quick question:

 

on the P5B-VM DO i used to put the unRAID together i used up all the SATA ports (7 internal, plus 8 via 2 Promise PCI cards)...there is one external SATA port left and one internal IDE...since there aren't any 1TB IDE drives (and i do need 1TB), would it be possible to use a SATA to IDE converter (i think Acronis makes one for about 30 bucks) and run the IDE alongside SATA? i guess the better question is: does the P5B-VM DO chipset allow for simultaneous SATA/IDE, or by enabling IDE, you switch one of the SATA ports off?

 

if it does work and i wanted to use the IDE to SATA drive as a parity drive, would i give up a lot of speed? (being that usually one would want the parity drive to be the fastest one)

 

i'm using all WD 1TB green drives, btw.

You can use all the ports simultaneously (2 IDE + 6 ICH8 SATA + 1 jmicron SATA (internal) + 1 jmicron eSATA (external)).  I'd recommend getting a cable to convert from eSATA to SATA, loop the cable into the case, and use a regular SATA internal drive.  Or you can get a 750G IDE (Outpost has them for $129) and use one of the IDE ports.  I'd steer clear of converting from SATA to PATA.

 

got it...so maybe i'll go the "routing cable inside" route you suggested when i reach that bridge...or build a second unRAID...ha!

thanks.