DS920+ reconfiguration advice

[HubFlyer]

Need some advice on reconfiguring my DS920+, DSM 7.2.1.

I have had this for a couple of years and it has served well primarily as a PleX media server and media storage unit. Previously had a two drive WD PR2100. Although the majority of space and processing is dedicated to PleX I also have a small amount of personal files. This unit is not exposed to remote access and currently only on my home network.

Current configuration is:
Volume1 Storage Pool1 RAID-SHR
Drives 1,2,3 each contain 8tb NAS Of the 14tb it’s as 53% used capacity of PleX content.

Volume2 Storage Pool2 RAID-Basic
Drive 4 is a 12tb NAS drive containing misc personal files which total 474gb. This is obviously overkill.

Initial configuration thought was to segregate PleX from personal files. My current thought is to move the personal files to a separate unit. This would make me more comfortable should I decide to allow remote access to PleX.

Having now gained some experience I really don’t think I need multiple volumes and storage pools as it will all be PleX content. My plan is to replace the 3 8tb drives with12tb drives. That would mean all 4 drives would be 12tb.

I am comfortable “upgrading” the 3 8tb drives to 12tb drive. My challenge is then how to integrate drive 4 so that I have all drives in one volume/storage pool. I do have access to other hardware if I need to backup the PleX content and restore the DS920+ to factory configuration and start over.

UPDATE: I already have 3 new 12tb drives to bring it to four.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

 

[Telos]

I would leave the 8s alone and add a single 16 TB drive in place of your basic drive. That would give you a 50% storage capacity bump. Then, as necessary replace each 8 with a 16.

 

[HubFlyer]

I would leave the 8s alone and add a single 16 TB drive in place of your basic drive. That would give you a 50% storage capacity bump. Then, as necessary replace each 8 with a 16.

Thanks for your input. I got a great deal on 3 12tb drives so I already have them. And I know you can never have enough storage but I can't envision going to multiple 16's.

 

[nthkmf]

Now you know how to merge the 12tb drive - volume 2, to volume 1, right?

 

[HubFlyer]

In order to get to a setup where I have 4 12tb in one volume/storage pool I think I need to do the following two processes:

Replace Drive to Expand Storage Capacity

To replace drives:​

1. Launch Storage Manager.
2. Go to Storage Pool to see which existing drive is the smallest.
3. Power off your Synology NAS. (Skip this step if your Synology NAS supports hot-swapping.)
4. Remove the smallest of the member drives and install a new, larger drive.
   Note: To avoid harming yourself or damaging your Synology NAS, please follow the drive installation instructions found in the Hardware Installation Guide for your Synology product.
5. Power on your Synology NAS.
6. Launch Storage Manager again.
7. Go to HDD/SSD to make sure the new drive is recognized.
8. The status of your storage pool should be Degraded. Select the storage pool, click Repair from the Action drop-down menu.
9. Select the replacement drive to add to the storage pool. Then follow the steps of the wizard to finish.
10. Repeat the above process until all desired drives have been replaced with larger ones.

then

Combine the storage capacity of two storage pools
Remove one of the storage pools first so that its drives are no longer in use. These drives can then be added to the other storage pool for storage expansion.1

1. Back up the data on the storage pool that you want to remove or move the data to the other storage pool.
   • If the storage pool intended for capacity expansion has enough storage capacity, you can do the following:
     1. Move the data from the storage pool that you want to remove to a volume on the other storage pool.
     2. Back up the packages on the storage pool that you want to remove.
   • If the storage pool intended for capacity expansion does not have enough storage capacity, please back up the data on the storage pool you want to remove.
2. Choose a storage pool to remove.
   • For DSM 7.0 and above: Go to Storage Manager > Storage and select the storage pool that you want to remove. Then, click the
     
     icon and select Remove from the drop-down menu.
   • For DSM 6.2 and below: Go to Storage Manager > Storage Pool and select the storage pool that you want to remove. Then, click Remove.
3. Select the storage pool intended for capacity expansion.
   • For DSM 7.0 and above: Click the
     
     icon and select Add Drive from the drop-down menu.
   • For DSM 6.2 and below: Click Action and select Add Drive from the drop-down menu.
4. Select the drives you want to add to the storage pool.2
5. Follow the wizard to complete the process.
6. Once a storage pool contains sufficient capacity, you can expand its volume size.
   • For a single-volume storage pool, the volume size will be expanded automatically.
   • For a multiple-volume storage pool, you can manually expand the volume size or create new volumes.
7. If you have backed up data to another destination, you can now move them back to the newly expanded storage pool.

Thoughts?

 

[nthkmf]

In order to get to a setup where I have 4 12tb in one volume/storage pool I think I need to do the following two processes:

Replace Drive to Expand Storage Capacity

To replace drives:​

1. Launch Storage Manager.
2. Go to Storage Pool to see which existing drive is the smallest.
3. Power off your Synology NAS. (Skip this step if your Synology NAS supports hot-swapping.)
4. Remove the smallest of the member drives and install a new, larger drive.
   Note: To avoid harming yourself or damaging your Synology NAS, please follow the drive installation instructions found in the Hardware Installation Guide for your Synology product.
5. Power on your Synology NAS.
6. Launch Storage Manager again.
7. Go to HDD/SSD to make sure the new drive is recognized.
8. The status of your storage pool should be Degraded. Select the storage pool, click Repair from the Action drop-down menu.
9. Select the replacement drive to add to the storage pool. Then follow the steps of the wizard to finish.
10. Repeat the above process until all desired drives have been replaced with larger ones.

then

Combine the storage capacity of two storage pools
Remove one of the storage pools first so that its drives are no longer in use. These drives can then be added to the other storage pool for storage expansion.1

1. Back up the data on the storage pool that you want to remove or move the data to the other storage pool.
   • If the storage pool intended for capacity expansion has enough storage capacity, you can do the following:
     1. Move the data from the storage pool that you want to remove to a volume on the other storage pool.
     2. Back up the packages on the storage pool that you want to remove.
   • If the storage pool intended for capacity expansion does not have enough storage capacity, please back up the data on the storage pool you want to remove.
2. Choose a storage pool to remove.
   • For DSM 7.0 and above: Go to Storage Manager > Storage and select the storage pool that you want to remove. Then, click the
     
     icon and select Remove from the drop-down menu.
   • For DSM 6.2 and below: Go to Storage Manager > Storage Pool and select the storage pool that you want to remove. Then, click Remove.
3. Select the storage pool intended for capacity expansion.
   • For DSM 7.0 and above: Click the
     
     icon and select Add Drive from the drop-down menu.
   • For DSM 6.2 and below: Click Action and select Add Drive from the drop-down menu.
4. Select the drives you want to add to the storage pool.2
5. Follow the wizard to complete the process.
6. Once a storage pool contains sufficient capacity, you can expand its volume size.
   • For a single-volume storage pool, the volume size will be expanded automatically.
   • For a multiple-volume storage pool, you can manually expand the volume size or create new volumes.
7. If you have backed up data to another destination, you can now move them back to the newly expanded storage pool.

Thoughts?

Great. Synology articles always help. Good luck! Hope to see you work well with those 2 NAS.

 

[Telos]

Synology articles always help

It helps to bookmark the Knowledge Center and to use its powerful search capability.

 

[HubFlyer]

Followed the documented steps and now have a 4 x 12tb one storage pool, one volume 32.7tb capacity unit. Thanks for the help!