Very New to RAID and UnRAID


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Hey Folks!

 

New to NAS storage and UnRAID.  Like most, I'd like some guidance before I drop potentially thousands into this.

 

Here is what I'll use the build for:

-General file storage, accessible on local network as well as via internet (full cloud functionality required)

-Plex Media Server / Transcoding

-Virtual Machines: 1 Centos7 VM, 1 Ubuntu VM (both multi-user graphical)

-Docker Containers (Not sure what's available yet, but I would like the ability to run multiple.)

-Occasional Gaming

 

Can I use my current rig as a good starting point?

 

Current Rig:

CPU - i7 - 3770k

MOBO - Gigabyte Z77x-D3H

RAM - 16GB DDR Corsair Vengeance

Video Card(s) - 2xNvidia GTX 970

Full Tower Case with 8 drive bays

 

Desired Drive Config (Open to suggestions)

RAID 5

4x4TB WD Red

2x240GB SSD

 

What additional hardware will I need? I'm sure I'll need a RAID controller.  Which would you reccomend?

 

I'm sure more questions will pop up once I read some replies. Thanks!

 

 

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UnRaid is software raid so no raid controller required, you simply plug your existing hard drives into the SATA ports on your motherboard or get a sata controller, but no hardware raid, its JBOD all the way.

Your current hardware will do fine and you should be able to pass through your Nvidia GTX 970 to a windows 10 virtual machine, I am currently passing through a 960 on a windows 10 machine for gaming and it works great.

Since your motherboard has onboard video you can use that for UnRaid. One of your 4TB drives will be used for parity leaving three for data and you can add more of the same or larger drives later. If you add a larger drive it must be the parity drive and there are steps to do that if you start off with a 4TB drive as your parity drive. You can run Plex in a docker just fine.

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