Thanks to all who reply to my other post - very good information.

Sounds like unRaid is the solution to go.

The other thing I'm considering is whether to buy the flash drive only or the whole system (MD-1200) with all the hardware+software.

It's kinda hard for me to decide  because I see the advantages of both solutions.

I want to go with the norm .

 

 

I went with the start kit. This includes software, mobo, cpu, ram, and controller cards. Tom fully tests the system and all you have to do is buy case, power supply, hard drives, and drive enclosures.  From the research I have done, buying the starter kit it just about the same price and piecing those parts together.....

I purchased the assembled unRaid  server.  Yes, it is priced higher than individual parts if you shop around, but I valued my time higher than the cost difference... and... I only had to unpack and plug it in. 

 

The time I would have spent researching, ordering, and assembling I spent watching a few movies with my family. To me, the assembled and tested server is fairly priced.

 

Joe L.

I went with just the flash drive.

 

In retrospect, I wished I had done the starter kit, tracking down all of the components (mobo/CPU/Memory) was a bit of a pain.

I too went with the flash drive.

 

If I had to do it over, I would buy the whole system.

I might go with the starter kit but the whole system is almost overkill...hard drives are so cheap right now it's hard to justify the whole system price.

Starter kit and got a 4u rack as posted in another hardward thread.  i am more than satisfied with my purchase.

IMO buy the starter kit or the whole setup. Tom doesn't charge much of a premium and it will save you time hunting things down. I bought just the Flash myself but in the end I saved minimal money and I would have been better off purchasing right from Tom.

So, starter kit is no longer available?

We're in the process of evaluating several motherboards for next product releases.  Probably sometime next week we'll  have them available again.

We're in the process of evaluating several motherboards for next product releases.  Probably sometime next week we'll  have them available again.

 

Can't wait to see what MOBO you decide on! I am starting to think about building a music only unraid next. I also have thrown around the idea to build a smaller unRAID server for my lake house and just adding lots of dvds to that server so we don't have to think about always bringing movies up there....

 

i just bought mine and i got all the parts myself and just downloaded the software from tom.  i think it was a good way to go because i put all the components in there so i know all the intricacies of how the hardware is set up.  i am sure it is not s clean with the cabling as the pre-built system but it works VERY well.  the starter kit was not available when i bought my stuff.  if it was i may have gone that route.

 

i think the bottom line is that if you like spending the time and building your own stuff, then buy the parts and build it yourself.  if you prefer not to mess with it and you just want to unpack it and plug it in, then get the pre-built setup.  there really isn't a huge price difference.

 

if you are looking for a parts list i would be glad to share mine.  just let me know.