Can I add 2 more disks to my existing 6?

[DesertITGuy]

Still new to TrueNAS so I'll apologize if this is silly question. But can I add another 2 disks to my existing 6 disk raid array? The Pool Status says it's a zraid2 and when I try using the "add vdevs" I get a warning saying "This type of VDEV requires at least 4 disks" and "Caution: Adding data vdevs with different numbers of disks is not recommended. First vdev has 6 disks, new vdev has 2". Am I doing something wrong or is what I'm trying to accomplish simply not possible?

 

[artlessknave]

this cannot be done; not yet, anyway (there is project to do this but I do not believe it's past development yet).

the only way to expand a 6 disk raidz2 pool is to add 6 more disks or replace all existing disks with bigger disks.

 

[DesertITGuy]

Dang. Can I copy the data somewhere else, destroy the pool, then create a new one with all 8 disks?

 

[ChrisRJ]

The "hierarchy" of storage components in ZFS/TrueNAS is "pool consists of one or several vdevs, which consist of of disks".

So to expand your pool's capacity you need to create a new vdev and add it to the pool. The vdev should normally be set up like the existing one. But you can also create a mirror.

Whether that makes sense is difficult to say, since you provided almost no information. Please check the forum rules (link in red at top middle of screen) what we need to help you. Also, I recommend you spend at least a few hours reading up on ZFS and TrueNAS. A good starting point can be found in my signature (recommended readings).

 

[artlessknave]

But you can also create a mirror.

while you can attach a mirror, you lose all ability to manage the mirrors like mirrors (attach/detach) due to it being mixed, and as such, while possible, it's highly discouraged - the webUI might not even do it.

Dang. Can I copy the data somewhere else, destroy the pool, then create a new one with all 8 disks?

absolutely. I forgot to include that as a possibility.

depending on your needs, you might consider looking at changing to a mirror based pool, as mirrors can be completely changed; its raidz that has immutable vdev topologies.

 

[DesertITGuy]

Thank you for all your replies and help. Admittedly, I definitely did just jump right into the deep end without fully knowing what I was getting myself into, lol. I appreciate all the links ro resources, however. I'm reading the Introduction To ZFS pdf now. Thank you again for all your help.

 

[artlessknave]

this question is easily one of the most common when it comes to truenas, which is why there is a project to enable it. ZFS is very powerful but it's also very manual in many ways.