Pre-build help please

[Rockyranger]

Hi,

My NAS knowledge is amateur or below so I need some really basic questions answered please. I currently have an old QNAP running 3 disk raid 5 configuration but I can't expand beyond 16TB so it won't let me add a 4th disk. Instead of buying a newer QNAP I have decided to build for the reasons of: upgradability, being more powerful (which will stop me from buying a new machine anytime soon) and for the experience of doing something that feels a little bit out of my depth to expand my knowledge whilst also enjoying the process.

I have done as much research on Truenas Scale (which seems like the right chioce) as I can up to this point and wanted to clarify that when I first set up a Raidz 1, there is no way I can add a single disk when I run out of storage (like I would in a raid 5 setup). Instead, I would have to create an entirely new Raidz 1 with 3 new disks minimum and then pool them together?

If this is the case, when I set up SMB on Windows, could I see the two Raidz 1's as a single drive?

Many thanks in advance.

 

[sretalla]

when I first set up a Raidz 1, there is no way I can add a single disk when I run out of storage (like I would in a raid 5 setup). Instead, I would have to create an entirely new Raidz 1 with 3 new disks minimum and then pool them together?

Currently the case with no specific date as to when it will change, although the change that will enable it is in the pipeline and has already been added to the code.

If this is the case, when I set up SMB on Windows, could I see the two Raidz 1's as a single drive?

Perhaps the better question to answer is, Can I add a second VDEV to make my pool bigger?

Yes, you can.

Which then means you can continue using your pool including the SMB shares, but with an additional VDEV of disks behind it providing more capacity.

One pool with 2 RAIDZ1 VDEVs.

As a side note... RAIDZ1 is considered something to avoid with disks larger than 2TB. You should be using RAIDZ2 if you are serious about keeping your data (and of course also be taking separate backups of the data you really want to keep).

 

[Rockyranger]

Thank you so much for the response. I now understand that you can add a VDEV to a pool, would that mean I could also remove it and revert back to the original single VDEV?

As a side note... RAIDZ1 is considered something to avoid with disks larger than 2TB. You should be using RAIDZ2 if you are serious about keeping your data (and of course also be taking separate backups of the data you really want to keep).

Is this because if 2 disks failed at the same time I'd lose the pool or is there more to the warning? I will be running 4 X 10TB, how does size of disk become a concern?