I currently have an unRAID basic build with
SuperMicro x8dtl-3f
Intel x5650 x2
48 DDR3 1333 ECC FB RAM
500GB x5 Drives of various types
256GB SSD cache
I have these drives thrown in here and most are throwing SMART errors from old age and some are starting to fail SMART with bad sectors.
I have disconnected all drives and have stopped using things just to keep things from getting worse...
I've considered getting different drives from Amazon/Newegg and am looking at WD Red drives.
Benefits/Drawbacks between different plans.... I won't be able to spend money for a while as I've got kid #3 with an ETA of December so I'm looking at long term reliability and upgrade-ability. I'm probably going to pull all drives but those that are listing as healthy once I move their data to the new drive(s)
Different things I've considered
Option 1
WD Red 4TB x2 $100x2 = Full Budget
Option 2
WD Red 2TB x2 with Unraid Pro Upgrade
($63x2) + $79 =$205 Could Probably talk the wife into $5 over the budget... maybe
Option 3
WD Red 2TB x2 with Unraid Plus
($63x2) + $39 = $165 Under budget by $35 maybe get another 240GB SSD for Cache or to dedicate to Games Share only?
Option 4
WD Red 3TB x2 with Unraid Plus
($78x2) + $39 = $195 That's $5 under budget = Happy wife!
Option 5
WD Red 1TB x3 with Unraid Plus
($55x3) + $39 = $204 I know I'd kinda screw myself on long term upgrades but I'm thinking more drives would give me a bit less downtime If a drive died vs if I only had parity and 1 in array and I lost one?
Option 6
Your Ideas here?
Oh and the usage is kind of a general purpose system. I use it as a NAS, Plex Media Server, VM machines, Docker, all the good stuff lol.
Thanks in advance, I've also considered getting Amazon Recertified drives with warranties but I'm nervous about trusting them has anyone had any experience with them? I've also got the option of going to MicroCenter this upcoming weekend and I've heard they'll sometimes pricematch other places. I mention this because I've heard their warranties are amazing!
Edit* I forgot to mention How badly am I going to be limited by the older HBA of this motherboard?
Oh crap I just realized the SAS1068E is not on the "not recommended" list b/c of the lack of support for drives Over 2.2TB
Would I have the same issues with the SATA ports onboard?
This is my exact motherboard, Yes I know it's ancient tech but it's mine lol
https://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/QPI/5500/X8DTL-3F.cfm