I have a 4-drive NAS that I originally setup with 4 12 TB IronWolf HDD's, divided into 2 RAID1 arrays. After using the NAS for about 3 years, I needed more storage on one of the network drives, so I am swapping out 2 of the 12 TB drives in favor of new higher capacity drives.
I plan to hang onto the unused 12 TB drives in the inevitable event that one or both of my other in-use 12 TB drives fails in the future. Are there any recommendations for storing old, unused HDD's to maximize their lifespan? Should I format the unused drives before storing, keep the existing data in tact, or does it not matter? Should I plug them in to read them every so often, or just stick them in a closet and forget about them? Is there anything else I should consider so that my old drives remain working for when I eventually need them?
I plan to hang onto the unused 12 TB drives in the inevitable event that one or both of my other in-use 12 TB drives fails in the future. Are there any recommendations for storing old, unused HDD's to maximize their lifespan? Should I format the unused drives before storing, keep the existing data in tact, or does it not matter? Should I plug them in to read them every so often, or just stick them in a closet and forget about them? Is there anything else I should consider so that my old drives remain working for when I eventually need them?