The disk count which we use for licensing only includes the disks attached to your storage pools, and should not include your system disks (with a minimum disk count of 1 per system).
The way that TrueCommand licensing works is this:
1. The disk limit from the license is only checked/applied when adding a new system, or right before the middleware starts connecting to a system.
2. It only looks for when your disk count matches/exceeds the license limit, and then prevents the action (registering a new system, or starting up the connection to the system).
3. NAS connection order is random (such as on bootup and it needs to initialize all the connections)
What this means in practicality:
1. Individual NAS's are never throttled/limited once you pass the limit. If you are connected to the NAS, then you get full TC interaction with the NAS.
2. If you are using TC to just manage one NAS - that NAS can have as many disks as you want (limit does not apply until you try to add a second NAS)
A couple examples:
Example A) NAS's: #1 - 20disks, #2 - 20 disks, #3 - 20disks
All three of these systems can be used by TC without any issues. You will simply be prevented from adding a 4th system since you are now over the default limit of 50 disks.
Example B) NAS's: #1 - 5 disks, #2 - 5 disks, #3 - 50disks
This arrangement is the most complicated - because the randomized connection order will come into play.
If NAS's 1 & 2 connect first, then NAS 3 will also be able to connect and used normally. If NAS 3 is connected earlier, then the middleware will prevent the connections to any other NAS's since #3 by itself puts you at the limit. In this case, you would want to get an expanded license in order to prevent interruption of your TC service.
You can get a free 60-day trial license (unlimited disks) or purchase a license for your TrueCommand system via the iX account portal:
https://portal.ixsystems.com
If you have any further questions, please let us know!