Hey guys, my unraid 9tb is starting to get capped out so i was thinking about switch from 2tb to 4tb. I'm unsure what the standard is now a days but I'm unsure with all different colours.

 

Also since I'm upgrading hard drives maybe I could upgrade some parts for more efficiency:

 

 

unRAID: version 5.0.5

MOBO:  Asus M4A88T-M 880G

CPU: AMD Sempron 145 2.8GHz

RAM G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 2x2GB DDR3 1600

PSU Corsair CX 430

CASE Coolmaster Haf 932

HDDs:

Samsung HD204UI F4 3.5 inch 2TB 32MB 5400rpm (parity)

Western Digital WD Green WD20EARX 2TB 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s X4

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal (cache)

 

Any help would be appreciated.

Ver 5.0.6 is out and you should probably move on to that version.

 

As far as your other hardware goes, you should be fine as long as your are only running plain vanilla unRAID without a lot of plugins (except ones like APCUPSD, powerdown, Dynamix and unMENU).  Version 5 will support disk drives sizes well beyond what any manufacturer will introduce in the next few years.

 

You motherboard seems to be of fairly recent vintage as it is still available on Amazon.  Why are you thinking of hardware upgrading?

 

As far as Disk upgrades, I would start with two disks and add more as they are required.  (Past history has shown that price per GB will lower in the future!)  I would also consider going to 6TB for the parity disk as the cost per GB is about the same as for the 4TB drive.  (You may well have disk failures in the future will dictate the opportunity for future upgrades of storage capacity.)  (Also consider that extra 2TB of storage space gained by  using a 6TB data drive will eliminate the purchase of the next 4TB drive when your storage requirements would require the next expansion if you were to use a 4TB drive-- two 4TB drives = one 6TB drive to gain 4TB of additional storage space.)

Agree with Frank.  Unless you are having performance issues, or simply want a higher horsepower machine for future virtualization or other needs, your current hardware is fine for basic NAS functionality.

 

Since you're already on v5, all you need to do is (a) Upgrade to the final version of v5; and (b) start moving to the larger drives.    I agree it makes sense to start off with a pair of 6TB drives ... upgrade your parity first; then either add a 6TB drive or replace one of your current drives with one.

 

Thanks so much for reply guys who do you think should go with for hdd

Thanks so much for reply guys who do you think should go with for hdd

 

I presume that you mean manufacturer and model number.  The problem is to determine what you are interested in.  If  you are are like most people, you are interested in cost and reliability.  (Performance might be a another consideration but for most unRAID users, it is not a primary issue.) 

 

Cost is easy.  Anyone can figure out which drive is the cheapest at any given point in time.  Although, by being patient, you can catch good sale on almost any drive out there.

 

Reliability is the real tough issue.  The problem is that all hard drives will fail.  Some drives fail early, some last a long time and a very few last until they are rendered  obsolete by time.  This last statement is true for every manufacturer (and model) of hard drive ever made.  The problem with finding the most reliable drive made is the lack of good data.  Because the failure modes are hard drives are multiple and not really interrelated, you actually have to have data from very large numbers of drives operating over very long periods of time.  The obvious place where such information is available would be from some of the very large large data farms--- and most of them aren't talking.  Another factor is that by the time definitive data is available, the drive is either nearly the end of its manufacturing life or is already out of production!

 

I have no doubt that there are people on this (or any other) forum who have very definite views on which manufacturer makes the most reliable drive.  The problem is that their sample size is simply too small to be statistically valid.  Plus, there is nothing to say that the manufacturer, whose current drive offerings are the most reliable ever made, could make a subtle design design change that has an unintended effect on reliability that make the new models the worst on the market--- and no one would realize that fact until they had been out for close to a year. 

I think any of the NAS-rated drives are fine ... HTST, WD Reds, or Seagate NAS units.

 

Personally, I've been using nothing but WD Reds for the past couple years, but the HGST units are very well rated as well; and I'll likely try them the next time I need to buy some drives.    I've also used the Seagate NAS units in one system, and they are also very good.

 

I would NOT use the lower-priced non-NAS consumer drives (e.g. WD Greens).  The small price difference to stay with the NAS units is worthwhile -- if only for the longer warranties.

 

If you want a bargain priced WD Red drive, and are willing to sacrifice the 3-year warranty, I'm fairly sure these units are just repackaged WD Reds:  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA5AD2ER7851

... as discussed in this thread (Note the price has gone up $10):  http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=37747.0