Advantages/Disadvantages of Synology Hybrid Raid?

[aleshko1980]

maybe a stupid question...I have a DS211j and since I am newbie, I chose at the initial setup SHR for 2x1Tb disks, since the system made a "kind" suggestion on its own...is that wrong or OK? Since I'm reading, that SHR is only advisable for different size disks? Will this configuration with SHR still work as RAID1?

[maxxfi]

Well, SHR has its advantages when used with disks of different sizes, but it works just fine also with disks of same size.
As your array is already set there is not need to start from scratch and make a RAID 1.
In any case the SHR internally configures the two disks to work exactly like in in a 'pure' RAID 1.

[aleshko1980]

Great, thanks for help, I'll leave it as is

Well, SHR has its advantages when used with disks of different sizes, but it works just fine also with disks of same size.
As your array is already set there is not need to start from scratch and make a RAID 1.
In any case the SHR internally configures the two disks to work exactly like in in a 'pure' RAID 1.

[ZoomJC]

Hi all, Synology noob here. I have just set up my DS211j thus:
I had an almost full 1.5TB drive so I put in a brand new 2TB drive into the DS211j to setup initially with DSM3.1. With some degree of ignorance, I chose to setup the single drive as Volume 1, using SHR (No data protection).
I then proceeded to transfer the entire contents of my 1.5TB NTFS drive into the 2TB in the DS211j.
After that, I inserted the 1.5TB drive into the DS211j and tried to set it up, thinking it was possible to have SHR data protection with my 2 drives now with the newly formatted 1.5TB drive.

However, despite me choosing SHR, a second volume was created in the 1.5TB drive (SHR - no data protection). So now I have 2 drives of different sizes, both in SHR, but not with any data protection.

My questions are:
1. Was there anyway to use the data protection features of SHR if I had filled the first 2TB drive with data, before setting up the second drive?

2. Is there any disadvantage in running 2 drives both in SHR but not with data protection - ie. effectivly using them as 2 independent drives.

3. This appears to mean I have the full 3.5TB capacity to use so am I right in assuming when it comes time to replace the 1.5TB drive with a 3TB in the future, all I need to do is swap the 1.5TB drive out and put the 3TB one in with no effect on the data on the 2TB drive. What I'm asking is, the drives and their contained data are totally independent from each other right, despite them both being in SHR format?

Thanks for your help in advance.

[nee_savi]

Hi,
I am using DS410 with 2 HDD 2TB each and more or less full with Raid 1. Now I plan to expand with another 2TB or 3TB .. and was wondering is I should move to SHR.

Is ir possible to move from RAID 1 to SHR .. or do I need to reformat everything and create the volume again?

[eadrian75]

My ds211j is in the mail, along with two 1.5TB HDD. Correct me if i'm wrong, but if i decide to set up using Raid 1, then am I more or less stuck using 1.5TB drives for the life of my unit? Or do i have the option to rebuild the array by inserting a 2-3TB HDD in one of the slots. Then perhaps, remove the remaining 1.5 and replace that with the second 2-3TB HDD.

Would it just be easier to set up using Hybrid if my intentions are to one day increase the size of at least one of the drives (preferably both)?

Please advise, thank you.

[Spooky]

My ds211j is in the mail, along with two 1.5TB HDD. Correct me if i'm wrong, but if i decide to set up using Raid 1, then am I more or less stuck using 1.5TB drives for the life of my unit? Or do i have the option to rebuild the array by inserting a 2-3TB HDD in one of the slots. Then perhaps, remove the remaining 1.5 and replace that with the second 2-3TB HDD.

Would it just be easier to set up using Hybrid if my intentions are to one day increase the size of at least one of the drives (preferably both)?

Please advise, thank you.

As far as I understand the RAID migration feature: yes, you will be able to expand your RAID to, say, 3TB later on. During expansion, you have to insert one 3TB drive first and once the RAID rebuilt, the other one and rebuild again.

It does not matter whether you choose SHR or RAID-1 on your DS211j, since an SHR with 2 disks will always be a RAID-1, according to the information on the first post.

[dc336]

I'm setting up my 411j for the first time. I have 2 1TB disks installed, and am deciding whether to go with SHR or RAID 1. If I go with SHR and I later add a third 1TB or larger drive, will SHR automatically convert from RAID 1 to RAID 5, giving me a 2TB RAID volume?

Thanks in advance,
David

[HarryPotter]

Yes it does.

[haojan]

With a DS1511+, if I start with an SHR 2 disk redundancy with 4x 2TB, add a 2TB for a total of 5 disk. Is it possible to upgrade to 4x 3TB in the future or will I need to maintain 5x disk as soon as I add that 5th disk to the array?

[bzerob]

Synology n00b here....

getting ready to setup my 411j with (4) 3TB WD Caviar Green HDDs

Planning on Raid5 or SHR. As I understand it, because all the disks are the same size SHR will basically put them in RAID5 anyways. However, in the future, if 4TB drives are available and supported would it be easier to upgrade a single drive to 4TB using SHR or RAID5? Multiple drives?

always planning ahead....

[nekno]

in the future, if 4TB drives are available and supported would it be easier to upgrade a single drive to 4TB using SHR or RAID5? Multiple drives?

With either format, when you upgrade your disks you can expand your existing volume to use the new space without affecting your existing files, but how many disks you must upgrade and when you expand the volume depends on whether you choose SHR or RAID5.

With SHR, you can expand the volume and use the new space as soon as you replace 2 disks, and therefore you can upgrade 2 disks (or more) and gain usable space. With RAID5, you have to upgrade all disks at once to gain new space, and you have to wait until all disks are replaced before expanding the volume to use the new space.

From What is Synology Hybrid RAID?:



Also, with SHR, you get fast volume creation, which shortens the time to create (and presumably expand) a volume by 95%. From DSM 3.2 Features:

Fast SHR Volume Creation

Building a new volume from the scratch always takes a long period of time, and in most cases you wouldn’t be able to start working while the process is still going. It’s not the case if you used Synology Hybrid RAID (SHR) to build a new volume. The SHR has been greatly enhanced so that now it’s 95% faster to create a volume. For example, a 10 TB volume usually requires approximately 9 and a half hour to complete the entire process, now it only takes around 30 minutes.

The SHR prioritizes file system in the volume building process. As the file system is being built, the rest of the process will take place in the background to allow users to start storing, editing and moving files around immediately.

[nnop]

Hi

another newbie here.

i have DS4llj with 4 x 2TB drives. i've configured them all into a single volume with RAID1. i thought this would give my 4TB (or rather just under) of space, but it appears to have given me the space of just one disk (i.e. just under 2TB).



am i being stoopid? please can anyone help?

[maxxfi]

A RAID 1 array of four disks to me means having four copies (mirrors) of the same data, so I'd say your results are correct.

Maybe actually you wanted to make a RAID 10 instead? That should give you about 4TB of data, as data will be striped across two disks, and then mirrored on the other two disks.

That said, why are you writing in a thread about SHR?

[steagle]

To all those asking questions about SHR - it's really quite simple. It mimics traditional RAIDs 1, 5 and 6 but utilizing maximum disk space for oddly-matched drives.
If you have 2 disks, SHR = RAID 1
If you have 3 or more disks using SHR w/ 1 disk redundancy, SHR = RAID 5
If you have 4 or more disks using SHR w/ 2 disk redundancy, SHR = RAID 6
The main difference is SHR will utilize more disk space than traditional RAIDs if you have drives of different sizes. If you start your RAID off with not many drives, or drives that you plan to swap out for larger ones later, SHR is the best choice. With SHR you are not required to swap out all your drives at once with same-sized drives to increase space, rather you can go one by one, mixing and matching drive sizes as you please.