This article will cover how to enable scheduled volume maintenance as well as how to run each volume task manually. Volumes should be scubbed, defragmented, and balanced to support overall volume health. In addition, you are provided the ability to test the disks at regular intervals using the volume schedule.
Note: Disk test increases load on the hard disks.
To see more information on these tasks please see the Volume Maintenance Overview
Where is Volume Maintenance Scheduler located and how can I enable it?
In firmware versions 6.4.0+, the volume schedule has been reallocated to the location below
,,,
Click on the 
in the volume box to display the menu
Select Volume Schedule and click Add
The volume task selection menu will open
Click the drop down to select your maintenance action and click the pattern drop down to select run time
Now select the day you want to run the maintenance action
Now you are ready to finish creating the volume maintenance task schedule by clicking Add. Now your job is listed on the volume schedule, you can edit the job by clicking the 
. Clicking the 
will remove the maintenance task.
To see more information on how to schedule these tasks please see the Volume Maintenance Overview
How to initiate manual volume maintenance
This section covers volume maintenance. Volumes can be scrubbed to check for errors. Balanced to keep volume space and metadata accurate. Defragmented to keep file usage optimal
Defragment a Volume
During the life of you volume, deletion, creation, and modification of files can fragment your data. Defragmenting a volume improves disk performance and reduces data fragmentation.
To defragment a volume:
The defragmentation process starts.
The start and completion of the volume defragmentation are recorded in the log.
If you set up email notifications for your system, you receive an email message when the process finishes. For more information about alert notifications, see .
- Select System > Volumes.
- Select the volume that you want to defragment.
- From the pop-up menu that displays, select Defrag.
Scrub a Volume
Scrubbing cleans and validates all data on a volume and checks the volume for errors. No data is deleted. Folders, LUNs, and snapshots on the volume remain intact.
Note: Scrubbing is not an erase function.
To scrub a volume:
The scrubbing process starts.
The start and completion of the volume scrub are recorded in the log.
If you set up email notifications for your system, you receive an email message when the process finishes. For more information about alert notifications, see .
- Select System > Volumes.
- Select the volume that you want to scrub.
- From the pop-up menu that displays, select Scrub.
Balance a Volume
The ReadyNAS file system not only stores the user data, it also stores additional information related to that data, called metadata. Sometimes, not very often, this can become unbalanced in the filesystem. The filesystem balance is used to restore this back to a working state.
To Balance a volume:
The balance process starts.
The start and completion of the volume balance are recorded in the log
If you set up email notifications for your system, you receive an email message when the process finishes. For more information about alert notifications.
- Select System > Volumes.
- Select the volume that you want to balance.
- From the pop-up menu that displays, select Balance