1. What is a RAID 6 Capacity Calculator?

Definition: This calculator estimates the usable storage capacity for a RAID 6 array based on the number of drives and their individual size.

Purpose: It helps IT professionals and system administrators plan storage arrays and understand the tradeoffs between redundancy and usable space.

2. How Does the Calculator Work?

The calculator uses the formula:

Where:

• \( C \) — Usable capacity (TB)
• \( N \) — Number of drives in the array
• \( D \) — Size of each drive (TB)

Explanation: RAID 6 uses two drives worth of capacity for parity data, so the usable capacity is the remaining drives multiplied by their size.

3. Importance of RAID 6 Capacity Calculation

Details: Proper capacity planning ensures you allocate sufficient storage for your needs while maintaining the dual-disk fault tolerance that RAID 6 provides.

4. Using the Calculator

Tips: Enter the number of drives (minimum 3) and the size of each drive in TB. All values must be positive numbers.

5. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1: Why subtract 2 drives in the formula?
A: RAID 6 uses two drives worth of capacity for parity data to provide dual-disk fault tolerance.

Q2: What's the minimum number of drives for RAID 6?
A: RAID 6 requires a minimum of 3 drives, though 4+ is more common in practice.

Q3: How does drive size affect capacity?
A: Larger drives increase total capacity but also increase rebuild times after a failure.

Q4: Does this account for formatting overhead?
A: No, the calculation shows raw capacity before filesystem formatting.

Q5: Can I mix different drive sizes?
A: Technically yes, but the array will typically use the smallest drive's size for all calculations.