NAS & RAID Calculator

NAS pSEO Landing

6x 6TB RAID 1 NAS Calculator | Usable TB

Estimate usable TB, parity overhead, and fault tolerance for 6x 6TB in RAID 1. Includes reserve planning for NAS and homelab arrays.

Capacity Snapshot

Raw Capacity

36.00 TB

Usable Capacity

5.40 TB

Fault Tolerance

5 drives*

Efficiency

16.7%

Strong redundancy but low capacity efficiency. Great for small, critical datasets. This scenario applies a 10% filesystem reserve.

Run Interactive Calculator

Alternative Mode Comparison

Mode Usable Tolerance Efficiency
RAID 5 27.00 TB 1 drive 83.3%
RAID 6 21.60 TB 2 drives 66.7%
RAID 10 16.20 TB 1 drive per mirror pair* 50.0%
RAID-Z1 27.00 TB 1 drive 83.3%
RAID-Z2 21.60 TB 2 drives 66.7%

NAS Cluster Guides

Related Long-Tail Calculators

Sequential Long-Tail Navigation

FAQ

Should I optimize this 6-drive plan for capacity or resiliency first?

For long-lived NAS pools, resiliency first is usually safer. Capacity can be expanded later, while a risky parity choice can force migration sooner.

How many disk failures can RAID 1 tolerate in this setup?

This setup can tolerate 5 drives*. Real-world survivability depends on mirror placement, rebuild stress, and drive health.

Is RAID 1 still practical with 6TB drives?

It can be practical, but larger drives increase rebuild windows. Validate parity choice and backup policy before committing to the final layout.

Can this calculator replace real-world benchmark and rebuild testing?

No. Use this page for pre-purchase sizing, then validate with workload benchmarks, SMART health policy, and a tested restore plan.