TS-412 & JBOD

[umpa]

Hi,

I have just bought a new TS-412(another), at the moment I don't have any hard drives to put in it, and as money is tight I wanted to buy one a month (on payday) until its fully populated whilst still using it. I was wondering if I configured it as JBOD I could simply slap another HD as and when I get one ? I intend the drives to be all the same make and model, but I cant say for sure depending on availability (after all 4 months is a long time).

I understand that JBOD creates the illusion of one large disk with no striping - is this correct ?

Thanks

Ump..

[pwilson]

Hi,

I have just bought a new TS-412(another), at the moment I don't have any hard drives to put in it, and as money is tight I wanted to buy one a month (on payday) until its fully populated whilst still using it. I was wondering if I configured it as JBOD I could simply slap another HD as and when I get one ? I intend the drives to be all the same make and model, but I cant say for sure depending on availability (after all 4 months is a long time).

I understand that JBOD creates the illusion of one large disk with no striping - is this correct ?

You are correct. However, I do not recommend JBOD, as it provides to protection whatsoever for your Data. If you do use JBOD you would need to backup your entire NAS to elsewhere, in order to reinitialize it as a RAID5 array later when you have all your drives. If your goal is to eventually use RAID5 to provide Data protection, you would be better off to make them "Single Drives", in order to make the migration to RAID5 go smoother later.

Perhaps the solution would be to install a single drive only in your NAS, but continue to acquire additional drives every payday. When you finally have the 4th drive, you can install Drives 2,3&4 all at once, and then do a Single-Drive to RAID5 migration. This method will migrate your data for you. It would still be preferable to have a 5th drive, so you can backup to the 5th drive (attached via eSATA or USB) to ensure your data is safe prior to commencing the Single Drive to RAID5 migration.

If I were you I wouldn't use anything less than RAID1, (preferably RAID5 or RAID6) over the long term, as JBOD, Single-Drive, and RAID0 provides no data protection whatsoever. Avoid RAID0 at all costs! It provides no data protection, and doubles the chances of catostrophic data failure, as a failure in any drive in a RAID0 array means complete data loss of all data on all drives. The performance increase of RAID0 is simply not worth the risks. Hard Drives fail. This is an indisputable fact. Backup regularly, and use RAID5 or RAID6 if possible, as this provides the highest data protection, with the lowest space-reduction required to implement RAID.



For your Backups you might want to invest in a eSATA or USB dock, so that you can more easily backup your data on your NAS. Remember RAID is NOT a substitute for a backup. Hard Drives fail. Your Data is far more valuable than your hardware, always maintain decent backups. Drives can be replaced, Data isn't so easy to replace.

Enjoy your new NAS...

Patrick.

[umpa]

Thank you - what you suggest seems the way to go

[mgmuellne]

I'm not an expert - but am doing what he suggested right now. Installed one drive, loaded it up. Then when i could installed 2 more. Then migrated these to raid5. When I can the 4th will be added & the volume expanded.

[pwilson]

I'm not an expert - but am doing what he suggested right now. Installed one drive, loaded it up. Then when i could installed 2 more. Then migrated these to raid5. When I can the 4th will be added & the volume expanded.

Anytime. IF your NAS is "hot-swap" compatible, you don't even need to power down to add an additional drive.
When you install the new drive it will likely "auto-format" for you, but you will need to access the RAID Management screen of your NAS in order to add it to your RAID5 array.

Check out the fine manual. It explains the process quite well.

Patrick.

[mgmuellne]

I'm not an expert - but am doing what he suggested right now. Installed one drive, loaded it up. Then when i could install 2 more. Then migrated these to raid5. When I can, the 4th will be added & the volume expanded.

Anytime. IF your NAS is "hot-swap" compatible, you don't even need to power down to add an additional drive.
When you install the new drive it will likely "auto-format" for you, but you will need to access the RAID Management screen of your NAS in order to add it to your RAID5 array.

Check out the fine manual. It explains the process quite well.

Patrick.

I did not ask a question. I was agreeing with the OP's course of action.