NAS Bay, Drive Count & Capacity Planner
Turn a usable target into feasible layouts.
Compare layoutsPhysical NAS choices
NAS configuration tools
Move from a capacity requirement to bays, drives, protection, expansion, and workload-specific storage media.
RAID Capacity Calculator
Check raw, usable, and overhead capacity.
Calculate capacityRAID Protection Decision Tool
Shortlist a generic protection model.
Choose protectionNAS Expansion Headroom Planner
Set an expansion calendar trigger.
Plan expansionHDD vs SSD Storage Planner
Allocate bulk and active data tiers.
Allocate tiersCMR vs SMR Suitability Checker
Specify recording-method requirements.
Check suitabilityCapacity, protection, and backup are separate decisions
Use these tools in sequence: establish usable capacity, choose a protection approach, check array math, set an expansion trigger, and keep independently recoverable backups.
Read RAID Is Not a Backup and verify formulas in Storage and RAID Capacity Formulas.
Planning path
How to use the NAS configuration hub
Where to start
Begin with NAS Bay, Drive Count & Capacity Planner when usable capacity and protection are known but the enclosure class is not. RAID Capacity Calculator answers the narrower raw-to-usable arithmetic question. RAID Protection Decision Tool helps select a generic tolerance starting point. Expansion Headroom estimates when to act, HDD vs SSD divides performance tiers, and CMR vs SMR checks recording-method suitability.
Recommended workflow
Carry a usable-capacity target from Storage needs into bay planning, shortlist feasible drive counts, then validate each with RAID capacity. Challenge the protection choice separately because availability and backup are different controls. Test runway before purchase, assign HDD or SSD by workload, and record the required drive recording method. Only after that sequence should exact vendor compatibility, expansion rules, warranty, and current price decide procurement.
What to prepare
Bring usable decimal TB, desired free-capacity reserve, tolerated drive failures, maximum individual drive size, current annual growth, free bays, active-data percentage, performance priority, write pattern, and independent-backup status. Download current documentation for the exact NAS and drive models. Never infer CMR or SMR from a family name, and never assume generic parity math guarantees vendor behavior.
What to do next
Use Backup planning to create recoverable copies outside the array, Network performance to verify that clients and backup jobs can move data fast enough, and Cost & power to compare complete protected configurations. Before migration, test notifications, safe shutdown, representative restore, and the documented expansion procedure. Preserve enough temporary capacity to recover if an array change cannot be completed in place.