3TB future-proof mobo

Hello,

I've read a lot of threads about 3TB disks support and I know that it is not yet compatible.

I don't need it now as I only have 1.5 / 2 TB disks. But in the future, when it will be fully compatible with unraid, I'll probably want to add some 3TB disks without replacing my mobo.

In what case do you think we currently are ?

1 - Actual mobo won't be compatible. (I'll wait)

2 - We don't know if actual mobo will be compatible. (I'll wait)

3 - Any recent mobo will be compatible. (I buy a mobo tonight )

4 - Only some specific mobo will be compatible. If yes, what are the specifications ?

Thanks a lot,

djidy

We are at 2).  We simply don't know.  There are a few motherboards out right now with UEFI (which should support booting from 3 TB drives), so that's a good sign.  Still, we have no idea how unRAID will interact with GPT partitions.  I think it is prudent to wait.  If you need to build a server today, build it around 2 TB drives and a budget motherboard so that if you need to upgrade the mobo in the future it won't be as big of a loss.

We are at 2).  We simply don't know.  There are a few motherboards out right now with UEFI (which should support booting from 3 TB drives), so that's a good sign.  Still, we have no idea how unRAID will interact with GPT partitions.  I think it is prudent to wait.  If you need to build a server today, build it around 2 TB drives and a budget motherboard so that if you need to upgrade the mobo in the future it won't be as big of a loss.

Sorry to disagree with my friend Raj, but we're at #3.

If you want to BOOT from a 3T drive, UEFI is definitely required.  But unRAID boots from a USB flashdisk, so booting is not the issue.  Using 3T drives as data disks is not an issue for non-UEFI BIOSes.

Most modern and even older motherboards and controllers DO support 3T data drives.  I conducted a pretty extensive test (see THIS POST) and found only the higher end LSI controller (BR10i) to be a problem.  (I believe LSI has made a business decision to limit drive sizes in their firmware, so they can sell more/newer controllers with the next generation of disks.)  The motherboards and most popular inexpensive JBOD controllers (even old ones) are perfectly content with the larger drives.  Hitachi's data sheet lists many compatible motherboard chipsets and controllers.

The problem is that unRAID does not currently support the GPT partitions necessary to make full use of 3T drives (but you can downsize them to 2.2T for now, and will be able to upsize them by the add'l 800G once 3T support is in unRAID).  Linux supports GPT partitions, and there are no technical reasons unRAID does not support the 3T drives, Tom just hasn't completed the work.  I am hopeful this will come out soon, but Tom is in a quiet phase right now and not actively participating in discussions on this topic.

Added to the FAQ (link back only).  Feel free to edit or expand.

  Does unRAID support 3TB and larger drives?

how many manufactures make 3tb drives?

Still 3tb drives are 3rd on my personal priority for unraid

1. dual parity

2. increase the drive limit to 24 (norrco 4024 cases) or whatever # that is

once unraid supports 3tb drives someone should post a picture or video of it working on various boards.