Synology and the magic of expanding NAS storage

My Synology was running out of space. With less than 1TB remaining (out of 14), I started to feel anxious that soon, I will have to store my precious data on (gasp) external hard drives. This can’t stand. There were several answers to this little first-world problem.

What option I’d choose is closely related to my philosophy and approach to money and suffering. Knowing that the more money I spend to solve this problem, the less time I’d have to spend on this topic. Dwelling as little as possible on this issue, so I can move on to the rest of my to do list is a top priority for me. Higher on my priority is my desire to not waste money. As a result, I’ve considered some options for upgrading space.

Remove or move data off the NAS
This was an easy first step. I cleared off 2.25 TB a few months ago to an external drive. These were old VMs that I haven’t used for a while (think Windows Server 2008 and SharePoint Server “OLD”). The important data is backed up in TFS, so losing the VMs isn’t a huge risk. So I gained some space for a few months – 8 to be exact.

Get a new unit
After 8 months of rapid data acquisition – we had a new baby last year, so lots of home videos and pictures – filled up the newly cleared up space, I had to now deal with the real chance of running out of space for real. So the question to replace the unit has become relevant again.

My current unit was bought off e-bay with 5 4TB drives in almost pristine (but used) condition. The 5 WD40EFRX Western Digital drives have had no failures during this time. The entire unit has been running flawlessly for 3+ years. I only replaced the fans to reduce noise and stuck some folded paper between the drive caddies to reduce unexpected rattling.

Since I have been happy with the Synology, getting another one would be an easy choice. The next choice to make is the model. Do I want more drives with the new model? Or should I stick to another 5 bay version? What will I do with the existing unit? Should I just get an expansion unit? Should I buy used again or wait for a deal online?

The 5 bay version is something I settled on. More units means more power usage and more headaches down the road to replace drives. I didn’t see any real benefit for me to get a larger unit. But I should say that Synology does produce 6, 8, even 12 bay units. And if you rack, apparently the bay count just keeps going up.

In the strangle-hold of indecision, I decided to math. And after adding up the numbers, I realized what any 5th grader would’ve figured out quicker… With a new or expansion box, I’d have to pay over $400-$500 just for the privilege of having a unit to add drives. That’s without gaining any space at all. A saw a dim light for a potential solution. Btw. Used off e-bay option didn’t hold water either, since there were no used units matching my specs.

Replace hard drives in existing unit
Initially the system was configured to use SHR (Synology Hybrid RAID) which in hindsight was the correct choice. This tech uses a logical data distribution model to take advantage of space on larger drives. So, not all drives have be the same size. I won’t get into how generic RAID works, but just realize, that adding larger drives to a RAID-5 configuration won’t gain you in any space. Not with the Synology though.

And my solution came in the form of purchasing 2 10TB WD RED for NAS drives. A decision was made!

Yet, I felt uneasy spending $269+ on a NAS drive. What else can I do to save money? Let’s try e-bay… new on e-bay, 10TB WD RED drives still run around $240. Hmm. Used? At the time, there were no refurbs available. Even now as I write this, there is a handful of refurbed drives for under $200. But that’s exactly what I did. Ended up buying 2 10TB WD RED white label drives (5400) and I also later learned what ‘shucking’ is.

Two is the minimum number of drives for SHR to utilize the extra space.

Adding the drives
Adding drives was simple.
1) Power off the unit – I didn’t take the time to research if I could hot-swap
2) Remove old drive from first bay.
3) Add new drive.
4) Power on
5) Wait for the array to heal itself.
6) Repeat 1-5 a second time.
7) Enjoy the automagically expanded NAS volume.

My data is now frolicking in a 20TB array with 6 or so TB of free space. Let’s see how long it will take to fill it up.