My four-bay Synology NAS (4x Western Digital Red 2TB, 5400 RPM, 8.89 cm \u2013 3.5\u2033) chassis sits discretely in a quiet corner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It ticks along, very quietly, adding files (many different formats) to various libraries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sometimes (not often) I access the NAS remotely to get a file that will help me at work, because I\u2019m keen never to reinvent the wheel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But by and large the NAS maintains my music library and my video projects; between them that\u2019s about 1.75TB of data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The NAS also maintains a record of everything my limited companies have ever done, because HMRC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
NAS backs itself up, at 3am every morning, to a 3TB EDD \u2013 a routine that takes an impressive five minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there\u2019s been a recurring problem. Not with the chassis itself, but with the drives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As I\u2019ve already mentioned, the NAS media comprises 4x Western Digital Red 2TB, 5400 RPM, 8.89 cm \u2013 3.5\u2033 drives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in the last six months three drives have failed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s no problem here, from an operational aspect. The NAS keeps on running when a drive fails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In fact, due to the RAID I\u2019ve used, I can afford to lose two drives yet still maintain full read\/write access to my data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But why would three drives fail, over a period of months?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had a spare, so the first time a drive failed I used that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The second time a drive failed I didn\u2019t have a spare, so I just reused the first (faile) drive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The NAS reformatted the (previously failed) drive, then repaired and spread the Volume over the new hardware config.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Odd, I thought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And a couple of months later the same thing occurred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Exactly the same thing: drive failed, replaced the failed drive with a previously failed drive, get back up and running.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It wasn\u2019t even the same drive bay that failed \u2013 on either occasion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last week, another couple of months down the line, another drive failure occurred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I replaced it with a previously failed drive, which, once again, was reformatted and then accepted into service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most odd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have absolutely no reason to suspect any component in particular, but if a drive failed I would expect that failed drive to be beyond normal use ever again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I wouldn\u2019t expect a failed drive to be reusable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I have no idea why this might be.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
My four-bay Synology NAS (4x Western Digital Red 2TB, 5400 RPM, 8.89 cm \u2013 3.5\u2033) chassis sits discretely in a quiet corner. It ticks along, very quietly, adding files (many different formats) to various libraries. Sometimes (not often) I access the NAS remotely to get a file that will help \u2026 Continue reading