Well my first unRaid build is up and running. Parity and shares rocking. Still have to determine the cause of my slow transfers, but I suspect a network issue.

 

So much thanks to everyone in this community! I never would have even attempted this with my lack of experience with Linux. The information and helpfull nature of everyone even in spite of my total noobishness has been amazing! I look forward to reaping more knowledge and hopefully contributing what I can in the future as I am sure I will be tempted to start upgrading before too long!!

I was looking at your build photos, I do like that case for for a 15 drive build.

 

The lack of bendy tabs is nice.

the front screen is not that pretty, but it is effective in reducing some of the gunk that gets sucked into the server.

you can also still see your status leds on your 5in3's.

 

The side panel is mehh..  i just personally like solid panels now.

the top is .. not that clean.. but the fan controller functions could have some use..

 

I also noticed it is sold out right now..

The case is alright for my first build.. but a few caveats:

• Top is EXTREMELY thin. It arrived quite bent with obvious gaps surrounding the plastic housing containing the all the inputs and fan controller. I had to carefully bend in the right places for it to sort of snap back in to "true". Even still, there are minor gaps and I can tell if anything slightly heavy were set on it it would bend again.
  
• Cable Management is kind of "meh". The case fans fit nice in the channel cut out on the MoBo side, but that's about it. It's alright as I have it set up and will accommodate another 5x3, but to put a third cage in on the bottom, without a modular PSU it would be messy.
  
• The gasket for the PSU came pretty much 75% detached/unglued. Not a major concern, it just took a bit to get everything lined up before fully tightening the screws.
  
• Stock HD cage had 3 stripped screws. Had to use a rubber band under the driver and some mild swearing before I could get them out far enough for pliers. Again, not a real drawback in the grand scheme, but speaks to general build quality and annoyed me quite a bit.
  

 

Overall, now that all is said and done I'm perfectly happy with this case for my modest build. Drives are running cool (~25-29C) and I can tell at a glance what drives are doing what if need be. Can't speak to the fan control, as the stock Norco fan drowns everything out. I am ordering a replacement (model suggested by Raj in his review) and see how that goes. I will be upgrading to the paid OS soon and picking up a AOC-SASLP-MV8 card and another 5x3. That will most likely be it for this. I can't see my needs growing beyond that for a while.

That will most likely be it for this. I can't see my needs growing beyond that for a while.

 

I thought I would only need the free version.....bought the pro and now 1 parity and 5 drives, and growing.

I thought I would only need the free version.....bought the pro and now 1 parity and 5 drives, and growing.

 

I do intend to buy the PRO in the very near future, along with another Norco, which will bring me up to 10 drives. I see that as the max for this build and lasting me for QUITE some time. This is for a personal home media server with some backup duties. When the time comes, (and I am fully aware of the upgrade bug), to push it further I will probably start a whole new build and go bigger.

 

For me, building this server at the moment was wholly unnecessary. For my use, I could have easily gotten away with swapping the drives in my current box and maybe an extra external. This was more an exercise in curiosity and branching out into Linux. I rationalized the expense as freeing me up when the time comes to replace my aging main PC from a data-storage consideration. Now that all is said and done, I couldn't be happier that I chose to go with unRaid. I look forward to experimenting with other builds, such as a micro desktop to a full-blown 20+ drive monster!

I thought I would only need the free version.....bought the pro and now 1 parity and 5 drives, and growing.

 

I do intend to buy the PRO in the very near future, along with another Norco, which will bring me up to 10 drives. I see that as the max for this build and lasting me for QUITE some time. This is for a personal home media server with some backup duties. When the time comes, (and I am fully aware of the upgrade bug), to push it further I will probably start a whole new build and go bigger.

 

For me, building this server at the moment was wholly unnecessary. For my use, I could have easily gotten away with swapping the drives in my current box and maybe an extra external. This was more an exercise in curiosity and branching out into Linux. I rationalized the expense as freeing me up when the time comes to replace my aging main PC from a data-storage consideration. Now that all is said and done, I couldn't be happier that I chose to go with unRaid. I look forward to experimenting with other builds, such as a micro desktop to a full-blown 20+ drive monster!

 

Agree, I am exploring in to building another server, and keeping the one I've got for back up or vice versa

Thanks for the update on the "mehh" case.

 

You have talked me out of suggesting it for any serious builds.

 

It would be good for a starter build or a temp case while you grow the system into something bigger and not feel to bad if you pitch it or give it to a friend.

 

The base design is a nice Idea and they cheaped out.