So I have been messing with unRAID and I am liking it so far. I currently run it with the H700 and each drive is set to a virtual drive in the raid controller which allows unRAID to see them. I know this is not the recommended way to run unRAID.

 

Is it possible to replace this H700 with a different raid card and unRAID still see my setup that I have done so far?

 

Can I run unRAID with the H700?

 

Can I buy a card that is already setup to act as a JBOD or do I need to get something like an H200 and then flash it to IT mode. I was honestly hoping to avoid having to flash it.

 

 

I am not familiar with the H700 so unless it can do JBOD, then yes, look for something like an H200 or H310. Flashing is really really simple, don't get stressed out about it, it takes 5-10 minutes and there is a step by step guide on here that walks you through the steps.

An alternative to flashing is the LSI 9201 (8i or 16i) HBA.  They are plug and play in unRAID.  Plug them in attach drives and boot computer.  unRAID will now see the drives.

 

Either of these options would be better than JBOD on a RAID controller for use with unRAID.  RAID controllers work great with a true RAID array but unRAID is not a traditional RAID5/6 setup.  If your RAID controller would fail you would like be required to get the exact same controller to access your JBOD disks (or so I believe anyway - could be wrong).  With an HBA controller or RAID controller flashed with IT firmware running with unRAID would mean you could buy any other HBA and be back up and running in no time.  So if you get a Dell H200/H310 and it fails you could then get another one or switch to the other or even switch to a LSI 9201 and be in business as soon as it is in IT mode (by flashing on H200/H310) or just as purchased on 9201.

Edited September 28, 20178 yr by BobPhoenix

I have a H310 flashed to IT mode on the way so I assume I can just swap that out when it arrives.

Since it is already flashed to IT mode then YES you should just be able to plug and play.  There is a remote chance on the H310 that you may have to tape up the card edge like in this thread https://forums.lime-technology.com/topic/27724-solved-perc-h310-causing-system-not-to-boot/. I have never had to with my H310s but wanted to make you aware of it.