Rebuilding server... ZFS advice requested! Currently, I'm running a server with 8x2TB drives in RAID-6. I am a digital hoarder, so I'm now in need of an upgrade.

I was initially thinking of buying 8x4TB drives and using RAID Z2, which would be fairly similar to my current setup. Having since learned that I can't simply add an extra data/parity drive, I'm reconsidering my options.

Would it be better to create an initial RAID Z2 with 5 or 6 drives instead? This way I could more easily add 5-6 drives to expand my storage... Would RAID Z3 be a better idea given the increase in drive density from 2TB to 4TB?

Any advice would be appreciated!