NAS & RAID Calculator

NAS pSEO Landing

Region Focus · UK

UK 6x 8TB RAID-Z2 NAS Calculator

Estimate usable TB, parity, and fault tolerance for UK homelab buyers using 6x 8TB in RAID-Z2.

Capacity Snapshot

Raw Capacity

48.00 TB

Usable Capacity

28.80 TB

Fault Tolerance

2 drives

Efficiency

66.7%

Popular TrueNAS default for medium arrays; dual-parity with good safety margin. This scenario applies a 10% filesystem reserve.

Run Interactive Calculator

Alternative Mode Comparison

Mode Usable Tolerance Efficiency
RAID 5 36.00 TB 1 drive 83.3%
RAID 6 28.80 TB 2 drives 66.7%
RAID 10 21.60 TB 1 drive per mirror pair* 50.0%
RAID-Z1 36.00 TB 1 drive 83.3%
RAID-Z2 28.80 TB 2 drives 66.7%

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.

Brand / Region Glossary

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.

NAS Cluster Guides

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 6-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 much effective storage does 6x 8TB RAID-Z2 provide?

For UK homelab buyers, this NAS planning scenario estimates 28.80 TB usable after a 10% reserve from 48.00 TB raw.

How many disk failures can RAID-Z2 tolerate in this setup?

This setup can tolerate 2 drives. Real-world survivability depends on mirror placement, rebuild stress, and drive health.