I'm trying to make an Unraid Server - but I'm having problems picking good hardware.

 

Priorities:

(1) easy !  (price is a secondary).

(2) upgrade-able to more drives.

(3) goes to sleep when not in use

 

Uses:

(1) storing family photos and videos

(2) serving those files to my XBMC.

(3) storing some personal files (.doc, .txt, .jpg, etc.)

(4) some downloaded movies - serving those to my XBMC.

 

5 Drive Budget Box

Mobo: ASUS M4A78LT-M (more info; be careful when shopping around, as there is an LE version and a non-LE version of this motherboard.  You want the non-LE version!) new budget board testing will begin soon!

CPU: AMD Sempron 145

RAM: Kingston 2GB DDR3 1333

PSU: CORSAIR Builder Series CX430 V2 430W

Case: Xigmatek Utgard Mesh CPC-T90DB-U03

SATA Expansion Card: 2 port SATA2 Serial ATA II PCI-Express RAID Controller Card (Silicon Image SIL3132)

Cables: non-locking SATA x 3 (2 included with motherboard)

Hot Swap Drive Bays: Norco SS-500

Fans: Coolink SWiF2-801 *optional (Norco SS-500 fan upgrade is quieter performance is desired)

Hard Drives: Green drives (5400 rpm or 5900 rpm), such as WD Green, Hitachi CoolSpin, Samsung EcoGreen, and Seagate LP

Cost: $325 + shipping + cost of hard drives

Capacity: 8 TB

Expandability: Expandable to the 15 Drive Budget Box with replacement of the motherboard and the power supply.

source - http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=7998.0

I thought this would be a good one for me.  But most of that stuff is outdated.

I like Hot Swap Bays.  Is Norco the best ?

I don't mind paying for a quieter / nicer case.

Is there a hard drive that is most suited for my needs (easy, mostly media storage)

A mobo that supports more drives from the start would be great ... but I am going to start with around 5 drives.

I'm in Canada BTW.

Thanks for your help !

 

I'm thinking of this so far ...

 

Drive Bays:  NORCO SS-500 5-Bay SATA / SAS Hot Swap Rack Module

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816133030

 

9 Bay case.

 

 

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