Article ID:40
Objective
RAID stands for Redundant Array of Independent Disks. RAID 5 combines three or more disks in a way that shields the data against loss of any one disk. In a RAID 5 setup, the available disk space for the volume is equal to size of the smallest capacity disk in the array times the number of (hard disk – 1). In order to increase this available disk space, you can replace the smallest hard drive with one of larger capacity.
The objective of this document explains how to do this kind of replacement.
Applicable Devices
- NSS324
- NSS326
Step-by-Step Procedure
Expansion of Disk capacity of RAID 5
Step 1. Use the Configuration Utility to choose Disk Management > RAID Management. The RAID Management page opens.
Step 2. Click RAID 5 Disk Volume: Drive 1 2 3 4 radio button and then click Expand Capacity. A window pops up. Click Ok in the window; this allows all services to be stopped temporarily.
Step 3. The Expand Capacity page opens. In this click Change in the drive that needs to be replaced.
Step 4. When “Please remove this drive” is displayed, remove the hard drive from the NAS. Wait for the NAS to beep twice after removing the hard drive.
Step 5. When the description displays “Please insert the new drive”, insert the new drive to the drive slot.
Step 6. After inserting the hard drive, wait for the NAS to beep. The system will then start rebuilding the RAID array.
Step 7. After rebuilding finishes, follow steps 2-6 to replace other hard drive(s).
Step 8. After changing the hard drives and rebuilding completes, click Expand Capacity to execute Online RAID Capacity Expansion. Click OK to proceed.
This process may take as little as a few hours or more than 24 hours to complete depending on the number and size of the drives being replaced.
Note: Please wait patiently for the process to finish. Do NOT turn off power to the NAS during this process.
Step 9. After Online RAID Capacity Expansion completes, the new capacity will be displayed and the disk status will change to Ready. You can start to use the larger capacity. The following image shows the expanded capacity for a RAID 2 setup, the RAID 5 setup will have a similar window with number of drives being more.