How to Add a Drive to Synology NAS [Step-by-Step]

• Why Add a Drive to Synology NAS?
• Preparations before Adding a Drive to Synology NAS
• How to Add a Drive to Synology NAS
• Bonus Tip: How to Automatically Backup NAS to Other Clouds via MultCloud
• Conclusion

Why Add a Drive to Synology NAS?

Adding a drive to your Synology NAS opens the door to greater storage flexibility and long-term scalability. Before diving into the specific steps on how to add a drive to Synology NAS, let’s have a discussion about why doing so.

Preparations before Adding a Drive to Synology NAS

There are a few crucial things you should be aware of before taking steps on how to add a drive to Synology NAS to guarantee compatibility, data security, and appropriate expansion.

1. Check Compatibility

• Drive Compatibility List: Use Synology’s Compatibility List to verify that the drive brand, model, and capacity are supported.
• NAS Model Limitations: Some NAS models limit drive types (e.g., only SATA, no NVMe, or specific slot size).

2. Know Your RAID/SHR Configuration

► Check whether your RAID can be expanded:

• Available: Expandable: SHR, SHR-2, RAID 5, RAID 6.
• Unavailable: Not Expandable: RAID 0, Basic (usually).

► Check your storage pool status. Your current storage pool must be in "Healthy" state to add a drive.

3. Available Bay or Slot

Confirm that there's at least one empty drive bay or NVMe SSD slot. If not, you'll need to remove an existing drive or use expansion units (if supported).

4. Backup Your Data

Adding a drive or expanding RAID can risk data if something goes wrong. Therefore, backing up your data on NAS is essential. You can choose to back up the files to another NAS, an external drive, or a cloud drive.

5. Drive Size Matters

• For RAID expansion, the new drive must be equal to or larger than the smallest existing drive in the array.
• Mixing drive sizes is possible with SHR, but not always optimal with traditional RAID.

6. DSM Version

Ensure your Synology NAS runs the latest DSM version to avoid bugs and support newer drives.

7. Hot-Swapping vs Power-Off

If your NAS supports hot-swapping, you can add the drive without shutting it down. If not, safely power it off before inserting the new drive.

8. Decide to Expand Storage or Create New Volume

• Expand existing pool: Adds capacity to the current volume.
• Create new pool/volume: Keeps data separate (useful for backups, testing, etc.).

9. Check Power Supply and Cooling

More drives mean more power and heat. Make sure your NAS power supply and fans can handle the additional load.

How to Add a Drive to Synology NAS

After looking through the preparations, you must be ready to add a drive to Synology NAS, here are the steps on how to add a new drive to Synology NAS.

Step 1: Physically Insert the Drive

Check if your NAS supports hot-swapping (see your model specs).

• If yes: Insert the drive while NAS is running.
• If not: Power off the NAS, insert the drive into an empty bay, then power it back on.

Step 2: Log in to DSM (DiskStation Manager)

Open a browser and enter the NAS IP. Then, log in with your admin credentials.

Step 3: Open Storage Manager

Go to Main Menu > Storage Manager. Then, click HDD/SSD to verify the new drive is recognized.

Step 4: Expand an Existing Storage Pool

1. Click the new drive you want to add.

2. Select "Manage Available Drives" in the upper bar.

3. Choose "Add drive for storage expansion".

4. Select a storage pool where you want to add a new drive.

5. Select the drive you want to add.

6. Check "Expand the capacity of Volume [num]". 

7. View the settings and click "Apply".

Bonus Tip: How to Automatically Backup NAS to Other Clouds via MultCloud

As mentioned before, it is recommended to back up NAS data before adding a new one. If you want to back up data to another NAS or a cloud drive, such as Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, pCloud, Icedrive, IDrive e2, and Amazon S3, MultCloud can play a role.

MultCloud can help you create an automatic backup task which means the file can be transferred without downloading and uploading. Besides, MultCloud Cloud Backup allows you to restore files back to the old NAS with preferred versions.

Here are the example steps for backing up files from one NAS to another.

Step 1. Enter the MultCloud website and sign up for an account.

Step 2. Add one NAS to MultCloud by clicking “Add Cloud” and the NAS logo. Then, enter your admin credentials to add it. Also, add another NAS with the same step.

Step 3. Choose the “Cloud Backup” function in the left sidebar and choose the backup source and target. Then, click “Backup Now” to start transferring files from one NAS to another.

Step 4. When you want to restore the files, find the backup task in “Task List”, click the 3-line button next to it, and choose “Restore”. Then, select the restore version and destination. Finally, tap “OK” to start file restoring.

Conclusion

Now, you must have the answer to how to add a drive to Synology NAS. Before all the steps to add a drive, please browse the preparations to avoid potential data loss. Moreover, it is necessary to back up data to another place before executing the adding steps. To do the backup, MultCloud is introduced to you. It can automatically back up files from one NAS to another NAS or cloud with the file versioning feature.