Looking to upgrade my Plex Library's storage space

[dasbreen]

I have a computer that I currently use as a Plex Media Server/torrent machine, and occasionally as a personal Minecraft Server for my nephew & his friends. Mainly I'm looking to upgrade my storage situation, as my 5.4TB of total space is about 80% full. It has taken me about 6 years to get to this amount though, so it's not a super pressing issue.

 

My current setup is as follows:

• Intel 4th Gen i5-4590
• Asus Z87-PRO (V Edition)
• 16GB HyperX Fury (2x8GB) DDR3 1866
• EVGA GeForce GTX 460 1GB
• 550w PSU
• 2x 4TB (3.62TB usable space) Seagate NAS HDDs Sata 6.0Gb/s 64MB Cache 5400RPM which are mirrored using Windows' Storage Spaces
• 1x 2TB (1.81TB usable space) WD External USB 3.0 with no redundancy
• 1x 1TB WD Caviar Green WD10EADS (OS drive, not included in Plex Library storage)

 

Budget & Location: I'm looking to keep things under $1,000 USD, but willing to go up to a hard limit of $1,500 if need be. 

Aim: To upgrade my existing storage setup, and possibly the entire OS if need be, with better redundancy & larger capacity. Ideally I'd like to get over 12TB of total usable storage, with potential for more expansion. If the solution involves something other than Windows, I am willing to learn, but I have no experience with Mac OS or Linux of any kind.

Monitors: Current is fine, not used for gaming

Peripherals: Current is fine, not used for gaming

Why are you upgrading? Storage shortages and general components age concerns. I may also upgrade my case, as the one I'm working with is a little small if I plan on going with a lot of drives (also no front USB 3.0 or hot swap bays)

[desertcomputer]

A case and maybe ram upgrade would be a good idea. Also re-paste your cpu cooler and maybe your GPU if you haven't done so in a long time.

 

As for the drive, just use that remaining amount to buy as much storage as possible within your budget.

 

I don't see a point upgrading your platforms unless you want to support more users for your plex. You can have looks at second hand SAS controllers and sas to sata cables for more drives. If you running out of sata ports on your motherboard. 

 

If you're looking for easy setup you can try UnRaid/FreeNAS. They are plenty of guides online for both. I personally have used unraid and freenas, unraid would be simplest to setup and add more drives in the feature compare to freenas.

[dasbreen]

So after a bit of looking, I think I'll plan on the below. Thoughts?

 

UnRaid - probably basic for now, I don't think I'll need >6 drives any time soon.

3x 10TB WD Red (newegg link)

Rather than looking for a new case with enough hot swap bays, I found some 5.25" bay to 3.5" hot swap inserts. I have (currently) 3 spare 5.25" bays in my case and I can always remove the disc drive if I need a 4th.

 

possible other items:

small SSD for OS to replace the dated HDD

should I be worried about my power supply for the additional drives? I figured I can maybe even keep the 4TBs in play in a second drive pool since they're not bad.