NAS & RAID Calculator

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Region Focus · UK

UK 4x 20TB RAID 5 NAS Calculator

Estimate usable TB, parity, and fault tolerance for UK homelab buyers using 4x 20TB in RAID 5.

Capacity Snapshot

Raw Capacity

80.00 TB

Usable Capacity

54.00 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.

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Alternative Mode Comparison

Mode Usable Tolerance Efficiency
RAID 5 54.00 TB 1 drive 75.0%
RAID 6 36.00 TB 2 drives 50.0%
RAID 10 36.00 TB 1 drive per mirror pair* 50.0%
RAID-Z1 54.00 TB 1 drive 75.0%
RAID-Z2 36.00 TB 2 drives 50.0%

UK Buyer Context

UK homelab planners commonly balance higher per-drive pricing with power and chassis constraints, so efficient but resilient layouts become more valuable.

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Power Budget

Expected always-on energy usage cost factored into NAS layout decisions.

Rebuild Window

Estimated time exposure while replacing a failed drive and restoring parity.

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FAQ

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.

How much real-world usable storage does 4x 20TB RAID 5 provide?

For UK homelab buyers, this NAS planning scenario estimates 54.00 TB usable after a 10% reserve from 80.00 TB raw.

Should I optimize this 4-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.

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.