How to Change from RAID 1 to Dual Independent Single-Disk Storage on my NAS?

Applicable Products

QNAP two-bay NAS

Scenario

A 2-bay NAS that may be configured with RAID 1 (mirroring), where both disks hold identical copies of your data for redundancy. Some users may wish to switch to using both disks independently—each as its own separate storage volume—to maximize total capacity or to dedicate each disk to a different purpose.

There is no in-place downgrade path from RAID 1 to single-disk volumes. Removing the RAID 1 configuration requires deleting the existing storage pool and volume, which erases all data on those disks. You must back up all data before proceeding.

Warning
This procedure is destructive. All data on the NAS will be permanently deleted when the storage pool is removed. Complete a full backup before continuing.

The overall process consists of three stages:

1. Back up all data to an external USB storage device
2. Delete the existing RAID 1 storage pool and volume
3. Create two new independent single-disk storage pools and volumes

Stage 1: Back Up All Data to External USB Storage

1. Connect an external USB storage device with sufficient capacity to hold all data from the NAS.

2. Open File Station on the NAS.

3. Verify that the USB device appears under External Devices in the left panel.

4. Copy all folders and files from the NAS shared folders to the USB device.

5. After the copy is finished, verify that all critical files are present and accessible on the USB device before proceeding.

Stage 2: Reinitialize the NAS

Warning
The following steps will permanently erase all data on the NAS disks. Confirm your backup is complete before continuing.

Refer to How do I reinitialize the NAS?

Stage 3: Create Two Independent Single-Disk Storage Pools and Volumes

Repeat the following steps twice—once for each disk—to create two separate storage pools.

For Disk 1:

1. In Storage Manager, go to Storage/Snapshots.

2. Click Create > New Storage Pool.

3. Select only Disk 1 when prompted to choose disks.

4. Set the RAID type to Single (no redundancy).

5. Follow the wizard to confirm and create the storage pool.

6. After the pool is created, click Create > New Volume (or the wizard may prompt you automatically).

7. Assign the full capacity to the new volume and set a volume label (for example, Disk1_Storage).

8. Click Finish to complete the volume creation.

For Disk 2:

9. Repeat steps 2–8, selecting only Disk 2 and using a distinct volume label (for example, Disk2_Storage).

   Screenshot needed: Storage Manager showing two separate storage pools, each with one disk and one volume.

10. After both volumes are created, open Control Panel > Shared Folders and create or reassign shared folders to each volume as needed.

Stage 4: Restore Data from USB Backup

1. Open File Station.

2. Under External Devices, locate the USB device containing your backup.

3. Copy your data from the USB device back to the appropriate shared folders on each disk.

4. Verify that all files are restored correctly.