximize the total storage as well as add drives to that storage pool to continue expanding the total storage size over time.
I currently have the following hardware
DS720+ (2 Slots)
2 x 4TB (8TB Total) Hard Drives (60% used)
Backs up every morning to Backblaze via Hyper Backup
Multiple Shared drives used for Business, Time Machine, User level Photos and a Shared Photos
DX517 (5 Slots)
1 x 12TB Hard Drive (New)
My ideal scenario, I can make use of 20TB and continue to add drives to my expansion unit as I need to scale my data.
Shared folders should stay the same.
Fine with a SHR RAID setup, so I can fix 1 drive in the mix.
I will continue to use Backblaze for backup solution, so less concerned if all the data breaks due to poor eSATA cable or hardware degradation.
At a high level what’s the best way to go about this?
Basically I’m running out of room, I’d like to take my new 12tb drive join it to what I have existing so I could have a combined total storage of 20tb.
I’d also like to be able to add more drives in the future, 3x12tb to the expansion unit when needed.
Considering 8tb are on the nas, 12tb in the expansion, and I have a backup on Backblaze.
How can I consolidate my storage so I get my 20tb with my existing files and shared drives?
Lmk if that explains my goal clearer if not lmk what to clarify.
For starters, it is not recommended that storage pools span hardware. So the 2x8 TB on the 720 should be isolated from drives on the DX. In SHR, 2x8 TB would yield ~7. 3 TB of usable storage.
You could use the 12 TB in the DX to create a second storage SHR pool (no redundancy initially). To increase its capacity, beyond that would require at least 3x12 TB total in the DX, giving you another 21.8 TB of storage (~ 29.1 TB total).
@NewLeaf whats the worse thing to happen if I did let it span between the NAS and expansion unit? Considering I have backups on backups and I’m not worried about hard drive corruption or eSATA cable failures?
Your text seems to have a contradiction that might need some clarification.
With 2x 4TB and 1x 12TB, you speak of 20TB of total space that you would like to have in one pool. I understand that part.
You also talk about SHR. A pool with SHR and two or more drives will sacrifice at least the capacity of one disk for 1-disk fault tolerance.
If you combine all three disks mentioned in a SHR pool, you will have 8TB (approx. 7.3 TB effectively). This is because the 12TB disk is recognized as 4TB until you add a second 12TB.
If you really want to use you disks with zero fault tolerance to maximize the total capacity, configure them as one pool as JBOD. JBOD is the only RAID type without fault tolerance that let you add disk later on.
Delete the current storage pool and create a new pool as JBOD including all disks.
If you lose 2 disks under SHR, you lose everything.
Imagine having 2 disks in your expansion unit, in the same pool as your main unit. If the cable between the two comes lose, or the power plug gets pulled or the socket turned off - all the data on the entire pool is instantly and irrevocably gone.
Have multiple pools and keep each on separate units. In your case have everything on the expansion. If you want one big pool, buy a bigger NAS.
