First time UnRAIDer need to know if this will work...

[DavidInDE]

As a first timer (hey, we've all got to start somewhere), I'd appreciate the benefit of the expert knowledge available on this forum. Before pulling the trigger on this build, I'd like views on whether the following would be any good for UnRAID servers (the eight drive model for a media streamer, the twelve bay model for general backup duties. Oh, and will they work with WD Red SATA III drives? As I said, I'm a bit of a newbie, and I realize that it will be a bit off a basic question to some!

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=9SIA4GH5450978

https://www.theserverstore.com/SuperMicro-6027R-W-X9DRI-LN4F-12x-2U-LFF-Server_p_656.html

 

 

[whipdancer]

I only have a comment and some questions.

comment:

The products you link should work fine. It sounds like you are planning on picking up 2 separate servers - which leads me to wonder what your goal is and what is the context in which you wish to achieve it. For example, I have a tower server in my office with 15 data drives, 1 parity, 1 cache and 2 slots waiting to be filled (which will become 2nd parity and 1 more data drive). It handles data streaming and backup duties. See my sig for more info on the specs. I have been running this ever evolving server for going on 4 years (give or take). I don't have a server rack, and I don't I do this for business reasons. So a single machine fits my needs quite well.

questions:

Do you have an existing rack to put the servers in?
If not, why a rack mount server (much less 2)?

[DavidInDE]

Sorry, I should have said. Yes, I have an existing rack. I'm fortunate enough to 'inherit' some IT equipment. I've been building PCs for my wife and me and want to a) backup the data from several PCs/laptops and b) stream media to two TVs/audio systems. I work in DR, so I know how important a backup plan is, but my expertise lies more in risk management.

[whipdancer]

Either/both should work fine.  I've played around with various equipment over the last few years and found unraid to be very flexible.

Just a question - Have you considered a larger, single case - something like the Norco 4224 - as an alternative to 2 separate servers? From a risk perspective, is a single server any more likely to fail than 2 servers? My limited experience in dealing with a server room, we wanted as few servers as possible, but built each server in as robust a manner as possible (dual power supplies, UPS, hot spare HDs, etc).  

[DavidInDE]

I gave this some thought and you are right. I have opted for a localized backup solution for each machine in conjunction with an offsite backup, and am consolidating a media center server into this build. One question - are either of the machines I linked to limited in terms of either SATA or SAS HDD size? I have come into possession of some 4TB and 6TB SATA HDDs.