N3200 - Expand Raid

[LionFeen]

Hi
My storage had gotten to 92% full so I recently upgraded the drives in my N3200 from 2 x 500GB to 2 x 1TB. I removed one of the 500gb drives and replaced it with one of the 1TB drives. Once the raid array had rebuilt I then took out the other 500gb and replaced it with the 1TB.

Now that the raid array has rebuilt again I now want to expand the array to utilize the new storage available but I cannot find where to do this. In the raid config area I expected to see a button allowing me to expand but there is only the remove option.

I really need a way to expand the available storage of the raid array. I no longer have the 500gb drives and do not have any other storage big enough to copy the data to so I cannot remove and rebuild the array either.

Surely there is a way to expand the array. I would be very surprised if Thecus overlooked the possibility that their customers would need to one day upgrade and expand the storage in their NAS boxes.

I know I am using the original 1.00.00 firmware but I'm reluctant to upgrade it as I have already tried this and had a very bad experience in the past. When I upgraded the firmware it had blown away my raid so I had lost all the data but it also wouldn't boot up anymore. I had to RMA it and send it back. Thecus sent out a totally new unit but that didn't help my raid data !!!!!!

Product No. N3200
Firmware Version 1.0.00
APP Version 1.0.00
µP Version 12

Cheers

Gavin

[Thecus - Yvon]

Dear Sir,

Thanks for your mail.
1. If you have concern about the stability on N3200, please try on N3200 latest beta version firmware V1.00.04.1, this version enchane the stability from Freescale on Dec 2008:
http://www.thecus.com/Downloads/beta..._1.00.04.1.bin

2. N3200 deosn't support RAID Expansion function, current only N5200POR/1U4500/N7700/N8800 support the RAID Migration & RAID Expansion function, and following link for your refernce:
http://esupport.thecus.com/support/i...icleid=7&nav=0

[GoNz0]

sorry to jump in here, doesn't the n5200br support raid expansion ?

[Funkstar]

sorry to jump in here, doesn't the n5200br support raid expansion ?

All the N5200 series support RAID level migration and RAID expansion.

[GoNz0]

yeh i just had to go into the config and check that lol, i had a late night and am still confused (need more coffee)

[LionFeen]

I'd settle for just needing a coffee
had so many disappointments with the N3200 that I need a new NAS... and not a Thecus one either

[LionFeen]

I've posted this in another thread so I'm sorry for the double post but I feel the need to include it here as this is where it started and I've had trouble with getting the new drives setup in the N3200 :

I disagree about the stability. I upgraded to version V1.00.04.1 last week. Due to Thecus no guarantee that my data would be safe during firmware upgrade I had to copy 480gigs to another device.

After a successful upgrade I tried to copy the data back which resulted in the N3200 crashing twice with a loud constant beep and a message on the lcd similar to "System Unavailable" (I can't remember the exact message). Pressing any of the buttons did not help. I had to physically remove the power cable from the back of the N3200, reboot and restart my data copy. NOT A GOOD THING TO HAVE TO DO.

Obviously I'm pretty worried about my data at this stage so once all files were copied I then had to do an integrity check of the files between the new N3200 and the backed up device. There were some errors found but luckily they were only small unimportant files. I 'd hate to think if it were a large file or a video of one of my kids. THIS WAS ALL A MASSIVE WASTE OF A LOT OF MY TIME !!!!!!

All of that is just the reliability. I'm also very unhappy with it's set of features
e.g.

1) the waste of the 3rd drive which I'm informed cannot be used for anything other than a spare if one of the other 2 drives dies. cannot even use it as a jbod if you already have a raid setup with the other 2 drives.

2) I had upgraded from 2 x 500gig drives to 2 x 1terabyte drives but could not expand the raid hence having to copy off 480 gigs of data rebuild the raid and then copy back .... Why bother having a 3 drive raid device if you cannot use one of the drives and cannot upgrade to newer drives ??????????????

3) lack of a web server

4) No xbox360 support

All in all.... an expensive unit. I could have got a better Netgear or Qnap Nas for cheaper