Kenmore1981

Thank you Hoopster, I appreciate you responding so quickly. Quick question on the parity drive sizes. I would like to throw a couple more drives into the machine. I currently have 6 drives 2TB each. I would still like to stick to the 2 parity drive idea just for peace of mind. That being said, if I were to buy 1 8TB drive now and use it as my parity drive could I add a second 8TB later on as a second parity drive? Based on all of the videos I have watched and reading I have done in the past, I know they say it can be done but it is something that can be done easily? Or am I better off just waiting and saving up for 2 drives?

I was hoping I would be able to come across a list of recommended hardware for unraid. I didn't find one, so I will ask here. I currently am using FreeNAS and I am so far out of my league it is crazy. I am looking for a more simple solution. Basically I want to use this for Data storage and maybe one day setup a Plex server. I currently have an i3 4370 3.8ghz cpu on a supermicro board, 16gb ECC ddr3 ram and 6 - 2TB WD Red drives running in raid6. Will this work for what I am looking for or is my hardware not strong enough? OS is currently running on a USB drive and the rig is hooked to a battery backup. Does this support any type of "shadow copy" or auto backup for PCs? I guess what I am looking for in the end is something to use as storage, Plex server (eventually) and backup for all the computers in the house. If it can do all of the more simply than FreeNAS then I am all in and will wipe the drives and start all over. I just don't want tog et in over my head again and barely get the thing running due to complexity. If there is a more simple solution, please let me know. Thank you for the help everyone, I am hoping this will work and am excited to give it a shot.