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Also, another quick question: once the unRAID server OS is booted up and the unRAID array is set up, can the USB flash stick be removed? I don't know why, but the idea that the entire configuration of the array is on one flash stick that can be lost so easily is eerily unnerving...I guess I'd have to make regular backups of the configuration files inside the flash drive!

I hear ya! This still doesn't really dissuade me from unRAID concept, I am willing to sacrifice the performance of RAID 5 striping for a no-headache, easy-to-expand storage solution, despite losing my old OS functionality (I guess I'll just run my desktop to do those functions over-the-network, it's not a biggie i suppose). However, I've run into another potential brick wall when considering my unRAID solution: my Adaptec 31605 is probably incompatible with unRAID's current kernel; I have no Linux experience as I said, and I don't really have the time to try to integrate Adaptec's linux drivers into the current version of unRAID, so these are my current possibilities: 1. Try to do it myself (probably end in frustration and crash-and-burn results! ) 2. Hopefully a kind soul here will be able to do it for me and others. 3. Ditch the Adaptec controller (hopefully sell it for a lot) and just use simple motherboard SATA ports, PCI/PCIe 1x SATA controller cards (Silicon Image-based cards) and run it from there. What I'm curious about is the performance difference between the limited thoroughput of the PCI bus versus the IOP processor within the Adaptec Card at handling unRAID I/Os; I understand there is no striping, but having it all within one large and very capable controller card would certainly be faster than multiple cards on multiple buses? What sort of performance would I expect to get with such a setup if I were to just simply try to connect 16 drives throughout the motherboard and external controller cards?

It would appear to me (at first glance, anyways) that Adaptec 3-series hardware RAID cards aren't supported by unRAID quite yet; if someone can compile the drivers so it can work with Adaptec 3-series cards with simple JBOD volumes to identify an individual disk, that'd be great for my existing hardware as well as those who are thinking about getting a nice multi-port PCI-e card for unRAID purposes.

One more question, I've probably stated this in another form previously, but I really need to know this: Can unRAID be run headlessly? As in, I boot into the flash drive, set up the array whenever needed (initial configuration of user shares and such or the expand/maintain the array), shut down, remove the flash drive, and then boot into my Windows Server 2008 OS disk that's within the server and be able to see the unRAID array from within the Server OS as a network disk? Or is this impossible without having the unRAID server running from the flash disk, which means I won't be able to use any Windows Server 2008 functionality?

Well I can't comment as to the compatibility of the device to unRAID, but that's probably not what you'd want to get. It features external SFF-8088 connectors, which means that you probably won't be able to get the drives to mount to the card without tricky cable working...it's mainly a card to interface with an external case that holds hard disk drives (often through InfiniBand cables and such...enterprise cabling costs a lot as well! ) If you want a comparable card that features internal connectors, look for the Adaptec 3805.

Alright, it's looking encouraging thus far. This is what I was thinking of doing: 1. Initially set up my unRAID disk setup as one large logical storage pool through User Shares. 2. Then, boot into my Windows Server 2008 OS disk (WD2500KS) that resides within my rackmount; this will be my primary operating system which will run various other serving tasks while also hosting my unRAID storage pool (which Windows Server will hopefully see as a network disk, am I correct)? Run various serving programs that utilize this storage pool (FTP, VPN, streaming, etc) and be on my merry way. Is this a correct assumption that can be done with unRAID? I'm definitely gonna try seeing if simple volumes set via my RAID card will allow unRAID to detect the disks as individual drives, but looking from other compatibility lists, looks like some lower-end Adaptec non-RAID cards are supported, which I hope will translate into my Adaptec 31605 controller card as well. I appreciate your help in all of this, and I hope to get more information about unRAID as time goes by, but so far, I'm quite impressed.

Right. I appreciate your help, and what I meant by my last statement, I suppose that wouldn't really make any sense...however, is there a way so that I can setup the unRAID storage pool (even if it is seen as network storage) and run my Windows Server 2008 OS with the ability to read/write/delete/partition the storage pool from the server itself? So, in other words, I simply set up the unRAID storage pool from the flash stick, and then once that's done, I boot into my Windows Server 2008 disk and just run things from there? What I'm concerned about is the NTFS file system and its ability to deal with disk failures within what is essentially a JBOD...would that be an issue, or does unRAID use its own file system?

Alright, so I've been giving unRAID a look and it definitely looks promising as a future storage solution for my needs. Here's my situation; I have an Adaptec RAID 31605 and I've enjoyed my time in RAID5, but the lengthy process for an online capacity expansion has me thinking whether or not RAID 5 is really appropriate for my needs. I like the performance striped parity gave me, but Adaptec products weren't exactly Arecas in the realm of sequential read/write speeds (I usually capped around 250MB/s or so but in real world performance, I would be lucky to get 150MB+ to be honest). And now, I got myself a Norco RPC-3116 rackmount server, and for some reason when I booted up my system, my RAID card "yelled" (a loud, continuous beep) signifying that a drive had "failed". My array of 5 ST31500341AS (not the most popular drive out there, I know...) has disappeared and I am unable to access my data. Essentially my data is in a state of limbo and I will need to purchase temporary storage if I want my data back in order to create a temporary RAID array in order to retrieve my data. This is where unRAID comes in - the more I read about its features the more and more I find that I like it; the ease of capacity expansion, compartmentalized damage if more than one disk were the fail, and so on. Essentially, I would be trading the RAID5 performance that I don't really need for all of these features, and to me, that trade off is worth it. So essentially, my RAID card will just become a gigantic 16-port SATA card, but I'm content if I can simply have massive storage without much hassle or lengthy times for online capacity expansions in the future. Now, here's where I'm having a few doubts: I'm mainly a Windows user, meaning that I don't really have much Linux experience and whatnot, and I've enjoyed my server for other things not just for storage, but for a personal game server hoster, FTP server, TeamSpeak Server, and other various tasks. This is what I'm hoping I can do to best fit my needs: My Setup: Intel core 2 Duo E6400 2 x 2GB Corsair XMS 2 DDR2-800 RAM 6 x ST31500341AS (5 x SD1A FW, 1 x CC1G FW; firmware shouldn't matter as it won't be intensively used as in a RAID 5) Norco RPC 3116 1 x WD2500KS (my Server 2008 OS drive) 1 x thumb drive for the unRAID setup 1. Create an unRAID Server Pro flash stick (I want the 16-drive support) and eventually expand the array as I need the storage...potentially getting WD20EADS as I need 'em. 2. Run the unRAID setup headless; have my actual Windows Server 2008 OS disk see the unRAID array as a large logical storage pool (essentially, a large disk) formatted in NTFS as that's the file system that is compatible with my setups in my home, and have the capability to read/write/format/delete/etc at will. 3. Maintain the unRAID array through the server interface as necessary, but it should largely go smoothly and reliably. Is what I'm asking for too much? I'm really tired of my RAID 5 shenanigans to be honest...it's not very flexible and really is for those who have large budgets and require large I/O processes, which I don't necessarily need. I just want flexible, redundant storage that doesn't have much overhead (WHS is largely out because I want to duplicate all my data, and a gigantic RAID 1 overhead is just too much for me). If I can run the unRAID logical storage pool and have Windows Server 2008 see the array as an unformatted pool, I will be sold on the idea for unRAID for my next setup!