Did my research and thought UNRAID was what I wanted. I was running a Mac Mini for Plex with Drobo connected as a storage pool and using my iMac for downloading torrents etc. Finally the Dynamic DNS client on the iMac allowed me to remotely access my downloads and add to them if need be.

 

I figured I would just build one UNRAID tower that could server Plex, download torrents that I could remotely access through DynDNS and have a bigger storage capacity than Drobo's 16GB. Along with that, I thought I'd probably be able to get better speed out of it as well.

 

Starting with speed, I'm getting pretty much a similar performance from UNRAID. Using my WD Raptor as Cache, I get about 45MB write speeds and about the same for reading. Speed wasn't really a concern for me in the first place but UNRAID didn't offer any improvement. With the latest firmware, Drobo now supports unto 24TB so storage issue is also sorted as I move to 3TB drives in the coming months. Haven't really had issues with protection either on the Drobo and it provides tolerance against two drive failures vs one on the UNRAID.

 

Applications is where I thought it would make a difference but it really hasn't. Plex works but it took a bit of configuration and with the latest update, I realized that you'll probably always get a newer version on Mac and PC before Linux. Also I'm uncomfortable upgrading Plex as my initial config took a while to sort out. Transmission on the Mac provides me with a script to unrar files automatically for convenience. Also, after a reboot, Transmission wouldn't start automatically on UNRAID. And finally DynDNS sent me a warning over and froze my free account saying I have started making too many requests and my alternative is to either pay $20 a year or switch to an official client- which obviously doesn't exist on UNRAID.

 

So I think I'll be heading back to Drobo. UNRAID is a pretty awesome solution but not for me. I travel for work once or twice every month and the wife and kids get very vocal when things don't work. While things can work on UNRAID, getting them to work without me being there is a lot harder than just telling them to reset the Mac

45 MB/s writes to a WD Raptor cache drive seem pretty slow to me, there might be something off in your configuration.  You should be able to get 60 MB/s or faster, assuming your Raptor can handle that.

 

In my opinion, the biggest issue with Drobo is the closed, proprietary file system.  If something goes really wrong, you have no recourse.  Others on this forum have claimed to have lost data with Drobo when their system failed, and Drobo customer support is apparently pretty poor.  If something goes really wrong with an unRAID server, you at least have the last-ditch option of recovering data from each disk individually.

 

If your budget allows it, and you want more of an 'appliance' feel, then I think Drobo is probably worth it.  I will be sticking with unRAID.

Did my research and thought UNRAID was what I wanted. I was running a Mac Mini for Plex with Drobo connected as a storage pool and using my iMac for downloading torrents etc. Finally the Dynamic DNS client on the iMac allowed me to remotely access my downloads and add to them if need be.

 

I figured I would just build one UNRAID tower that could server Plex, download torrents that I could remotely access through DynDNS and have a bigger storage capacity than Drobo's 16GB. Along with that, I thought I'd probably be able to get better speed out of it as well.

 

Starting with speed, I'm getting pretty much a similar performance from UNRAID. Using my WD Raptor as Cache, I get about 45MB write speeds and about the same for reading. Speed wasn't really a concern for me in the first place but UNRAID didn't offer any improvement. With the latest firmware, Drobo now supports unto 24TB so storage issue is also sorted as I move to 3TB drives in the coming months. Haven't really had issues with protection either on the Drobo and it provides tolerance against two drive failures vs one on the UNRAID.

 

Applications is where I thought it would make a difference but it really hasn't. Plex works but it took a bit of configuration and with the latest update, I realized that you'll probably always get a newer version on Mac and PC before Linux. Also I'm uncomfortable upgrading Plex as my initial config took a while to sort out. Transmission on the Mac provides me with a script to unrar files automatically for convenience. Also, after a reboot, Transmission wouldn't start automatically on UNRAID. And finally DynDNS sent me a warning over and froze my free account saying I have started making too many requests and my alternative is to either pay $20 a year or switch to an official client- which obviously doesn't exist on UNRAID.

 

So I think I'll be heading back to Drobo. UNRAID is a pretty awesome solution but not for me. I travel for work once or twice every month and the wife and kids get very vocal when things don't work. While things can work on UNRAID, getting them to work without me being there is a lot harder than just telling them to reset the Mac

 

 

Not to change the mood here, I have and use unraid, but also just bought a Synology DS2411 box. There is a night/day difference when working with one server and the other. The unraid is good for one thing - save your data online and read from a share or two.

Did my research and thought UNRAID was what I wanted. I was running a Mac Mini for Plex with Drobo connected as a storage pool and using my iMac for downloading torrents etc. Finally the Dynamic DNS client on the iMac allowed me to remotely access my downloads and add to them if need be.

 

I figured I would just build one UNRAID tower that could server Plex, download torrents that I could remotely access through DynDNS and have a bigger storage capacity than Drobo's 16GB. Along with that, I thought I'd probably be able to get better speed out of it as well.

 

Starting with speed, I'm getting pretty much a similar performance from UNRAID. Using my WD Raptor as Cache, I get about 45MB write speeds and about the same for reading. Speed wasn't really a concern for me in the first place but UNRAID didn't offer any improvement. With the latest firmware, Drobo now supports unto 24TB so storage issue is also sorted as I move to 3TB drives in the coming months. Haven't really had issues with protection either on the Drobo and it provides tolerance against two drive failures vs one on the UNRAID.

 

Applications is where I thought it would make a difference but it really hasn't. Plex works but it took a bit of configuration and with the latest update, I realized that you'll probably always get a newer version on Mac and PC before Linux. Also I'm uncomfortable upgrading Plex as my initial config took a while to sort out. Transmission on the Mac provides me with a script to unrar files automatically for convenience. Also, after a reboot, Transmission wouldn't start automatically on UNRAID. And finally DynDNS sent me a warning over and froze my free account saying I have started making too many requests and my alternative is to either pay $20 a year or switch to an official client- which obviously doesn't exist on UNRAID.

 

So I think I'll be heading back to Drobo. UNRAID is a pretty awesome solution but not for me. I travel for work once or twice every month and the wife and kids get very vocal when things don't work. While things can work on UNRAID, getting them to work without me being there is a lot harder than just telling them to reset the Mac

 

 

Not to change the mood here, I have and use unraid, but also just bought a Synology DS2411 box. There is a night/day difference when working with one server and the other. The unraid is good for one thing - save your data online and read from a share or two.

 

seems like there are hidden lines between your sentence. i appreciate it if you could tell us your experience comparing the two. afterall, nothing is perfect.

 

Not to change the mood here, I have and use unraid, but also just bought a Synology DS2411 box. There is a night/day difference when working with one server and the other. The unraid is good for one thing - save your data online and read from a share or two.

 

is this not a $1500 box ?

how do you compare a diy kit to a high end kit ?

Not to change the mood here, I have and use unraid, but also just bought a Synology DS2411 box. There is a night/day difference when working with one server and the other. The unraid is good for one thing - save your data online and read from a share or two.

 

I would expound upon the differences in company resources and design methodologies, but I know you would miss the point. In a nutshell, comparing an off-the-shelf NAS box that has no possibility for user repair when hardware fails, to a DIY system that you assemble yourself, is really uninformative. Valid competitors to unRAID are other DIY solutions like FlexRAID, SnapRAID, FreeNAS, etc.... even Windows Home Server.

since there are people who are using nas box for the same use case as with the unraid, i think its fair compare between them. afterall, what really matters is, does it work for the use case? i dont think its wise to eliminate an option just because it is not diy. everything has its pro and cons. nothing is perfect.

The only single reason I bought the Synology $1500 NAS was because it supports new stuff and speed. I just want more speed for when I'm trying to edit a file, create small video, anything like that. unRaid stable not supporting 3tb is a huge deal to me (yes, been a while since I said that) and the Synology supports 3tb easily, and probably 4tb. I also have the opportunity to use 2 parity type drives with Synology. That gives me more peace of mind I guess.

 

If you don't want to compare a DIY project like unraid against a big commercial product like Synology I could understand why.

 

 

I can understand the want for speed or plug and play simplicity. I personally run several hardware raids also.

 

Keep in mind that with the synology ds2411+, you are really paying for the OS. there is less than $600 in parts in the box (perhaps a little more simply because it is custom made, or would that make it cheaper?). it is just an atom D525 board, 1 GB ram and 3 ultra-cheap Marvell 88SX7042 (what they use on rosewill and highpoint cards) CPU assisted raid chips on it. all wrapped up in a fancy case with an infinityband plug on it to allow you to chain a dummy unit to it. Then toss on a custom usb stick with the "disk station manager". 

 

Bottom line is, you can also spend $1500 on a DIY Hardware RAID based system and blow the synology or the drobo away.

you can also spend half that and build an ZFS(x) software raid based system that can outperform the synology and drobo.

That price is for 20/24 bay systems.

 

It is all about your personal needs and comfort. I love my unRAID boxes. I run them for constantly available, low power use. I don’t want 24 disks spinning just to edit one photo or watch a single movie...  but.. I also know I can convert them to high end raid boxes if I so chose for the price of a raid card (or convert to an ZFS flavored OS) and lots of electricity usage.

 

now that I went off on a tangent, sorry about that. ajaffarali it sounds like your setup was not correct. those transfer speeds seem a bit slow. as far as the applications server sided, I do understand. Those are not part of the base product and are community written.

 

ajaffarali, (or Mr. toe). If you want your drobo (or your synology) excellent! Your own personal reasons always outweigh what the people on the internet tell you what you need! While said people might give you good  or bad advice, do what you are comfortable with in daily use and budget. heck, use your unRAID to back up your said other device. Then you have the best of both worlds.