The size of a storage volume on a Synology NAS can be altered post-creation, regardless of whether a storage pool supports multiple volumes or not. This can be achieved by adding more physical drives to the enclosure to expand the storage pool capacity. This guide will run you through how to expand the volume size on Synology NAS.
If you’re simply adding new drives into free bays, the process of doing so is straightforward. When your Synology NAS is full, replacing drives can prove a little tricky, depending on which RAID you have applied to the array.
Expanding a single-volume storage pool
When you’ve got a storage pool with just one volume, these are the steps to take in order to expand the size:
- Add drives to the storage pool.
- The volume size will be expanded accordingly.
Expanding a multi-volume storage pool
If you have a storage pool with multiple volumes, the method of expanding the pool differs slightly:
- Log into your Synology NAS.
- Open Storage Manager.
- Select the volume you wish to expand from the left-side menu.
- Click on the three-dot menu in the top-right corner of the volume window.
- Click on Settings.
- Scroll down to the Modify Size section of this new window.
- Enter the desired new volume size in the modify allocated size field or click on Max to automatically fill the available pool.
- Click OK.
Which NAS drives should you buy?
When looking at new drives to install inside your Synology NAS, it’s important to choose NAS drives specifically designed for use inside a server. We’ve compiled a list of the best drives for a Synology NAS, including drives from Seagate, Western Digital, Toshiba, and Samsung.
Remember to read through our replacing drives in a Synology NAS guide for more details on how to handle RAID and other factors.