Question regarding hdd size when extending pools.

[DR4GONSTEAR]

I’ve tried to search for the answer, but it seems to be an unusual question.
Background: I have a server with 16 bays.
Current configuration: 4x2TB setup as 6TB total size.
Minimum ending configuration: I know how to extend 3x4x2TB for a total of 4x4x2TB
I also know how to rebuild and replace drives, for example ending with 4x4x12TB.

Questions: Can I add 3x4x1TB instead of using 2TB, and extend the drives later? Or am I stuck using 2TB until I have all 16 drive bays populated because I started with 4x2TB?

 

[IQless]

Questions: Can I add 3x4x1TB instead of using 2TB, and extend the drives later? Or am I stuck using 2TB until I have all 16 drive bays populated because I started with 4x2TB?

yes, you can add vdevs that are not identical to the one you have (in drive size).

Existing vdev: 4x2TB RaidZ1
New vdev: 4x1TB RaidZ1
Striped together to result in a 6+3 TB pool.

Later on, you can replace the 1TB drives with 2TB and the vdev will increase its size to 6TB (when all the disks in the vdev are replaced).

But I have to mention, it might be smart to reevaluate your pool structure IF you are going to replace the drives to increase the size of the vdev. RaidZ1 is not recommended with drives larger than 2TB(some say 1TB).

Something to read up on :)
https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...ning-vdev-zpool-zil-and-l2arc-for-noobs.7775/

 

[DR4GONSTEAR]

Thanks for the response. I know it’s probably been asked before but because I’ve done everything self taught, when people start talking about vdev’s and pools, I get lost because I never remember what they all the names are, just how to do things.

Raidz1 isn’t great? I’ll have to read up on that. I’m storing videos, photos, and pretty much my digital life on the server, and syncing it to google drive (once I’ve gotten that figured out.) I’d like to have something that has decent redundancy, but 16x2TB Raidz2 isn’t going to leave me with enough minimum space. 11TB is the current library size.

 

[IQless]

The link I posted will teach you a lot :)

Do you already have 16x 2TB disks available? or are you going to acquire more drives as needed?

One other thing is this just for storage(Media, docs etc.)?
Can you post the hardware specs of your FreeNAS as well (according to the forum rules: https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/updated-forum-rules-4-11-17.45124/ )?

 

[DR4GONSTEAR]

No, I don’t have all the drives. But I currently have access to 1x1TB, 4x2TB 1x4TB and 1x8TB, hence planning to buy something other than a 2TB to get it set up, and upgrading sizes later.

It’s mostly going to be storage, but it already has Plex, Sonarr, Transmission, CouchPotato and MineOS, as well as Google Photo Library, computer backups, documents, music and emulator game files.

I don’t have all the specific details of the server listed because it only specified listing details for diagnosing, and I’m not really diagnosing anything, just asking about upgrading drives, but it’s as follows:
4U 16Bay NAS Server
ASUS Z8NA-D6C
2x Xeon E5620
24GB ECC RAM
10GB LAN
Running FreeNAS 10