US 8x 20TB RAID 5 NAS Calculator

Estimate usable TB, parity, and fault tolerance for US homelab buyers using 8x 20TB in RAID 5.

Capacity Snapshot

Raw Capacity

160.00 TB

Usable Capacity

126.00 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	126.00 TB	1 drive	87.5%
RAID 6	108.00 TB	2 drives	75.0%
RAID 10	72.00 TB	1 drive per mirror pair*	50.0%
RAID-Z1	126.00 TB	1 drive	87.5%
RAID-Z2	108.00 TB	2 drives	75.0%

US Buyer Context

US buyers often evaluate frequent pricing swings and promo cycles. Capacity planning should account for staged purchases instead of one-time all-disk upgrades.

• Use parity layouts that remain valid during phased expansions.
• Compare total usable-per-dollar across multiple disk sizes, not only one SKU.

Brand / Region Glossary

Cost-per-Usable-TB

Planning metric that compares real usable capacity after reserve and parity.

Promo Window

Seasonal pricing period used for phased drive purchasing strategies.

NAS Cluster Guides

NAS Hub RAID Level Compare RAID Capacity Matrix Planning Quick Sheet RAID Selector NAS FAQ

Related Long-Tail Calculators

2x 4TB RAID 1 2x 6TB RAID 1 2x 8TB RAID 1 2x 10TB RAID 1 2x 12TB RAID 1 2x 14TB RAID 1 2x 16TB RAID 1 2x 18TB RAID 1 2x 20TB RAID 1 3x 4TB RAID 1 3x 4TB RAID 5 3x 4TB RAID-Z1 3x 6TB RAID 1 3x 6TB RAID 5 3x 6TB RAID-Z1 3x 8TB RAID 1

Sequential Long-Tail Navigation

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FAQ

Is RAID 5 still practical with 20TB drives?

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

Should I optimize this 8-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.

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 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.