HDD/SSD
This section allows you to monitor and understand the status of internal storage drives installed on your DiskStation. Go to Storage Manager > HDD/SSD to manage these options.
Note:
- We highly recommend using drives in the Synology Products Compatibility List to prevent any issues. Using incompatible drives may lower the system performance and even cause data loss on your DiskStation.
Drive's Overall, Allocation, and Health Statuses
You can learn more about each drive's information and health condition by going to Storage Manager > HDD/SSD. Each drive is color-coded to indicate its overall status:
- Green: The drive is in good condition, or its warning status has been suppressed or disabled.
- Orange: The drive is in abnormal status. Please pay attention to the drive's health status and allocation status.
- Red: Critical issues have been detected on the drive. Please replace the drive immediately.
- Blue: The drive is processing one or multiple tasks.
- Gray: The drive is disabled.
A drive's overall status shows the relatively more serious status between the drive's Allocation status (i.e., the condition of the storage pool that the drive is assigned to) and its Health status (i.e., the condition of the drive itself). For example, if a drive’s allocation status is Not Initialized and its health status is Warning, its overall status will be Warning as this is the more serious status.
To learn about health statuses:
The health status indicates the drive condition.
Health Status |
Definition |
Healthy |
The drive is in good condition, or its warning has been suppressed or disabled. |
Warning |
The system has detected issues or an increase in bad sectors on the drive. We recommend monitoring the drive even though it may still be working properly. |
Critical |
The system has detected one or more critical issues on the drive. Please replace the drive immediately. |
Failing |
The system has detected severe issues on the drive. Drive integrity may not be guaranteed. Please replace the drive immediately. |
Access Error |
The system has detected severe issues on the drive. Drive communication errors may have caused the drive to disconnect from the system, or these errors have resulted in severe read-write failure. Please replace the drive immediately. |
To learn about allocation statuses:
The allocation status indicates the status of the storage pool where the drive is assigned to.
Allocation Status |
Definition |
Not Initialized |
The drive can be assigned to a storage pool. DSM is not installed on the drive. |
Initialized |
The drive can be assigned to a storage pool. DSM is installed on the drive. |
Normal |
The drive is assigned to a storage pool. DSM is installed on the drive. |
Hot Spare |
The drive is assigned as a hot spare drive. For more information, please refer to this article. |
System Partition Failed |
The system cannot access the partitions of this drive. |
Crashed |
The system has removed the drive from the storage pool. To continue using the drive, please do the following:
- Select a drive.
- Go to Action > Deactivate to deactivate the drive.
- Restart your DiskStation or remove and reinsert the drive.
|
Deactivated |
The drive is deactivated. |
To view a drive's general information:
- Go to the HDD/SSD page.
- Select a drive and click its upper-right icon to expand the drive information.
- Here you can learn information regarding drive location, storage pool, allocation status, health status, temperature, serial number, firmware version, and more.
To view a drive's health information:
- Go to the HDD/SSD page.
- Select a drive and click Health Info.
- Go to the Overview tab to find out how many hours the drive has been powered on, and to view its current temperature, reconnection/re-identification count, and bad sector count.
- Go to the S.M.A.R.T. tab to perform diagnostic tests on the supported drive and view the S.M.A.R.T. attributes. In the S.M.A.R.T. Test section, you can run an S.M.A.R.T. test immediately and view the test results and schedules; in the S.M.A.R.T. Attribute section, you can view the details of the S.M.A.R.T. attribute values.
- Go to the IronWolf Health tab to perform diagnostic tests on the supported drive.
- Go to the History tab to view and export the health diagnosis results and to view the history of the major S.M.A.R.T. attributes.
Note:
- Not all S.M.A.R.T. features are supported on SAS drives or NVMe SSDs.
- The IronWolf Health test is supported only on certain Seagate drives.
Drive Tests and Analytics
The following tests and analytics can be performed on the installed drives if your drive model and DiskStation model support those features.
To start the S.M.A.R.T. test:
The S.M.A.R.T. Test section will examine and report the status of your drives, alerting you of possible drive failures. We recommended promptly changing your drives if the test fails.
- Go to the HDD/SSD page.
- Select a drive.
- Click Health Info.
- Go to the S.M.A.R.T. tab.
- Choose a test type and click Start to begin the test.
- The latest test results are displayed in the Test Result section.
- Go to the History tab to view previous test results.
Note:
- The time required for running the S.M.A.R.T. test may vary, depending on the system usage and drive capacity.
- The test output is either Normal or Failing.
- NVMe SSDs have a built-in monitoring mechanism and therefore will not support the S.M.A.R.T. test or bad sector warning.
To start the IronWolf Health test:
Seagate IronWolf Health Management relies on additional drive telemetry data, which contains more information than the S.M.A.R.T. test. We recommend you to follow the suggestions shown in each test result status. Available on certain models only.
- Go to the HDD/SSD page.
- Select a drive.
- Click Health Info.
- Go to the IronWolf Health tab.
- Click Start to begin the test. The Test Result section shows the latest test results.
- Go to the History tab to view previous test results.
Please see the table below for an overview of the output codes from the IronWolf Health test.
Output Codes from IronWolf Health Management |
Definition |
100 |
Abnormally high operating temperature has been detected. Please make sure that the rear ventilation ports are not blocked, and please try to lower the ambient temperature. If the temperature is still high, please go to Control Panel > Hardware & Power > Fan Speed Mode to change the fan operation to a higher speed. If this issue persists, please contact Synology Support Team. |
101 |
Connection issue on your DiskStation and hard drive interface has been detected. Please make sure that the drive is properly installed in the chassis or drive tray, and that the tray is properly installed in your DiskStation. If this issue persists, please contact Synology Support Team. |
102 |
Excessive physical shock to the drive has been detected. Please make sure your hard drive and DiskStation are placed on a stable surface. If this issue persists, please contact Synology Support Team. |
105 |
Excessive vibration has been detected. Please make sure your DiskStation is placed on a stable surface. If this issue persists, please contact Synology Support Team. |
106 |
Excessive host resets have been detected. Please make sure the drive is properly installed in the chassis or drive tray. We recommend you to perform a power cycle. If this issue persists, please contact Synology Support Team. |
200, 201, 202, and 203 |
To check the health status of your drive, it is recommended to run the S.M.A.R.T. extended test on the drive. If this issue persists, please contact the drive reseller or manufacturer. |
Note:
- The time required for performing the IronWolf Health test may vary, depending on the system usage.
- System performance may be temporarily reduced when the IronWolf Health test is performed.
- The output codes from the IronWolf Health test are presented along with the recommended actions. New output codes may be added in future DSM updates.
To perform Benchmark:
Please note that this test is only available on certain DiskStation models in XS and XS+ series. Follow the steps below to perform a test on a drive:
- Go to the HDD/SSD page.
- Select a drive and click Benchmark.
- In the window that appears, click Run Test Now to start the performance test. The results will be displayed here when the test is finished.
- To compare the result with previous tests, click Select in the Compared test field to choose the desired log.
Note:
- Sequential throughput, random IOPS and latency are included in the performance test, which takes approximately 18 minutes.
- There are two test types: basic and extended.
- For drives used for RAID, you can only perform basic tests, and data on the drives will not be affected. However, you cannot test write performance for HDDs used for RAID.
- In the remaining cases, extended tests will be performed to enhance accuracy. However, performance tests do not guarantee data integrity. Therefore, please make sure there is no important data on the drives before performing Benchmark.
- To ensure system availability, you cannot perform tests on more than three drives at one time, or when there is only one drive remaining in xs/xs+ models. In addition, when drive utilization exceeds 5%, the system will ask you to confirm again before proceeding with the performance test to ensure test accuracy.
- Benchmark results can be compared with previous tests. When the difference is greater than 5%, you will be alerted.
- Drive Benchmark runs with low priority on DSM to ensure minimal impact on other services while it is running. The presented figures may vary, depending on the system load and configuration. These figures should only serve as references for estimating drive functionality and are not comparable among different models or DSM versions.
Drive Test Scheduling and Management
The S.M.A.R.T. test and the IronWolf Health test can be scheduled to run automatically on drives. Please note that these tests are supported only on certain models. You can refer to Drive Tests and Analytics for relevant information and follow the steps below to schedule and manage tests.
To schedule S.M.A.R.T. tests:
S.M.A.R.T. tests can be scheduled to run automatically on drives.
- Go to the Test Scheduler tab.
- Click Create to set up a new task.
- Modify the following settings on the General tab:
- Task name: Enter a name for the task.
- S.M.A.R.T. Test Type: Choose to perform a quick test or extended test.
- S.M.A.R.T. Test Range: Choose which HDD/SSD to test each time the S.M.A.R.T. test is performed.
- On the Schedule tab, modify the following settings:
- Date: Specify the date for performing the S.M.A.R.T. test, which can be scheduled to run on certain days of the week (e.g. daily, on weekends, or every Sunday) or on specific dates (e.g. 2016/11/21).
- Time: Specify the frequency for the S.M.A.R.T. test to run on drives, as well as its first and last run time.
- Click OK to finish.
Note:
- If the S.M.A.R.T. test is not scheduled to run on a specific drive, the Schedule S.M.A.R.T. Tests button will appear in Health Info > Overview of that drive.
- If both the IronWolf Health and S.M.A.R.T. tests are not scheduled to run on a drive, the Schedule Drive Test button will appear in Health Info > Overview of that drive.
- NVMe SSDs have a built-in monitoring mechanism and therefore will not support the S.M.A.R.T. test or bad sector warning.
To schedule IronWolf Health tests:
IronWolf Health tests can be scheduled to automatically run on drives.
- Go to the Test Scheduler tab.
- Click Create to set up a new task.
- Go to the General tab to modify the following settings:
- Task name: Enter a name for the task.
- IronWolf Health Test: Select the HDD/SSD you would like the test to run on, or select all supported drives for the test to run on all supported drives.
- Go to the Schedule tab to modify the following settings:
- Date: Specify the date for performing the IronWolf Health test, which can be scheduled to run on certain days of the week (e.g. daily, on weekends, or every Sunday) or on specific dates (e.g. 2016/11/21).
- Time: Specify the frequency for the IronWolf Health test to run on drives, as well as its first and last run time.
- Click OK to finish.
Note:
- If the IronWolf Health test is not scheduled to run on a specific drive, the Schedule IronWolf Health Test button will appear in Health Info > Overview of that drive.
- If both the IronWolf Health and S.M.A.R.T. tests are not scheduled to run on a drive, the Schedule Drive Test button will appear in Health Info > Overview of that drive.
- The IronWolf Health test is available only on Seagate IronWolf series hard drives.
Drive Warning Status and Settings
You can enable or disable relevant drive warning settings when needed. Please follow the steps below for detailed instructions.
To modify the drive warning status:
The system constantly monitors the health status of your drives and will alert you when issues are detected. Some issues may be more serious than others. For certain issues resulting in Warning health status (select a drive and click Health Info > Overview), the warning status can be modified by doing the following:
- Please note that a drive warning indicates that drive issues have occurred. Ignoring the warning may result in data loss.
- Go to the HDD/SSD page and select the drive in warning status.
- Click Modify Drive Warning.
- Click on the Suppress Warning or Disable Warning option (you may be presented with these two options, depending on the type of issue):
- Suppress Warning: Monitoring of the degraded field will be continued; however, warnings will be triggered only when its value continues to degrade.
- Disable Warning: Monitoring of the S.M.A.R.T. field will be permanently disabled.
Note:
- Please do not suppress or disable drive warning unless you fully understand to take the risk of data loss.
- Modification of the drive warning status will not solve the issues that occurred on a drive, nor prevent them from occurring; therefore, this action should not be viewed as a long-term solution.
- Certain S.M.A.R.T. fields are designated as critical and cannot be suppressed or disabled.
- For certain S.M.A.R.T. attributes, a warning will be triggered when the value of a S.M.A.R.T. attribute drops below the worst value defined by the drive manufacturer. These attributes are presented as "S.M.A.R.T. attribute (#ID) failed in the past" in the drop-down menu of Suppress Drive Warning.
To enable bad sector warning support:
Enabling the drive bad sector warning can alert you when bad sectors on the drive are detected, allowing you to take corresponding actions instantly. This option is enabled by default but is available on certain models only.
- Go to the Settings tab.
- Tick Enable bad sector warning. By default, this function is enabled.
- Click Apply.
To enable SSD lifespan notification:
SSD lifespan notification can alert you when the estimated life expectancy of an SSD reaches a specified value, allowing you to take corresponding actions instantly. This option is enabled by default but is supported on certain SSDs only.
- Go to HDD/SSD > Settings.
- Go to the SSD Estimated Lifespan Notification section to enable lifespan notification.
- Tick Enable estimated lifespan notification and set a value in the Lifespan (%) field. The system will send a notification to alert you when the SSD's estimated lifespan reaches the specified value.
- Tick Enable estimated lifespan notification (time-based) for Synology SSDs and set a value in the Lifespan (months) field. The system will send a notification to alert you when the SSD's estimated lifespan reaches the specified value. This feature is exclusive to Synology SSDs.
- Click Apply.
Note:
- The value of an SSD lifespan is directly generated from the S.M.A.R.T. information. If the SSD does not support the corresponding S.M.A.R.T. attribute, this feature will not be supported.
- The lifespan of a Synology SSD is estimated based on its recent I/O workload. For a newly mounted SSD, it may take up to 24 hours for the system to generate a result.
- The lifespan of a Synology SSD is only displayed on the HDD/SSD page and at Health Info when the SSD's estimated lifespan (time-based) drops to the specified value.
Secure Erase
You can perform Secure Erase if you wish to erase all the data on a specific drive. However, please note that Secure Erase will permanently remove all the data stored on your drive. Please make sure the selected drive is not in use and its data have been backed up before performing Secure Erase.
To perform Secure Erase:
- Go to the HDD/SSD page.
- Select a drive and click Action > Secure Erase.
Note:
- Secure Erase cannot be performed on drives in expansion units.
- Secure Erase will permanently remove all the data stored on your drive. Please make sure the chosen drive is not in use or the data has been backed up before doing so.
- When the system is performing Secure Erase, the chosen drive will be temporarily locked and then automatically unlocked when the operation is completed.
- If Secure Erase is stopped improperly during the operation, you can re-execute Secure Erase directly on the user interface. If the drives are removed or used elsewhere when they are still being locked, please enter the password "synology" to unlock the drives.
Drive Deactivation or Activation
A drive that is assigned to a storage pool can be deactivated when needed, thereby removing the drive from the associated storage pool, volume, and system partition.
To deactivate a drive:
- Go to the HDD/SSD page.
- Select a drive and click Action > Deactivate.
Note:
- Only drives being used in storage pools can be deactivated. After being deactivated, drives will be removed from storage pools.
- After a drive has been deactivated, the status of the corresponding LED drive indicator will become "alert."
To activate a drive:
The allocation status of a deactivated drive will change to Not Initialized, which means that DSM is not installed on this drive and the drive can be assigned to a storage pool. Please do any of the following to activate the drive:
- Remove the drive from the drive slot and then insert it back in the drive slot again.
- Restart the system.
LED Drive Indicator Status
If you want to remove a drive from your DiskStation, you can temporarily change the drive indicator from a static green color to static orange color. This allows you to instantly identify which drive slot a drive is located in, thereby preventing you from removing the wrong drive by mistake.
To locate which drive slot a drive is inserted in:
- Go to the HDD/SSD page.
- Select a drive and click Locate Drive.
- Click the drop-down menu and choose how long you want the drive indicator to remain in static orange color.
- Click Locate to change the drive indicator of where the drive is located to static orange color.
Note: You can click Restore to restore the drive indicator to static green color.
Note:
- The indicator status mentioned here does not apply to the adapter card slot on the DiskStation models that support adding adapter cards (e.g., DS1816+). The reason is that such a slot is not designed with a corresponding indicator status.
Write Cache
Enabling the write cache support optimizes the system performance of your DiskStation. Only certain HDD models support this feature. To ensure data protection while using write cache support, usage of a UPS device is strongly recommended. We also suggest you to shut down the system properly every time after use. Disabling the write cache will reduce the chances of data loss caused by abnormal power outages.
To enable write cache support:
Please follow the steps below to enable the write cache:
- Go to the HDD/SSD page.
- Select a drive and click Action > Configure.
- Tick Enable write cache and click Apply. By default, this function is enabled.
Firmware Update
Firmware update ensures the compatibility and continued use of the Synology drives installed in your DiskStation. If the firmware status of one or more drives is Update required, please proceed with the update.
To update the firmware of a Synology drive:
Please follow the steps below to update the firmware of a Synology drive.
- Go to the HDD/SSD page.
- Select a Synology drive and click Action > Firmware Update.
- Click Update.
Note:
- We strongly recommend backing up the data in the selected Synology drives to ensure data security before updating their firmware.
- If the Synology drives to update are in use (e.g., assigned to a storage pool or as hot spares), a system restart will be required to stop all services during the update and prevent application errors.
- In a high-availability cluster, you can perform firmware updates for the Synology drives in both servers from the active server.
Drive Database
The drive database contains information on drive temperature, S.M.A.R.T. attributes, compatibility list, firmware updates of Synology drives, and more. The system updates the database automatically and periodically. However, you can also click Update Now to immediately update the database, or click Manual Update to update the database by uploading the update pack.
To update the drive database:
Please follow the steps below to update the drive database.
- Go to the Settings tab.
- Scroll down to the Drive Database section.
- Click Update Now.
To manually update the drive database:
Please follow the steps below to update the drive database by manually uploading the update pack.
- Download the update pack from Synology's Download Center.
- Go to HDD/SSD > Settings.
- Scroll down to the Drive Database section.
- Click Manual Update.
- Click Browse and select the update pack.
- Click Update.
Note:
- The database will be automatically updated when a new drive is inserted in your DiskStation.
- Updating the database ensures the compatibility information is up-to-date. This will not affect drive performance.
- If your high-availability cluster is created from two different Synology models, you only need to upload the update pack to update the drive database on the active server. The database on the passive server will also be updated in this process.
- Please immediately or manually update the database when:
- S.M.A.R.T. attributes are unidentified.
- You suspect there is a problem with the drive temperature detection mechanism.
- The system is unable to recognize a drive already on the Synology Products Compatibility List.
- The system cannot connect to the Synology server.
- Synology Technical Support recommends you to do so.