Author Topic: TeraStation Live  (Read 4788 times)

bizuser

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TeraStation Live
« on: March 01, 2009, 06:29:02 PM »
   

I'm looking at the TeraStation Live 2TB.  Does anyone out there know if I can upgrade the drives as a later date?  In other words, does this station have a storage limit or maximum drive size it can support?

 

I know I'd have to back it up prior to doing so, just in case something were to happen during the swap out.  All this being said, I would rather add larger drives over time.  Does anyone know if Buffalo's implementation of RAID 5 will support the typical addition of larger drives into a RAID 5 array where the smallest drive determines how much space can be used on a larger drive?

 

 


cbergeson

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Re: TeraStation Live
« Reply #1 on: March 02, 2009, 03:19:00 PM »
You'll be able to add larger drives, but the unit will pair down the drive so that it will only use the amount that the other drives are registering.  To be able to use the full amount of the new drives once you upgrade all of the drives you'll need to wipe out the raid array (which would delete your data) then create a new array using the full amount of the new drives.  The terastation lives can support up to 1tb drives.

jfourman

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Re: TeraStation Live
« Reply #2 on: March 02, 2009, 03:30:56 PM »
   I have 4 x 1.5 TB (6TB Raw) Seagate Baracuda Drives my TS Live. Works great. I started with a 1TB and replaced the drives in the manner described above. I bought the 1TB TS Live from eCost for $268 (refurbed).

bizuser

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Re: TeraStation Live
« Reply #3 on: March 02, 2009, 09:33:56 PM »
   Thanks for the reply and good news...4 X 1.5 is what I eventually go too. 

jfourman

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Re: TeraStation Live
« Reply #4 on: March 03, 2009, 03:27:40 PM »
   

Bizuser: 

 

If you get the Seagate 1.5 TB drives, you may have to upgrade the firmware before using them. There was a batch with FW# SD15 through SD19 that would need to be upgraded. The FW# is on the drive label. Any with FW # SA21 and above are good to go. I had to upgrade the FW on mine and everything runs great.

 

You have to call Seagate phone support to get a special password/code to download the upgrade. They will then email you the code to be used for the download. They want to control the FW releases because there are different versions for different drives.

 

The upgrade needs to be done from a PC with SATA controller. It took me about 15 minutes to upgrade the 4 drives once I figured out what to do. The FW download creates a PC bootable CD. Once you have the drive connected to the SATA controller (I just disconnected the primary drive on my Son's PC), the CD automatically completes and confirms the upgrade. I then deleted the RAID5 config on the TS Live (losing any data). Next I replaced one drive at a time in the TS Live starting with drive 2 then 3,4, and 1, formatted it and went on to the next drive until all 4 were replaced. I then re-setup the RAID5 config and was good to go.  I paid $119 for each drive on a special from Newegg.

 

Good luck