VelcroBP

Parts are in and assembled! First order of business while MemTest runs, SHOP FOR A NEW FAN for the Norco SS-500! A few pics... https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/HFxO3_LulUUeG_B65FXg7dMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=directlink https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/OHT5ZLKoA22AHvm2aNZaIdMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=directlink https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/id9SdJ-EXhId1O3k1-eXitMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=directlink

About to start my first build, and just received a Norco SS-500 cage. There is no documentation, so I am wondering what the proper orientation is to install this. Also, am I correct in assuming that the SATA ports directly correspond to the drive bays on the front?

Sounds good! I'll just set the default to 4k sectors and leave it for all drives. Thanks for all the tips! I'm really looking forward to putting this all together. It has been a lot of information to process, as I've never worked with any OS other than Windows or OSX, so I'm a little nervous. The guides and information available from this community are amazing, though, so I'm rather confident......

Excellent! Thanks for the tips! I have another newbie question, however... I just noticed that he Barracuda is an AF drive. I am correct in assuming/hoping that with version 4.7 I will NOT need to do anything specials with jumpers or firmware prior to adding this drive to the array?

Good to hear on the ease of swapping drives! I was able to boot up the drive this a.m. I'm hoping it is something to do with the enclosure. I'm furiously copying the backups off of it though just in case, considering it will be a few days before my components get here and another few while my new drives preclear. After all data is up and running on the new server I will try preclear on these older drives to see how they hold up. Do you need the paid license to do this on drives 4 & 5, or just when adding them to the array?

Just ordered: Hitachi 5k3000 x2 and Seagate Barracuda ST2000DL x1

I haven't actually purchased any new drives for this build yet. I was planning on using a couple of old 1TBs I have in external enclosures currently for backup purposes to flush out the array. However, as I type one of them has just failed. Literally 2 minutes before your post i hit the power on the drive's enclosure to see how much data was on it and was greeted by Windows telling me that it needs to be formatted before I can use it. This isn't even one of the drives I was suspicious of!! They are all ~3 years old so I guess my hand is forced to go on an expensive shopping spree. I will most likely pick up 3x2TB drives for now. How difficult is it to swap parity drives once the array is up and running?

Ok, my parts are finally ordered and on the way! Here is what I've gone with based on suggestions here: Case: XCLIO Nightawk http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811103030 MoBo: Biostar A880G+ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138283 CPU: AMD Sempron 145 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103888 Drive Cage (5x3): Norco SS-500 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816133030 USB: Verbatim Store 'n' Stay 4GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820235061 PSU: XFX Core Edition PRO550W http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207013 RAM: Crucial 2GB DDR3 1066 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148149 Drive Bay (Single): SNT-125B http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817993031 I'm debating between a 2TB Hitachi or shopping for a 3TB for the parity drive. Also, I'm holding off on the SAS card until I have a bit more coin and and am ready to bump up to the PLUS license in a couple months. I don't expect to fill the first 5x3 for some time. Any thoughts or concerns I should have about this build?

Thanks for the tip! I will go with the Nighthawk then. I won't be installing any cages for a while, but when I do I prefer to go with the hot-swap 5x3s.

Thanks for the feedback! I guess I had overlooked the convenience of going with the top-to-bottom external bay approach. I will have to select either the Helios or perhaps an XCLIO Nighthawk.... As for the CPU/MoBo kit, is there serious drawbacks to dropping to a single core? I know that I haven't stated any specific plugin intentions, I would like to have the option in the future once I am a bit more savvy....

First off, this is my first attempt at building a NAS of any kind. I've so far found this forum to be invaluable, as I was previously ready to just follow some pre-built guide. Thanks to a couple days reading here, I now have some idea of the whats and the whys to choosing hardware and such. Ok, so I'm looking to put together a budget box (<$300, not including drives). I plan on starting with 2TB Hitachi drives x3 (one for parity), and expanding up to 10-12 over the next year or so depending on prices/sales/etc. Primary use will be for data backup and media server. I am just starting to read into plugins, and will probably want to explore some of these in the future once I have the basics up and running and get comfortable with the system/configuration. My first shot at piecing together components is below: PSU (only thing I've already purchased) XFX Core Edition PRO550W http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207013 Case - (Leaning towards the Challenger currently) Rosewill Blackbone http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147023&Tpk=rosewill%20blackbone Rosewill Challenger http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147153 Antec 300 Illusion http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066&Tpk=antec%20300%20illusion MoBO Intel BOXDG41RQI http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813121373 CPU Intel Celeron E3400 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116348 Any input would be most welcome!