Hi,

I'm new to this forum but have seen the servers for sale on the Lime Tech website. I was trying to go there today but can't get on. Do they still sell these?

 

I was thinking of going from Raid5 to UnRaid.

 

I currenty have a SansDIgital with 5 2TB drives that I use for blu-ray and regular movies. The problem is that I'm running out of space.

I'm not sure what to do but UnRaid may be a possibility.

 

I'm looking for information on where to buy the servers.

Tom sold out of the initial lot of servers, but informally announced their would be a new Lime-Tech server sometime.

 

You can have a server pre-built through Queegtech or Greenleaf (two forum members who started their own business)

 

Those links are here:

http://www.queegtech.com/

http://www.greenleaf-technology.com/

 

Thanks for the info.

http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?board=40.0

I'm starting to think that I'm better off sticking with the Raid server. The cost of the UnRaid is kind of high.

 

If you can do without the "hot-swap" drawers which just make drive adding/changing very simple but are not necesary, then you can build a server yourself to hold 8 drives for around $300 plus the cost of the unRAID license. Basically, pick a cheap case with 6 or more 5.25" drive bays, a motherboard with 6-onboard SATA ports and some x1 and/or x16 PCIe slots for expandability, a decent power supply, a couple of Coolermaster 4into3 hard drive cages and a SIL 3132 based PCIe to SATA card.

 

All NAS solutions are pricier once you get into holding more than about 4 drives.

 

Peter

 

The cost of the UnRaid is kind of high.

 

Really?  I can't think of anything much cheaper.  Almost any old PC hardware can be turned into an unRAID box.  Of course, if you want a multi TB server, then you do need appropriate drives, power supply, case, interface etc ... but that will be true of any file server.

 

My first unRAID server was free - I simply used an old (as in 5 years old) computer, with three drives and the free unRAID licence.  This immediately outperformed my QNAP nas, in all respects.  Of course, I later went on to build a system specifically for unRAID, but even then, the basic requirements for unRAID are modest - the major expense is directly related to capacity.

I'm starting to think that I'm better off sticking with the Raid server. The cost of the UnRaid is kind of high.

 

 

Ya you must be seeing something I'm not because I couldn't find anything offering the same functionality of unRaid anywhere near the same price. The expandability and hardware support/ease of use alone is amazing compared to alternatives not to mention I'd trust an unRaid array over a normal RAID array any day.

I'm starting to think that I'm better off sticking with the Raid server. The cost of the UnRaid is kind of high.

 

 

Most of the available servers hold 15 drive. Thats 28TB of protected storage. The prices are reasonable compared to alternatives. You can same money be assembling a system yourself. See this for design alternatives: http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=7998.0

I'm starting to think that I'm better off sticking with the Raid server. The cost of the UnRaid is kind of high.

 

That was how I felt initially but now I'm convinced that unRaid will cost much less than other methods of storage. My other main concern was getting help, since my knowledge of computers is only slightly above average, but after posting a few times I'm convinced that won't be a problem.

 

With the help of Raj's Prototype Designs and the forum community I have just ordered everything I need to build a 24 drive server for $881.38. This includes shipping cost but doesn't include the unRaid OS, UPS, hard drives and some other modification I might do. I'll also be able to use my old hard drives that I've stopped using because they were replaced with larger ones.

 

If you use Raj's Prototype Designs to build your own server the cost starts around $300 and the cost can be cut if you do not use hot swappable hard drive bays.

 

I was looking at the cost of the prebuilt systems.

 

The system I have now (i'm out of space) is the SansDigital TR5UT which I have 5 2TB drives in Raid 5.

The cost was around $600.00 with all the drives.

 

I'm not sure if I would know how to build the UnRaid systems. I really don't have a clue about this type of storage.

 

Don't get me wrong I have built both computers that I use so I do have a knowledge of computer systems.

 

Anyway I'm at a crossroad right now to create more space. This is for a collection of blu-ray and regular movies.

Don't get me wrong I have built both computers that I use so I do have a knowledge of computer systems.

This will be my first time building a computer. The most I've done is replace various parts to upgrade my computers over the years. With the help of this community I was able to figure out what I needed to build my server. Here's a link to 221bBS: Norco RPC-4224 (first build) . It's still a work in progress but I have ordered everything I need to build the server. If I can do it, I'm sure you will have no problems at all.

I was looking at some of the builds. I would want lots of storage. Those rackmounts that I see. Could I just somehow attach one of those to my existing computer and do the UnRaid?

The SansDigital TR5UT is not a true server or NAS. it is 5 drives hanging off one of your PC's in it a nice little box.

unRAID is a dedicated server.

 

It is hard to compare the prices of these 2 devices. one is hard dive cage, one is a full PC.

 

But as people are saying. you can build a nice system for just $300 and it is upgradeable to as large as your budget is.

Even cheaper if you have parts laying around.

 

I can completely understand that seeing prices of $1000-$1500 for a 20-24 drive beast can make you say "oh @#$@".

those are a bit of overkill for most people. (honestly, most people that build the 20-24 drives beasts only start out with a few drives and pick up a drive every month or 2 as needed.)

 

That, or you can upgrade your current desktop and use the old one for the unraid server.

 

If your not interested in building a server. You can buy the HP Microserver for about $300 US. that has 4 pullout bays in it and you can get a 5th drive into the CD slot with little trouble. that would be close to your "raid box" in cost. toss 4-5 2TB drives into and get that and get  the plus Key for 6-8TB of protected data.

 

If your still unsure. Look at a WHS Sever. they are a decent little box, but now that HP stopped making them. a bit over priced and outdated. plus the  data protection is not that good. it uses a software mirror.

 

EDIT

I was looking at some of the builds. I would want lots of storage. Those rackmounts that I see. Could I just somehow attach one of those to my existing computer and do the UnRaid?

No, That defeats the whole purpose of unraid.

But you could buy the rackmount, put a cheap motherboard and CPU into it, that should get you about 6 drives to start, then buy the expansion sata cards later to let you use more of the drive bays.

 

 

I was looking at some of the builds. I would want lots of storage. Those rackmounts that I see. Could I just somehow attach one of those to my existing computer and do the UnRaid?

 

The rackmount is just an empty computer case with hot swappable hard drive bays. If you have an old computer, you might be able to cannibalize it and use the components in the rackmount.

Maybe we should go right back to basics. unRAID is an operating system. You build a PC which allows you to connect a bunch of hard drives and then run the unRAID operating system on it. If you can build a PC then you can put an unRAID server together, since both basically involve the same things - motherboard, ram, CPU, power supply etc.

 

Peter

Ok that makes more sense. I didn't realize UnRaid was an operating system.

I didn't think to mention this before, but you might be able to switch that drive rack you have from RAID5 to JBOD and use it to hold 5 disks as part of the unRAID array. It could save you some cash - create a server to hold 6 drives internally and hang that rack off an eSATA port to increase it to 11 drives.

 

Peter

I think it was mentioned in the op's thread on hardforums to do just that. Put the 5 drive cage in an hp microserver or a home built server.

I'm not sure if I would know how to build the UnRaid systems. I really don't have a clue about this type of storage.

 

Don't get me wrong I have built both computers that I use so I do have a knowledge of computer systems.

 

Well, an unRAID system is just like any other computer system - the significant differences are that it boots from a flash device, rather than disk, it has lots of drives attached, and it uses an Operating System with which you are probably unfamiliar.  Of course, this means that you may wish to use some specialised components, such as drive cages and so on but, other than that, it is just like building a desktop system.

 

Anyway I'm at a crossroad right now to create more space. This is for a collection of blu-ray and regular movies.

 

As I understand it, unRAID was born out of Tom's need for storage for his media collection.  That is the primary use of unRAID for many of us.