NAS Migrating to RAID 5. Is it possible to migrate to RAID 6 when RAID 5 migration completed?

[mnmohamed]

I had an existing RAID 1 Mirror setup using WDC 12 TB x 2 drives in AS6604T Lockerstore.

After adding 2 more new drives (all WDC 12 TB), I initiated migration to RAID6 from the previous RAID1.
However, after a while, I noticed that NAS is doing a system migration towards RAID5, instead of RAID6 as I selected. There was also 1 drive left unused (therefore RAID5).

What are my options?
1. Is it possible to cancel the current migration and redo it for RAID6 without destroying the active partition?
2. Should I wait until RAID5 migration is over, so I can migrate to RAID6 without destroying the partition if this is an option?
3. After backups from NAS to external drives are complete, should I cancel the current migration - meaning delete the partition and redo RAID6 from scratch?
4. ** The migration to RAID5 had been running from Midnight Saturday until now and progress is about 30%. Is this normal considering I only have about 6.5 TB of data?

Can someone please help?
While it is possible that I could've made a mistake, I'm someone who was ex-IT Support, therefore understand RAID, etc... and very clearly remember selecting all drives and RAID6 for migration. Was shocked to see NAS was doing RAID5 instead.

Thank you!

[orion]

I did RAID-1 to RAID-5 before. But not RAID-1 to RAID-6. However it's possible that system should migrate to RAID-5 first, then RAID-6. I think you should wait for the process.

RAID engine should go through all disk space, not only data portion.

[mnmohamed]

I did RAID-1 to RAID-5 before. But not RAID-1 to RAID-6. However it's possible that system should migrate to RAID-5 first, then RAID-6. I think you should wait for the process.

RAID engine should go through all disk space, not only data portion.

Thank you Orion. Yes, it makes sense to wait. Maybe the system is still generating parity for real data of 6.45 TB out of 10.91 TB (just rechecked) because it has only completed 39.20% as of now
and possibly will become faster when it reaches the empty area.

[mnmohamed]

Got the following reply from ASUSTOR Tech Support and sharing it here so it benefits someone else in the future.

Thanks to Leo for the reply and Orion too. Remember, NAS or no NAS, multiple backups is the only way to to having peace of mind...

"
Hi Mohamed,

Thanks for contacting us.

1. Is it possible to cancel the current migration and redo it for RAID6 without destroying the active partition?
==>No, once system is in migration process, it's necessary to wait for it.

2. Should I wait until RAID5 migration is over, so I can migrate to RAID6 without destroying the partition if this is an option?
==>When RAID 5 migration is finished, it's not possible to migrate from RAID 5 to RAID, as there is no unused slot. The slots are occupied.

3. After backups from NAS to external drives are complete, should I cancel the current migration - meaning delete the partition and redo RAID6 from scratch?
==>After backup and migration is complete, if you would like to use RAID 6, please do the following:
1.Copy data from NAS to other device
2.Remove volume 1
3.Create volume 1 and configure disks as RAID 6
4.Put previous data back to NAS

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Regards,
Leo Yang
"