Direct Mounting of Data Drives

What is direct mounting of data drives?

Direct mounting of data drives is a storage technology that allows users to directly connect external hard drives to NAS devices, accessing the data on the hard drives over the network without the need for repartitioning or reformatting the drives. In previous TOS 6 systems and other similar NAS devices in the market, users had to partition and format the hard drive first before installing it for use in the NAS device. This meant that users could not retain the existing data on the hard drive. However, the direct mounting feature in the latest TOS 6 system has changed this scenario. It enables users to hot-swap storage-filled hard drives into TNAS devices without the need for repartitioning or reformatting, allowing them to access the data on the hard drive over the network. This technology provides users with a more convenient and efficient data storage solution.

Requirements for Direct Mounting of Data Drives

To perform direct mounting of data drives, certain requirements must be met. Therefore, when using direct mounting of hard drives, please pay attention to the following:
1. Your TNAS device must have at least one system drive running TOS 6.0.x. This ensures that your device supports the direct mounting feature. The system drive can be either an HDD or an SSD, as long as it is running the required operating system version.
2. The data drive you intend to mount must meet specific specifications. Data drives can be 3.5-inch SATA hard drives, 2.5-inch SATA hard drives/SSDs, or M.2 2280 NVMe SSDs. These specifications ensure compatibility between the data drive and the TNAS device, allowing for normal data transfer and storage.
3. It's important to note that the direct mounting feature only supports specific file systems, including EXT4, Btrfs, EXT3, NTFS, ExFAT, and HFS+. Before using direct mounting of data drives, ensure that your data drive uses one of these file systems to guarantee compatibility with the TNAS device and to smoothly achieve data sharing and access.
4.TOS only supports direct mounting of single disks. Disks that were previously part of a RAID array cannot be directly mounted, as RAID arrays are storage structures composed of multiple disks configured in a specific way.

How to Operate Direct Mounting of Data Drives?

1. Please ensure that your TNAS device is turned on and functioning properly; if you need to directly attach an M.2 NVMe SSD, you will need to power off the device, attach the disk, and then power it back on.
2. Insert your disk into the slot on the TNAS device. Make sure it is inserted correctly and ensure a stable connection.
3. Log in to your TOS and navigate to ""TOS > Control Panel > Storage Manager > Hard Drive."" This will take you to the hard drive management interface, where you can manage your hard drives.
4. In the list of hard drives, find the disk you just inserted and click the ""Mount"" button. This will make the hard drive usable within the system.
5. You can go to ""TOS > File Management "" to view the mounted disk directories. Each disk partition will be mounted as an independent directory.

Important notes:

Firstly, due to differences in file systems and mounting methods, the directories of directly mounted data drives are not subject to TOS's ACL (Access Control List) permission management rules. This means that directories on directly mounted data drives cannot have access permissions set for TOS users and user groups; only administrators can access these directories.
Second, if you intend to add the data drive to TOS's storage pool, you need to manually unmount the disk before adding it.
Third, data drives only support manual mounting and do not support automatic mounting. Therefore, after restarting or shutting down the TNAS device, you will need to manually mount the disk again.
By following these steps and considerations, you will be able to successfully operate directly mounted data drives and effectively manage and access your data.