Retired computer tech support for 32 years. Started as a dBase/Visual Basic database programmer for the first 5 years but the rest of my time as  system administrator for file & print servers. First with Novell Netware & Citrix Winframe later with Windows server & SUSE samba servers.

 

At home I have a small network of Windows 10 Home PC (used for photo editing of my raw photos shot with Nikon & Olympus DSLRs via Adobe Lightroom & Photoshop), digital illustrations via Photoshop, Corel Painter, ArtRage & Rebelle, 3D modeling via 3DCoat, Blender, Silo3d 2.5, Moi3D, DAZ Studio and 3D rendering in e-onsoftware's Vue, 2nd Windows 10 Home PC using as a NAS via Windows storage space and a linux PC running Zorin-Os which is a Ubuntu 20.04 derivative.

 

All computers were built by me. 

 

I take many photos at local classic car shows during the summer as well as landscape photos throughout Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Maine. I also have lots of 3D models I've created or purchased as well as digital illustrations. All assets reside on my photo editing PC and backed up to a mess of 9 external drives plus several portable drives.

 

I stated shucking some of the older 3 & 4TB WD external drives and placing them into a new Corsair 200R case with a Seasonic 650 powersupply. I had an older Gigabyte GA-H97-D3H socket 1150 mobo with I-7-4770S cpu and 32 gbs of memory on my shelf (used to be my photo editing PC). My first thought was about building another Windows 10 storage spaces box or an Ubuntu server using mdadm raid 5 or 6 OR ZFS raidz1 / raidz2. But raid 5/6 seemed too old school. And ZFS raid seemed to waste too much disk space. Then I ran ran into SpaceInvaders youtube channel when I started searching for NAS solutions and alternatives to Windows storage space and Linux mdadm or ZFS pools.

 

After much youtube watching, I downloaded the trial yesterday and was hooked. I'll be purchasing soon. Maybe tomorrow.

 

My hobbies are digital photography, 3D modeling/rendering, digital illustrating, watching NHL hockey (played the sport unit I was 52), antique and classic cars (restored an antique car in 1983 and still own it) and of course computer technology.

 

Cheers and many thanks for creating this wonderful product Unraid.

 

 

 

Welcome to UNRAID fun! started my "Unraid" journey in 2013 😮 Now have 118TB Array with 80TB already filled up!

Pducharme - Thanks very much. Looking forward to the journey. Unraid certainly is a very slick and polished program. Made the purchase today for the pro version. The 20% Cyber Monday certainly made it lucrative as an USA dollar is equal to 1.27. So the 20% discount put a nice dent into the exchange rate.

Edited December 2, 20214 yr by Vetteman
To correct posters name.

17 minutes ago, Vetteman said:

981

I guess that means I am 32.1K and you are 2. 😁

Pducharme - I just noticed you live in Sherbrooke, Quebec which is the home of one of my favorite NHL players, David Perron. I believe he had the Stanley Cup in Sherbrooke.

 

Been to Sherbrooke, very nice place and quite hilly in certain areas.

 

 

Best money ever spent. Welcome to unRAID. As you start to rely on your server, start using new drives. My advise is to start w/ big capacity on you parity drives…. If you get into media center storage, you are going to want lots of storage.

Welcome to the community, and what an impressive background you bring with you! Your journey from Novell Netware to building your own systems really showcases the depth of experience here. It sounds like you've built quite the powerful and creative ecosystem at home.

Your setup—especially with photography, 3D modeling, and all those valuable assets—is exactly the kind of use case where Unraid shines. Moving away from that "mess of external drives" to a consolidated, parity-protected array is going to feel liberating. The fact that you're repurposing that older but capable i7-4770S hardware is perfect; Unraid will make great use of it.

Given your hobbies, it sounds like you're often on the move for car shows and landscape shoots. When I used to haul a lot of gear to events, I learned that protecting equipment starts with safe transit. For local shows or even when you need to get to a specific shoot location reliably, using a trusted chauffeur service can make a big difference—one less thing to worry about when your car is packed with cameras and drives.

Congratulations on the upcoming purchase, and enjoy the build. You’re going to love having all those creative assets in one secure, accessible place. Feel free to ask any questions as you get set up—the community here is incredibly helpful. Cheers!

It's a four years old post. 😶