Recommend a storage solution.

You can always add an external USB or eSata enclosure if you desire or build your own NAS box. You can also add more sata ports with pci, pci-e cards as well.

You certainly could find a more efficient solution then backing three drives up to three external drives. A raid solution would be more efficient. There are several software varieties, each with pros and cons. FlexRaid, unRaid, SnapRaid, Windows based raid, etc...

Generally speaking, I recommended a dedicated box for media storage and a separate box for HTPC, gaming, general computing, etc... build a nas can be quite cheap (minus the cost of drives) if you're willing to go that route.

A specific build would need some more specifics from you, including what assets you have, what you're willing to spend, and if you're willing to learn an OS or software function. Like everything in life, there are choices. Buying a NAS like the synology or drobo are certainly easy, but you will overpay by significant amounts for what even a novice computer user can manage and understand with a little bit of effort.

http://www.mediasmartserver.net/2011...-using-unraid/

- or -

http://reviews.cnet.com/network-stor...-34473223.html

- and -

http://www.plexapp.com/

This is what I am looking to get: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817576012

-RobNY

If you use a raid solution, that will protect you from a single or multiple drive failure, depending on what setup you take.

Can drives that already have data on them be placed in RAID with new drives?

Can RAID run inside Win7 without having to have an extra tower or computer?

Yes.

usually you would have to migrate data into the array

Also I am going to have to recommend unraid, single parity disk with up to 20(I think thats what they are up to) data drives. Also when you want to add more storage its pretty much plug and go, unlike typical raid solutions http://lime-technology.com/wiki/inde...le=UnRAID_Wiki

Its worked great for about a year, I only wish I had found it sooner

With unRaid, he would have to migrate his data. With SnapRaid or FlexRaid, he would not and could keep his current drive structure. If I understood correctly, he's using 3 drives for backup. Unraid only supports 1 parity drive where FlexRaid supports multiple. Even with 2 parity drives, he could gain extra storage with the hard drives he already has in possession.

If it were me and you wanted something dead simple and pretty cheap I would just go with Windows Home Server 2011. Its around $50 for the software and you already seem to have the hard drives and a case. As long as the chipset can do 64-bit you are fine (Most can)

Once its setup you forget all about it and it just works. I actually have mine hidden in the Garage up by the ceiling. I forget its there as its out of site

I use the home server to backup all 7 of my computers in the house.

Now my setup will be a tad different than yours as I don't stream anything from my Home Server. I actually only use my home server for backups. This way if one of my computer dies, I have a copy of everything I need to get it backup and running in no time, and no data loss. If my home server were to crash, then the computers all have their data still on them.

I do have a portable USB hard drive that I plug into any computer once a month and backup documents and pictures, and bring that to my office for off site. I might switch that to cloud backup, but have not decided yet.

I like the home server as I can setup my Shares and specify what users can have what kind of access. Plus I can share pics very easily with family and friends by giving them a link to my home server with a login.

Ken~

His data is already redundant on his externals. Yes he will have to migrate it, but he can do that in his sleep. Consider this setup:

SUPERMICRO MBD-X7SPE-H-D525-O
LIAN LI PC-Q08B
SeaSonic S12II 430B
Kingston 2GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM

Total = $362.96

Purchase an UnRAID Plus key for $69 and start with the three drives in the external cases. Remove them and install in your server case. Migrate all you can onto them and then move your other drives to the server case as they are cleared. In a couple of days, you have a lot more capacity, your HTPC case is a lot cooler, and your data is protected. End of story.

BT

you could even bypass buying altogether and re-purpose an old machine to start you off, i ran the free version (1 parity 2 data) for months to test it out before i ended up buying a license

here is my current rig - *Tower 900* unRAID Server Plus, Version 5.0-beta14 ASUS M2N-SLI DELUXE AMD Kuma 7750 1G ddr2 800 x4 parity Hitachi 2G data disks x3 Hitachi 2G 1x WDC 750G 1x Seagate Barracuda 320G cache 1x Seagate Barracuda 7200 160G flash Lexar FireFly 2G and of course all housed in an Antec 900

which is by no means new and still plenty fast enough to stream HD to multiple xbmc boxes and 360's, do all my downloading, post-processing, streaming a subsonic server,, the list goes on, and i wouldn't even think about upgrading anything on my box except for storage until i start messing with ESXi and VM's

Before recommending Unraid, it would be fair to mention, that Unraid is a dead software, abandoned by its developer. No support, no new versions, nothing. Even though it can still be deployed on some current hardware and work without severe problems, I still wouldn't recommend software that is already dead for new deployments.

Been around for quite awhile actually and works great. New deployments? What else do you need it to do? Pretty slick bit of software and I'm glad they resisted the temptation to bloat it up with extra "features".

Problem with Unraid being dead is not about new features or at least primarily not about new features. Is is about support for current HW and SW. The last stable version runs on no longer developed Linux kernel, there is no support for modern HDDs with higher capacities and as drivers available for that rather old kernel are obsolete as well, there is already problem with some drive controllers available nowadays on the market.
In just a few years (choosing one's storage tends to be years long commitment) there will be a problem to find any motherboard on the market still supported by Unraid.
Generally, I simply can't recommend for a storage solution software that is no longer developed nor supported.

Untrue.

Untrue.

No CD drive is required. All you need is a basic PC (MB+CPU+RAM+Case+PSU) a USB thumb drive and your HDDs.

Also, Dusan is correct in that the last official version runs on an older linux kernel but that is intentional. The developer purposely retards development to ensure that the kernel is highly stable - which stability is what you are (or at least should be) looking for in a server. If you want support for newer h/w then use the beta version of 5.0. If you want 2.2TB+ HDD support then use 5.0 beta. There are LOTS of users who are using the 5.0 beta version and there are some who are developing user add-ons and plug-ins that enhance the s/w. I don't think it is accurate to say that unraid development is dead, it may not be occurring as fast as some would prefer but it is certainly not dead.

Unraid is awesome. Just choose your hardware carefully.

where do you get your information,, i assure you it is alive and well

thanks to the others that chimed in i was out of town

come over and check out the forum
http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php

i am not sure what dusan was referring to but unraid works good on old and new alike but if you have questions about specifics would need to know more about your hardware,, but post over there tho, great group of people,, just like here

a little speed which is not really needed unless you run certain addons, but more importantly money,,, ddr3 is cheap now

how can one post get so much wrong all at once?

i had to go back and pull up release dates for ya,, it was bothering me

unRAID Server version 5.0-beta14 11/25/2011

unRAID Server version 5.0-beta13 10/28/2011

unRAID Server version 5.0-beta12a 09/03/2011

unRAID Server version 5.0-beta12 08/26/2011

unRAID Server version 5.0-beta11 08/15/2011

unRAID Server version 5.0-beta10 07/22/2011

unRAID Server version 5.0-beta9 07/13/2011

unRAID Server version 5.0-beta8d 07/11/2011

unRAID Server version 4.7 01/24/2011

so please tell me how this is abandoned software ? and seriously, where did you read/hear all that misinformation ?

Edit: Nevermind

I run Unraid and it works well but I think it's fair to say there is a bit of controversy regarding current progress. Skim this thread to get a feel for what's going on http://lime-technology.com/forum/ind...&topic=18512.0. Basically version 5 has been in beta for close to two years and folks are getting impatient. There is also some frustration with the lack of updates/communication from the developer. You could use version 4 but it lacks support for newer hardware including 3TB drives. I use version 5 and it seems to work fine for me but there are some significant bugs affecting common hardware and some people are reluctant to entrust their data to beta software.

I believe unraid still has issues with RealTek lan e drivers, which a decent amount of newer motherboards are utilizing.