Extra HDD bays needed

[Zelatrix]

I have a CoolerMaster MasterBox Lite 5 tower, and it has a spec that says it has one SSD rack and two combo bays. I have now filled up all these slots, but am in need of more storage, and I would like to expand with another drive, as I still want to use the current hard drive that's in the tower. Does anybody know how I can expand the number of drive bays, and where I can buy the bays with the locking mechanism that you squeeze to release from the chassis? The case came with two, but I would like another one to add more drives and I can't seem to find them anywhere. If this isn't possible, does anyone know how I could go about installing another hard drive? 

 

Additionally, all my drives are Seagate drives, but I have read reviews online that say that Seagate drives are now shingled and are only suitable for backup as you get less storage due to the overlapping platters. Is it still advisable to go with Seagate, or choose another manufacturer such as Western Digital? 

[Electronics Wizardy]

12 minutes ago, Zelatrix said:

Additionally, all my drives are Seagate drives, but I have read reviews online that say that Seagate drives are now shingled and are only suitable for backup as you get less storage due to the overlapping platters. Is it still advisable to go with Seagate, or choose another manufacturer such as Western Digital? 

This depends on the exact drive model, both brands havae a mix of smr and non smr drives. smr drives are fine for many desktop uses for things like movies and photos and games.

 

 

[Goldilock]

I'll personally just go with NAS altogether with used PC Parts and old school cases that have like 8 3.5" bays.

[RayLeech]

You might consider an external DAS unit, depending on your intended use. Something like a DROBO, Sans Digital, etc. You can pick usb3, eSata, or SAS, again depending on your needs.

 

Personally, I got tired of not having enough hot-swap bays, so got a Sans Digital TowerRAID TR8X6G and a Highpoint dual 6Gb SAS Raid Card for each machine.

[Zelatrix]

17 hours ago, Goldilock said:

I'll personally just go with NAS altogether with used PC Parts and old school cases that have like 8 3.5" bays.

I had plans to build a NAS from a cheap PC, but I don't really have the room right now. I wish I had the room/transport methods to do that, because I desperately need more storage. 2TB fills up very fast when you use the same drive for programs and documents, and cloud drives. 

 

Also, what's the difference between DAS and NAS? Do I have to use RAID for a DAS setup? And can I use NAS drives in a DAS?

[Goldilock]

14 hours ago, Zelatrix said:

I had plans to build a NAS from a cheap PC, but I don't really have the room right now. I wish I had the room/transport methods to do that, because I desperately need more storage. 2TB fills up very fast when you use the same drive for programs and documents, and cloud drives. 

 

Also, what's the difference between DAS and NAS? Do I have to use RAID for a DAS setup? And can I use NAS drives in a DAS?

NAS can be accessed via network. While DAS directly connected via cable.

 

If space is an issue, compact DAS like 4 or 6 TB WD My Book should be good. Though you can't upgrade the HDD and you can't make RAID with it.

[Zelatrix]

12 hours ago, Goldilock said:

NAS can be accessed via network. While DAS directly connected via cable.

 

If space is an issue, compact DAS like 4 or 6 TB WD My Book should be good. Though you can't upgrade the HDD and you can't make RAID with it.

I was thinking of getting a NAS so I could leave it at home while I use my PC elsewhere and access the files off that. I would also like to be able to have the most space possible out of the drives in the system; what type of RAID would be recommended for such a use case?

 

I know that 

RAID 0: N

RAID 1: N-1

RAID 5: N-1

RAID 6: N-2

RAID 10: N/2

 

but I have also read that RAID 5 is very unstable and should not be used. I also know that RAID 0 has no parity and no redundancy, so does this mean that in the event of a drive failure, I lose all my data like I would if I lost more than 1 drive from a RAID 5 array? Which would be the most stable RAID configuration for a general storage use case?