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**PatK** · 2011-05-12, 18:44

Been collecting movies for a few years... built up ~6TB+ of data in 4 drives.
I have one of those 3.5" removable drive trays..

Recently re-installed the O/S win7/64 and found the drive letters play musical chairs. After a few fits & starts everything is smooth again, but I now see that cleaning up the collection, library back-ups etc... are all a pain to keep right. And keeping 4 large SATA drives spinning just to watch 1 movie a night seems a bit overkill and the risk of a drive dying is always on the horizon.

I have an older (10 yrs) computer with a Barton CPU set-up, but HD is choppy with XP even with a 3650 gfx graphic card. It also has one of these drive trays. but the old machine doesn't have the capacity to boot off a USB device, and will only take 2 Sata drives (4 IDE)

I need some solution like the UNraid system, I'm wondering if using 2 removable trays in my present set-up and 2 esata externals would seem like a logical option? It would allow me to unplug all the drives pretty quick, but really give me no security of drives or files... or should I just build an UNraid server and be done with it?

wsume99 · 2011-05-12, 19:10

PatK Wrote:... or should I just build an UNraid server and be done with it?

YES, save youself the headache and build an unraid server. It is so easy to do and you'll be protected from a drive failure. It's well worth the money.

jwlb · 2011-05-13, 00:04

wsume99 Wrote:YES, save youself the headache and build an unraid server. It is so easy to do and you'll be protected from a drive failure. It's well worth the money.

What he said. I just build a unraid server for 400€ and that includes the hard drives I use. My media collection is worth more then that!

eskro · 2011-05-13, 00:34

+1 for an unRAID Rig

TugboatBill · 2011-05-13, 00:39

The reason there are so many enthusiastic recommendations for unraid is because it works and works well. It's the premier HT media NAS.

eskro · 2011-05-13, 00:49

when i have more time, i'll try to create a unRAID thread/guide
in which i'll suggest a build and explain how much Drives it can hold and what needs to be purchased in order to obtain the Maximum storage capacity....

hopefully, soon,,,,

jwlb · 2011-05-13, 00:58

Just make a sticky with a link To Raj's Prototype Designs. Regularly updated and shows all you need.

eskro · 2011-05-13, 00:59

i've seen Raj's Prototype Designs...

great guy, but i dont like the builds Tongue

**PatK** · 2011-05-13, 01:50

Thanks guys... the UNraid system is a go then.

here's a link to a version that looked good... I might go with it, after I've looked at Raj's prototype. Trusting I can find the link on Google.

http://forums.redflagdeals.com/nas-alter...ld-553514/

wsume99 · 2011-05-13, 20:53

Oh man, I checked out the link you provided and I must say you definitely need to checkout Raj's Design Page. It's a pretty good place to start and you can tweak his builds pretty easily. I especially like how he goes into the different upgrade paths because most users don't think that issue through enough when they are starting. And let me tell you that once you have a server you'll probably start to hoard digital info, so be prepared for expansion.