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eskro
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hey SwissElite,
you might wanna read on FLEXRAID!!
Its FREE and runs on windows which means
you can still use the pc for other purposes!
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eskro
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Honestly SwissElite, i came to this conclusion,,
if your using a 2 HDD raid array, go with Windows7's Software RAID1....
if your using a 3 HDD raid array, go with a seperate NAS rig running Software unRAID Basic....
if your using a 4 to 6 HDD raid array, go with a seperate NAS rig running Software unRAID Plus....
if your using a 7 to 21 HDD raid array, go with a seperate NAS rig running Software unRAID Pro....
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maxinc
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I would put it like this:
If you predict the library will not exceed 4TB then RAID 1 in windows. If you think you will need to expand further, a NAS of your choice. At the moment unRAID has a set of features designed for media storage which are hard to beat by faster and more secure systems out there.
I keep all my private and business data encrypted on RAID1 drives (4 x 500G) with backup on the unRAID while the media sits on the unRAID only.
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I've been researching for a few days now. My situation is a little different. I have one T.V. in my apartment. I have a laptop for the internet. I dont watch anything on the laptop. I just dont see the sense in having two PCs next to the T.V. One for Raid storage and another hooked to the T.V. I want one PC to hook to the TV but to have at least 6TB of space running at least Raid 5. So what options do I have? I need to run the media software and run a software raid together. What do you recommend?
Windows XP or 7 or .......?
NAS or unRaid or Flexraid or........?
P.S. Not worried about the hardware. I have a 2.4ghz Quadcore laying around that I'm going to use. Just going to buy a mobo and HD Video Card and should be ready to go.
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eskro
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2011-01-24, 14:10
(This post was last modified: 2011-01-24, 14:40 by eskro.)
if you want to keep everything under the same roof,
you'll have to plan accordingly of course...
you can't use unRAID on top of your OS...
thats why you need a dedicated machine just for that,,,,
now since that doesn't apply to you,
you have to choose between software RAID0 & software RAID1
since windows 7 supports only those 2...
obviously, software RAID1 would be the way to go then...
but 6TB will equal --> 3TB of possible data storage....
so yeah, you loose 3TB to parity....
Now why we dont suggest RAID5 here is because
you'd have to use a hardware RAID5 configuration...
as opposed to a software RAID5 (which win7 doesnt support)
a hardware RAID is not the best since your pretty much stuck
if your hardware RAID controller breaks...
if you can't replace it, because the part is not sold anymore, your screwed....
but with a software RAID, your safe from this situation!
there's always the software Flexraid that could work for you here
because it can sit on top of your OS...
as anything, it has advantages an disadvantages...
i know Poofy doesn't like the fact that it's lacking live parity (can't blame him right)...
but it does neat things like you keep 100% of the speed of your hard disks...
but i didn't try Flexraid, you'd have to digg in yourself to see if it suits your needs....
and its still a "Work in Progress" application....
but a very ambitious one!
any how, if you predict your library will not exceed 6TB,
then you can go for win7's software RAID1....
If you think you will need to expand further, there's 2 choices....
A) you can use software FlexRAID since you can use it on top of your OS....
B) use a dediacted NAS machine using software unRAID...
hope this helps
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for storing media, I wouldn't even consider something in which you loose half of your space...
Think carefully about what you do, but my opinion is that, it doesn't matter how much space you think you can fill, you will fill it, sooner or later, but you will. When that happens, you want a fast, safe and 'cheap' way to expand, or you want to erase data. It's really up to you.