If I fill this with smaller drives (500GB - 1TB) just to get started, and later want to upgrade each drive, is the upgrade process smooth?
606994
Yes it is. I suggest using the SHR (1-disk protection) volume type, unless you have or want the SHR2 (2-disk protection)
606995
It depends on the type of raid setup you use. There is a hybrid setup that makes use of all the drives and maximizes the space available. This way you can have different size drives. I accepted this as the default. I can't verify how it works though as all my drives are the same size. It's a bit slower than I would have liked also, but hey, it does the job.
606996
Yes, this can be done with Synology Hybrid RAID (SHR). And yes, the process is not difficult, i.e. it is "smooth" (if you meant something else by smooth, please let me know). But upgrading the drives on this unit is one of the benefits of it. If you use traditional RAID options, then no you will not be able to upgrade one drive at a time to increase capacity. From my discussions with Synology, 12 bay units are generally recommended with traditional RAID, but they did indicate that many people use SHR with no problems. Personally, I would try to minimize use of the unit during the upgrade since it may help speed up the expansion.
606997
With either SHR-1 or SHR-2 RAID (proprietary, but similar to RAID5 and RAID6 respectively) you can replace any disk with an equivalent or larger disk and trigger the same rebuild you would use for a failed drive. With the SHR RAID formats you can also mix sizes and upgrade gradually. Note that the RAID will be as slow as if all drives were as slow as your slowest disk, however.
606998
Yes, this can be done with Synology Hybrid RAID (SHR). And yes, the process is not difficult, i.e. it is "smooth" (if you meant something else by smooth, please let me know). But upgrading the drives on this unit is one of the benefits of it. If you use traditional RAID options, then no you will not be able to upgrade one drive at a time to increase capacity. From my discussions with Synology, 12 bay units are generally recommended with traditional RAID, but they did indicate that many people use SHR with no problems.Personally, I would try to minimize use of the unit during the upgrade since it may help speed up the expansion. Yes, this can be done with Synology Hybrid RAID (SHR). And yes, the process is not difficult, i.e. it is "smooth" (if you meant something else by smooth, please let me know). But upgrading the drives on this unit is one of the benefits of it. If you use traditional RAID options, then no you will not be able to upgrade one drive at a time to increase capacity. From my discussions with Synology, 12 bay units are generally recommended with traditional RAID, but they did indicate that many people use SHR with no problems.Personally, I would try to... » Read More Yes, this can be done with Synology Hybrid RAID (SHR). And yes, the process is not difficult, i.e. it is "smooth" (if you meant something else by smooth, please let me know). But upgrading the drives on this unit is one of the benefits of it. If you use traditional RAID options, then no you will not be able to upgrade one drive at a time to increase capacity. From my discussions with Synology, 12 bay units are generally recommended with traditional RAID, but they did indicate that many people use SHR with no problems.Personally, I would try to minimize use of the unit during the upgrade since it may help speed up the expansion. « Show Less
811418
Just as KrellSteel said, works fine once you use Disk Manager on it. I have a 4TB drive, a WD40EURX, and gave it a GUID partition with NTFS, and drive letter for convenience, and it's copying files like a champ as I type. Copying 200GB of data (5% of it's capacity) takes about 40 minutes.
2077591
You can migrate the drives to a new unit but there are a few things that get lost. see this tutorial: http://www.synology.com/en-us/support/tutorials/484
1368043
I believe so. I have cloned many drives to 500gb, 750gb and 1 terabyte drives using acronis software
717778
effortlessly is relative...can you transfer the data and O/S? or is this as a secondary drive? Your mileage may vary!
212326
I will agree with the other two comments.. Just upgrade the drive to a larger size. Storage is pretty cheap these days. Good Luck!
1028213
I'm running 4x1.5TB drives with ZFS RAID-Z and Ubuntu 12.04 LTS on a flash drive with 2x4GB 1333. It's been performing very well, no complaints! I'm just not looking forward to when I have to upgrade those drives, at least they were free.
932556
You should have no problem with this HD. You may wish to partition it though.
812115
I have 2 (4TB each) in a Synology DS213 for about a month now. Good so far, took a while to do the scrub first day is all.
1905074
No it doesn't need it. So I just started with 2 old 1TB HDDs than after 1.5 week I added 3 4TB new HDDs. Later I expended 3 4TB HDD with 1 more of the same type. Finally I have 2 disk groups. Configuration of NAS is very flexible and it is really fully up to you.
843170
You can start with two drives and expand it as you get more drives. Furthermore if all bays are full then you can replace older smaller drives with bigger newer drives without losing any data.
1600661
I have had the drive as my main operating system, as well as mass storage drive for almost a year, and so far, it has been reliable, fast, and quiet. However, as the previous person responded, I am using Linux, which does put less stress on the drive and the file system is a bit better at file allocation, ETC...My experience is very positive in this environment. (Using the 3TB version partitioned into three sections)
788305
It would have been helpful if you had described what you intend to do. Clone what, exactly, would be a good start. And do you have any extra hardware available, such as an unused HDD that could be used for temporary storage?
1267395
Yes, but since its optimized for NAS, it will be somewhat slower than a desktop optimized drive.
1712093
I haven't yet tried a 4TB drive, but I have used a 3TB drive with NTFS formatting with no problems.
984389
That really is about all there is to it. Of course, during the process your new drive will be appropriately partitioned, formatted, etc...but it is all handled by your RAID software. Just be aware that when you buy a replacement drive, if you buy one that is larger or has a faster rotational speed than your remaining drive, the performance of the replacement drive will be limited to matching the size and speed specifications of the remaining drive. (Don't buy a 4 TB drive if the remaining drive is 1 TB...it will work, but you will lose 3 TB of usable space.)
919443
Sorry, I run Windows, don't do "I" products, the actual available storage is slightly less than 500GB's, so if you need 500 I'd go bigger, there is a 750 & a 1TB on Amazon