No, this isn't how it works.  If you use the same configuration:   /mnt, /mnt2, /mnt3, /mnt4, /mnt5   A host who just has 3 drives (/mnt, /mnt2, /mnt3) will fail to start, depending on the value of dfs.datanode.failed.volumes.tolerated (default 0).  You're going to need to set up each server properly with the right value for dfs.data.dir.  For this (and other) reason(s), a homogenous cluster setup is usually preferred. ... View more