I want to try unRaid before I go out and buy all of the needed hardware.  I have 3 computers that I could use and wanted to see which one would probably be the easiest to use.  I have a ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe (NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ), ECS KN1 extreme lite (NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra) and also have a Dell Optiplex GX270 (Intel 865G chipset)  The Dell seems like the best choice but it has a limited case that would make it hard to work with.  If the Dell is the best bet and meets the needed requirements. I could always try to move the mobo into a different case instead of buying a new one.  I have the Asus board in a Antec P180 and it also has 8 sata ports.  If anyone thinks the Asus board would work, I could use it and not have to buy extra sata cards.  Thanks for any ideas or feedback.

You could try all three!

 

I'd be most interested in the A8N-SLI.  Give it a go and I can work with you if necessary to get all 8 SATA ports running.  You will probably need to disable one of the network ports in the bios.

I guess I might as well give all of them a shot.  I might try one of the others first since it will take me a while to migrate all of my stuff off of the Asus system.  Seems like a little bit of a waste to use my best board but it would be well worth it if all 8 of the sata could work.  Compared to most of the people around here I'm probably a noob but I don't mind trying to get things to work. 

As a quick test you could just disconnect your hard drives by just unplugging the data cable (or power cable).  Then boot unRAID Basic and send me the system log - I would probably be able to tell you if all 8 SATA ports are recognized.  You could also verify the network in this fashion.  Even with no hard drives hooked up, you should see the 'flash' share appear on your network.

That sounds simple enough.  I'll give it a try this weekend or maybe tomorrow night if I have enought time.