Vincenzo

Thanks both, that makes a lot of sense! Two questions: how would I set up that ssd? I mean would it be part of the array as any other data disc, and then maybe I just choose to put the docker in there? From the Unraid docs I understand there are no disks left roaming free in the machine, meaning every unit is somehow part of the array, whether for parity, data, cache and so on. Second Q: what is meant exactly by cache drive in Unraid? Would it be an additional drive that I'd add to the ssd dedicated to dockers?

Thanks spazmc + bidmead, I delved into the documentation and understood you can indeed add more disks later on. One final question would be around any need/advantage for ssd unit. Typically one would have os/software on ssd as it speeds up access to such data therefore reducing loading time and so on. Does this make sense with unraid? I mean since there's no os hosted on the hard drives, would it still make sense for a single/faster disk together with standard hdd's? If I understood correctly, all of the software would be hosted in these so called "dockers", which would then be stored across the several disks like any other data. Is that right? Thanks again for the kind support and best wishes to all.

Thanks to both, however it seems that the more I get about the specs, the more i wonder why use a dedicated os for my needs. What if, just for the sake of user-friendliness and personal ability, I opted for a standard linux distribution? What would I miss? Eg: are these versions unable to run parallel disks in raid? Is this a very peculiar feature of nas/server os? I know I made a reference to "server" in the subject, but I guess that was more about the purpose than the tool itself. Thanks.

Thanks a lot, very straightforward. When speaking about the Unraid Os installed into RAM, do you refer to a specific scenario or is it just the regular Unraid configuration? Meaning won't the OS be permanently hosted on the main disk (ssd in my case) at some point? Finally, as I am new to this world, I am not familiar with some of the jargon in use. For instance I found the vary last sentence totally obscure.. what do you mean by pool? And what about "caching writes to user shares"? Thanks

Hi all, I am considering to build my own home server, however I am not sure what the ideal configuration should be. I am listing my concerns here, please discard if you feel they are OT in this forum: 1) is there an ideal OS for storing personal music and movies and playing them around the house through other devices? My feeling is that solutions like Unraid would be a bit too much (complexity and customisation) for my daily usage. 2) I was considering a NAS-oriented OS because that would allow for a raid 5 configuration, is it really the only/best way to get that? 3) My idea is to start with an ssd running the os + a first hdd for the data, waiting for this one to be full before buying the other ones. I wonder however if I need to install all of the disks at the same time; 4) any idea how complex it'd be to install apps such as plex or roon? Thanks!