Hi all,
I'm a big XBMC user and have exhausted all of the external drives so time to build an unRaid server! I planned on buying basically the UK system as per the wiki, but due to unforeseen circumstances, I now have the following brand new kit ready to use:
Coolmaster Centurion 590 case.
Intel motherboard DG41TY (Another user, daldridge here is using this mobo http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=5880.0)
Atrix Extreme Power 650W (model 650T) power supply. (Not many Sata / Molex connections - I wanted to use Corsair CX 400W)
ATI Sapphire HD 3870 graphics card. (Not needed so I will remove and use inbuilt graphics)
2 x Kingston 2Gb Ram 800Mhz DDR2 Ram.
Intel Core 2 Quad 2.66Ghz Processor. (Overkill, but it's what I have)
Samsung 750Gb (HD753LJ) Hard Drive. (Will likely use as a cache drive)
I have a mix of 2TB, 1.5TB and 1TB drives, and intend to purchase 2 x Samsung Spinpoint F3 2TB Ecogreen to start with, 1x Parity 1 x storage, then add my old drives to the array by transferring data over, blanking the drive and adding it to the server.
Question: If I have a mix of drive sizes, can I at a later date remove 2 x 1TB drives and replace the data onto a new 2TB drive?
I have no experience with unRaid, so any advice on the above would be great. As I said, I have all of the above now, but am open to changing parts if it is beneficial. I will need a sata PCI-e card, any good, cheap options? I need some sata cables, and some molex to sata adapters / or new power supply.
Due to the powerful CPU and vast Ram, I'd like to use the machine to run Sabnzbd, Sickbeard, Couchpotato etc, which i appreciate will need some help setting up, and advice on how easy it is to manage the files on the server.
Is it possible to use media scrapers such as Ember media manager with media on an unRaid server? XBMC scrapers are ok, but sometimes I like to add my own details, such as trailers etc.
Anyway, I look forward to some feedack and critique.
Thanks
Paul