NAS planning example

8x 18TB RAID 5 NAS Calculator | Usable TB

Estimate usable TB, parity overhead, and fault tolerance for 8x 18TB in RAID 5. Includes reserve planning for NAS and homelab arrays.

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Planning route

Answer the capacity question, then validate the purchase path

Use this worked example as a numeric starting point, then validate the RAID choice, capacity reserve, hardware plan, and backup path.

Decision aid RAID level selector Reference Capacity matrix

Editorial method

What this calculator can—and cannot—decide

The capacity model makes drive count, drive size, RAID layout, and reserve visible. It is a planning aid: it does not predict exact performance, rebuild duration, hardware compatibility, or the probability of data loss for a specific system.

Last reviewed: July 10, 2026. Product links remain neutral category searches until a partner relationship and page-level disclosure are in place.

OpenZFS checksums and scrubs Background on checksum verification, scrubs, and repair in suitably redundant ZFS pools. Read primary source ↗ TrueNAS data protection Official overview of scrubs, S.M.A.R.T. tests, snapshots, replication, and backup tasks. Read primary source ↗ CISA ransomware guidance Why recoverable, regularly tested backups should be separate from array redundancy. Read primary source ↗

Capacity Snapshot

Raw Capacity

144.00 TB

Usable Capacity

113.40 TB

Fault Tolerance

1 drive

Efficiency

87.5%

Balanced capacity and redundancy, but rebuild stress can be high on large disks. This scenario applies a 10% filesystem reserve.

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Alternative Mode Comparison

Mode	Usable	Tolerance	Efficiency
RAID 5	113.40 TB	1 drive	87.5%
RAID 6	97.20 TB	2 drives	75.0%
RAID 10	64.80 TB	1 drive per mirror pair*	50.0%
RAID-Z1	113.40 TB	1 drive	87.5%
RAID-Z2	97.20 TB	2 drives	75.0%

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FAQ

How many disk failures can RAID 5 tolerate in this setup?

This setup can tolerate 1 drive. Real-world survivability depends on mirror placement, rebuild stress, and drive health.

Should I optimize this 8-drive plan for storage headroom 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 much real-world usable storage does 8x 18TB RAID 5 provide?

This NAS planning scenario estimates 113.40 TB usable after a 10% reserve from 144.00 TB raw.

Why include a 10% reserve when planning NAS capacity?

Keeping free space improves filesystem behavior for snapshots, metadata, and write performance. Full arrays often perform worse and rebuild more slowly.