Can i mix and match drive sizes.

[SuperCookie78]

I have a bunch of extra drives from salvaging old computers. I would like to use them in a low power non critical server. I have 6 500GB WD Blue drives and 2 1TB dell branded enterprise drives. I was thinking have two raid 5 of 3 500GB drives then having those in raid 5 with the 1TB in raid 1. I know i it is very complicated but i would like for the drives not to fail in the first 6 months of deployment. I would like to do this with freenas but i don't know if thats possible.

[Necrovarius]

With Raid, you want to have all drive withing the array the same size.

[Vishera]

17 minutes ago, Necrovarius said:

With Raid, you want to have all drive withing the array the same size.

And same RPM speed.

[mariushm]

You should consider using unRaid and configure it so that everything you store gets distributed across multiple drives - if one or two fail, data can be rebuilt from the other drives.

However, I wouldn't use anything less than 1 TB...

 

You can start with the $59 basic version that limits you to 6 drives and then upgrade as needed to 12 devices or unlimited devices if you think you'll need it.

 

You can get 2 TB drives for 30-38$ ...as cheap as those 500 GB drives are (free), it's better to use higher capacity, you're saving money in electricity costs and hassles in the long term.

 

37$ 5y warranty  2TB (new old stock, made around 5-8 years ago, never used, company honors warranty if they fail)

WD RE4 WD2003FYYS 2TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive - Newegg.com

 

52$ 5y warranty 3 TB

Seagate Constellation ES.2 ST33000651NS 3TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive - Newegg.com

50$ 1y warranty 3 TB

Seagate 3TB 64MB Cache 7200RPM SATA III (6.0Gbps) 3.5" Internal Hard Drive (Heavy Duty)-NAS, RAID, CCTV DVR, PC/Mac - Newegg.com

WL 3TB 7200RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s (Enterprise Grade) 3.5" Hard Drive (For Server, RAID, NAS, DVR, Desktop PC) w/1 Year Warranty - Newegg.com