Synology DS1812 Questions

[ak76]

Hi Guys,

I am new to NAS so sorry for asking noob questions. I am looking into getting DS1812 and have few questions regarding that

1. If i start with 2-3 disks in say raid 5 then is it possible to add more disks down the line without losing any data?
2. Are the disks hot swappable (say there are 8 disks and you need to take one out)? if not, how do you replace a hard drive, do you shut down the unit for any add/remove?
3. Once you have set the disks for say raid 5, is it possible to change the raid type to some other raid say 10 without losing data?
4. is there a download client to download rapidshare etc links like jdownloader?
5. whats the best raid type to use with this nas that gives you both speed and some level of redundancy with data?

I would appreciate if someone can advise on these queries. thanks a lot in advance and sorry again if these have been answered elsewhere.

[maxxfi]

1. Yes you can add more disks later.
2. Yes, as you can read from product description. However, it is always safer to do cold-swap, if possible.
3. Certainly it is not possible if all disks are in use. If you add a new disk, there are some limited possibility to change RAID configuration (please download the manual and check it yourself)
4. "Download station" supports download from several hosting services, like rapidshare. Some of those require anyway premium accounts.
5. Probably RAID5 or RAID 6, depending on number of disks and importance of availability in the specific context.

And yes, most of those questions has been asked elsewhere. I recommend you to become friend with search button

[ak76]

Thanks mate. Promise I will be friends with the search button

[Sorbe]

I would recommend you do SHR rather than manually selecting RAID5. Synology Hybrid RAID is clearly a win in terms of doing vertical upgrades on individual drives once you fill all of your drive slots.

Look HERE:
http://www.synology.com/tutorials/video_hybrid_raid.php?lang=us
http://forum.synology.com/wiki/index.php/What_is_Synology_Hybrid_RAID%3F