Create a Storage Pool

This article guides you through how to create a storage pool.

If no storage pool has been created on your Synology NAS before, you can simply go to Storage Manager > Storage and click the Create Now button to start creating a storage pool and volume. The first-time creation wizard will guide you through the process.

Before You Start

• We recommend using drives that are compatible with your Synology NAS and are on the Synology Products Compatibility List. Using drives not on the list may affect system stability and result in data loss.
• Only specific Synology NAS models support using M.2 NVMe SSDs to create storage pools. Keep in mind that the M.2 form factor is not hot-pluggable, so you must power off the system completely before inserting or removing an M.2 SSD from your Synology NAS.
• Make sure the drives to be used for storage pool creation do not have important data. All existing data will be deleted during the creation process.
• Check Storage Manager > HDD/SSD to make sure the drives to be used for storage pool creation are in Healthy status.
• A storage pool must be comprised of drives of the same type. That is, a storage pool cannot be created with a mix of SATA and SAS drives or SSDs and HDDs.
• On Synology NAS models that support RAID Group, there can be multiple RAID arrays in a RAID 5, RAID 6, or RAID F1 storage pool.
  • RAID arrays belonging to the same storage pool will be of the same RAID type, which means RAID 5, RAID 6, or RAID F1.
  • The maximum number of drives for each RAID array can be 6, 12, 16, 20, or 24. You can set the maximum number of drives while creating the storage pool, and the number cannot be modified later.
  • When a RAID array has been assigned with the maximum number of drives, the next drive added to the storage pool may be assigned to a new RAID array. The new RAID array must contain the minimum number of drives required for that specific RAID type (i.e., three drives for RAID 5 and RAID F1, and four drives for RAID 6).

Create a Storage Pool

To create a storage pool:

1. Launch Storage Manager.
2. Go to the Storage page and click Create > Create Storage Pool.
3. Configure the storage pool property:
   • RAID type: Select a RAID type to protect your storage pool.
     Different RAID types offer different levels of data protection and features. For more information, refer to Choose a RAID Type. Once a RAID type is selected from the drop-down menu, the following information will be shown:
     • Minimum number of drives: This field shows the minimum number of drives required for the selected RAID type.
     • Drive fault tolerance: This field shows the maximum number of allowed failed drives for the selected RAID type.
   • Drive type: This field shows the drive type of the installed SSD or HDD. (This field only appears in certain Synology NAS models.)
   • Storage pool description (optional): Provide a description for this storage pool.
4. Select and deploy drives and click Next.
5. Follow the wizard to finish.

To view the storage pool information:

After a storage pool has been created, you can click to view its status, capacity, and other information, such as:

• RAID type
• Data scrubbing information
• Drive information
• Hot spare information

The exact information shown depends on the actual condition of the storage pool. For example, the Suggestion field only appears if actions are recommended to be taken for a volume or SSD cache.

Remove a Storage Pool

You can remove a storage pool that you no longer need. All data on the storage pool will be removed permanently, including its volumes and all shared folders and packages on the volumes. Make sure you have a backup of your data before removing the storage pool.

To remove a storage pool:

1. Go to Storage Manager > Storage.
2. Locate the storage pool you want to remove and click its upper-right ellipsis icon.
3. Select Remove.
4. Make sure to read the instructions on the pop-up window.
   • If you cannot continue because a package or shared folder requires further actions to be taken, click OK to close the window and complete these actions first.
   • If you are sure you want to remove the storage pool, click Remove to continue.
     • Some services may become partially or completely unavailable after storage pool removal. Check the list of affected services. If you still want to proceed, click Erase All Data.
5. Enter the password of your DSM account and click Submit to confirm.

During the removal process, the storage pool status will change to Removing. Once the process is complete, the storage pool will no longer appear on the Storage page.