fenolitto

Okay, so it sounds like Storage Spaces it is. Thanks for the advice.

I've currently got two 4 bay versions of that enclosure. If I bought the larger one and started filling it with drives, is there just RAID software that runs on Windows that I'd use? Also, since I'm not quite ready to drop $2,000 on 8x $300 drives, is there a way to expand the RAID array over time? I've read conflicting reports about adding additional drives to existing arrays.

That's actually pretty cool. Might be just a bit more than I need. Would something like this work...assuming I'm willing to just pay for the convenience of pre-built? https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005GYDMYG/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_8?smid=A2WSTUX2A6RQ1A&psc=1 Or is there something to the structure of the DAS that better serves the purpose? Expanding on that, if I did use the above enclosure and just connect it to the PC I'm already using could I establish any/all of those drives in a RAID setup with software? Sorry that a lot of this probably comes across as entirely noob-like. And thank you for your help.

Thank you for the reply. That's a lot to absorb, but I'm trying. I assume this is all based off the idea that going NAS is my best bet. Correct?

Hey All, I'm looking to start building in some redundancy into my current home media storage platform, and for the life of me I'm just having an extremely difficult time researching the leap from my current set up (stand alone PC) to something a bit more "server like". Any guidance you can provide would be much appreciated. First a little about me so you know what level of tech understanding you'd be dealing with in replying. I have built about a dozen PC's so I know parts fairly well...at least from a big picture perspective. Things like cache, bus speed, etc. are a little opaque to me, but I do get the notion of most "big ticket" components. I understand the concepts behind RAID (0,1,5,6,10) and the way data is mirrored and striped across them. With that said, from a hardware perspective I get a little lost. I've never used RAID controllers, or server backplanes, etc. so while I get some of the theory, I don't necessarily understand how-when-why to use them...or if I even need to. With that said, onto my current setup. I currently run my primary PC as a media device to my TV (via HDMI through a stereo receiver). I don't really game on it, although I have in the past. Here is the basic parts list: - - NZXT Source 530 Full Tower - - ASUS PRIME Z270-A - - Intel Core i5 6500 - - ARCTIC Freezer Xtreme Rev. 2 CPU Cooler - - Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB DDR4 RAM - - Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1060 WINDFORCE OC 6G - - 1 SanDisk SSD (480GB for OS and some programs) - - 7 WD 3TB Hard Drives (not Red) - - 1 WD 4TB Hard Drive (not Red) - - 2x Mediasonic 4 Bay HDD enclosures - - Running Windows 10 64-bit Home My hard drive configuration/use is as follows: - - 3TB Movie Drive - - 3TB TV Show Drive - - 3TB Misc Drive (Pics, Books, etc.) - - 3TB Movie Drive (Manual back-up of the first drive above) - - 3TB TV Show Drive (Manual Back-up of the second drive above) - - 3TB Misc Drive (Backup….as above) - - 4TB Download Drive (where I park all data then distribute it to the relevant drive) - - 3TB Overflow Drive (for when the Movie/TV drives get full) Essentially I’m running Raid 1 across 3 sets of data, with two individual drives that wouldn’t really break my heart if one or the other crashed. Obviously I’d prefer to rope those into the recoverable structure, and that’s why I’m here. I decided that doing manual back-ups of all those drives (across USB) to the enclosures is likely not the best way to go about accomplishing my goal. Or maybe it is…and that’s why I need advice. Onto what I’m trying to accomplish. I’m willing to build a completely new machine and hook it up directly to my home router if that ends up being the best way to go. Or I’m willing to work with my current structure and expand to an additional hard drive enclosure (8 bay this time) and start filling it out with drives. As I’m running into drive fullness issues, I think I’ll be building around or expanding with/to something like the Seagate IronFox 10TB variety, but I’m willing to listen to other ideas. I’d like to keep all the data I currently have (approximately 10-11TB across 5 drives) in any expansion process. I guess my big questions are these: - Should I be thinking about building a standalone server (NAS or otherwise), or would I be better served to just buy another larger enclosure? - If I went with another enclosure, can I set it up as it's own array with RAID, and if so what software should I look at? - If a new build would be better, can someone explain whether I would need a RAID controller to be installed or if I can just plug drives directly into the mobo? - Lastly, since I have a significant (and growing) file storage demands, do I need to start thinking about increasing my RAM? Thank you all for any/all advice and guidance you can provide.