NAS & RAID Calculator

NAS planning example

Region Focus · APAC

APAC 4x 8TB RAID 5 NAS Calculator

Estimate usable TB, parity, and fault tolerance for APAC homelab buyers using 4x 8TB in RAID 5.

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.

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.

Capacity Snapshot

Raw Capacity

32.00 TB

Usable Capacity

21.60 TB

Fault Tolerance

1 drive

Efficiency

75.0%

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

Run Interactive Calculator

Alternative Mode Comparison

Mode Usable Tolerance Efficiency
RAID 5 21.60 TB 1 drive 75.0%
RAID 6 14.40 TB 2 drives 50.0%
RAID 10 14.40 TB 1 drive per mirror pair* 50.0%
RAID-Z1 21.60 TB 1 drive 75.0%
RAID-Z2 14.40 TB 2 drives 50.0%

APAC Buyer Context

APAC builders frequently compare availability windows and procurement variance, which makes robust fallback capacity and staged scaling useful in practice.

Brand / Region Glossary

Procurement Variance

Regional differences in disk availability and replacement lead times.

Spare Strategy

Policy of keeping spare disks available to reduce recovery delay risk.

NAS cluster navigation

Move through the storage decision path

All apps

Related long-tail calculators

Sequential long-tail navigation

FAQ

Why include a 10% reserve when planning NAS storage headroom?

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

Should I optimize this 4-drive plan for available space 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 5 tolerate in this setup?

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

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.