SATA/RAID controller compatibility/purchase help

[DCWolfie]

Tl;dr
I need to solve is the lack of SATA data ports on my motherboard. I have 6 today and want at least 10. I need it to be compatible with UNRAID, my hardware and PLEX. I'm horrible with hardware and need some expertise help in order to purchase a controller.

I'll try to keep this as short as possible:

I wanna step into the UNRAID world, but I need a full system to transition from Synology. I got some hardware I wanna use, but I do need a SATA/RAID controller. I'm basically blind when it comes to hardware and I've now tried for a while to narrow down what hardware I'm going to purchase, but it's all so greek to me. Therefor I hope someone here could help me take a choice. I came over THIS forum post here at unraid.net, but I'm still very unsure what is comparable with my hardware, or if it's even relevant.

The hardware I have today found (PC Part Picker link) HERE. My usage is mainly PLEX and various usage with docker containers. Including those parts I'm also going to buy a Silverstone SATA splitter (CP06).

So yeah, can someone with hardware knowledge recommend some controllers (not sure if it matters if it's a SATA or RAID controller). The issue I basically need to solve is the lack of SATA data ports on my motherboard. I have 6 today and want at least 10. I need it to be compatible with UNRAID, my hardware and PLEX.

Thanks for any insight/answers in advance!

Edited May 29, 2022 by DCWolfie
Added Tldr

[whipdancer]

You need an HBA card.  It's controller for harddrives.

 

 

Edited May 29, 2022 by whipdancer

[trurl]

14 minutes ago, DCWolfie said:

(not sure if it matters if it's a SATA or RAID controller

Unraid IS NOT RAID. RAID controllers are NOT recommended.

 

Pinned at the top of this subforum you have posted in:

 

 

[DCWolfie]

6 minutes ago, whipdancer said:

You need an HBA card.  It's controller for harddrives.

Ah, so that's what it's called. Wouldn't happen to have any suggestions which I could/should buy?
 

6 minutes ago, trurl said:

Unraid IS NOT RAID. RAID controllers are NOT recommended.

Hehe, yeah I know. As stated I'm not looking for any RAID functionality. I'm basically only looking to get more SATA ports, but as I said. I'm horrible at hardware so I don't know what I need. I thought you could do the same with RAID controllers, but guess I'm wrong:) Thanks for the heads up!
 

9 minutes ago, trurl said:

Pinned at the top of this subforum you have posted in:

Yeah, but I don't know what to choose. There are some many different terminologies and abbreviations that I get completely lost. I don't even know if it's compatible with my hardware. Therefor I'm asking here in a separate thread.
 

[whipdancer]

I literally picked a random one from the post linked.  I ended up with 2x Dell H310 cards.  They've worked since in every iteration of my server.

[DCWolfie]

5 minutes ago, whipdancer said:

I literally picked a random one from the post linked.  I ended up with 2x Dell H310 cards.  They've worked since in every iteration of my server.

Ah nice. Do you know if there is something specific that varies between these types of cards or are they just "dumb" cards that transfer data through the PCI slot? I'm guessing if they're just very simple the compatibility shouldn't be an issue?

[whipdancer]

On 5/29/2022 at 3:49 PM, DCWolfie said:

Ah nice. Do you know if there is something specific that varies between these types of cards or are they just "dumb" cards that transfer data through the PCI slot? I'm guessing if they're just very simple the compatibility shouldn't be an issue?

I have no idea about the details of the cards. They worked once flashed (flashed my own first time, bought 1 already flashed second time) - so I see no reason to dig further.