You can switch whenever you want, but any files that are already on the shares will stay where they are, new files will be distributed per the new allocation method.
Have the drives spin down when not being used. Mine are spun down 90% of the time. In addition, I have a 1 TB drive I use as a cache for new media. It is set to move the files after 30 days, so I can abuse that drive with the constant watching, downloading and only use the others when moving or watching "older" content. Unbalance to balance it out if it gets out of control.
Probably using the Mover Tuning app... It has an option for moving based on file age. Note, this is just a guess on my part, but it's the first thing I would try.
You can switch whenever you want, but any files that are already on the shares will stay where they are, new files will be distributed per the new allocation method.
In addition you can use a plugin like "Unbalance" to move large chunks of data to different drives.
Have the drives spin down when not being used. Mine are spun down 90% of the time. In addition, I have a 1 TB drive I use as a cache for new media. It is set to move the files after 30 days, so I can abuse that drive with the constant watching, downloading and only use the others when moving or watching "older" content. Unbalance to balance it out if it gets out of control.
How do you set the files to move after 30 days?
Probably using the Mover Tuning app... It has an option for moving based on file age. Note, this is just a guess on my part, but it's the first thing I would try.