Unraid NAS Expansion

[SimssmiS]

so my Unraid machine (4x 2TB) is nearing its Limit and I am planing on expansion.

With 4 HDD and 1 SSD already installed there is not much space left in the case.
Is there any way I could create an external enclosure for HDDs and connect it to Unraid (not a getto-rig solution)?
I'm planning on getting 4x4TB (Seagate ST4000VN008 IronWolf) Drives and setting them up for a Unraid Software Raid 5;

 

Thanks in advance

[Aluavin]

5 hours ago, SimssmiS said:

so my Unraid machine (4x 2TB) is nearing its Limit and I am planing on expansion.

With 4 HDD and 1 SSD already installed there is not much space left in the case.
Is there any way I could create an external enclosure for HDDs and connect it to Unraid (not a getto-rig solution)?
I'm planning on getting 4x4TB (Seagate ST4000VN008 IronWolf) Drives and setting them up for a Unraid Software Raid 5;

 

Thanks in advance

1. unRaid isn't Raid 5, because your parity is always on one disk. Also a File is always entirely on one Disk.
2. Get a new Case. 
3. If write/read speeds are not important for you, you can, of course, connect them via USB
4. A (janky) DIY approach would be to route the SATA Cables outside of your Case. But keep in mind that you also have to cool the disks down with some airflow.

[NelizMastr]

If USB, eSATA or TB are options, you could look for external enclosures like Raidsonic's Icy Box lineup.

 

https://www.raidsonic.de/products/external_cases/external_cases_35/index_en.php?we_objectID=480

 

or one of these:

 

https://www.amazon.com/Mediasonic-SATA-Hard-Drive-Enclosure/dp/B078YQHWYW

[SimssmiS]

I think a enclosure over these connections would be not ideal since it would have to be compatible to unraid and also would probably not show the disks all by them selfs but rather grouped as 1 Storage.

Going the Case route: any tipps on cases with lots of drive bays and very low noise. Maybe even rack mounted?

[dalekphalm]

7 hours ago, Aluavin said:

1. unRaid isn't Raid 5, because your parity is always on one disk. Also a File is always entirely on one Disk.

While technically correct (unRAID's RAID-like system is closer to RAID4 - but only with the parity. RAID4 stores the data differently), it is considered the "RAID5-like" config, as you lose 1 disk (or equivalent capacity to 1 disk) to parity.

 

It's like when people say RAID5 on ZFS instead of RAIDZ1.

[Robertoal]

If you want to go the external case route:

Buy this. and an PCI-E sata card like THIS

 

Suits your needs quite well I think. the Pci-e card you can get second hand RAID card... set to JBOD. those are somewhat cheaper

 

Buying a rackmounted server case can be a good idea if you don;t mind the jet like sound it makes :-) 

 

[GlobalPentahedron Corp]

external + "not a ghetto" in the same sentence...

do you not have any spare 5.25" bays?

I would get a new case.

You need to go full tower. Always go full tower!

Your availability & prices will be very different to mine but you should be able to get a full tower for under $100 USD

[GlobalPentahedron Corp]

1 hour ago, Robertoal said:

Buying a rackmounted server case can be a good idea if you don;t mind the jet like sound it makes :-)

you mean the sound of an airplane taking off!

[Robertoal]

More accurate indeed lol.

 

[Salacious B Crum]

If you have 3 open 5.25 bays at the top of your case you can either buy the cheap conversion bracket and install 3 HDDs or you may be able to insert a 4/5 hot swap bay in it their place I advise you go over to the unRAID forum and ask as I do not have usb drives on my NAS but I think there are many issues trying to put usb drives in the array I think most run them on the unassigned devices but that means they are not protected by the parity drive

[Robertoal]

It is possible to add USB drive to the array (or cache for that matter). 

 

Source

 

Quote

I did some limited testing, it worked, but more than one disk on the same USB controller was noticeably slow, so if your board has a two USB 3.0 controllers you should be OK with 2 disks, if they share the same controller you'll probably notice slowdowns during parity check/disk rebuilds.

 

[Salacious B Crum]

5 hours ago, Robertoal said:

It is possible to add USB drive to the array (or cache for that matter). 

 

Source

 

 

There is little to no support for it