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FlexRAID 2.0 Opinions? Thinking of going with it over UnRAID/SnapRAID - Page 6

post #151 of 249
5/4/12 at 2:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by assassin View Post

No pooling in SnapRaid (VERY nice to have for HTPC and none are free as far as I know so that balances the price out considerably)

Wrong, there are free pooling solutions for Windows (and linux). For a movie library, MediaBrowser and XBMC can easily pool multiple movie drives together. That is the best way, and the way I do it. But for a more general free Windows pooling solution, there is Liquesce.
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post #152 of 249
5/4/12 at 2:10pm
I am well aware of how xbmc and media browser work.

I hadn't heard of that pooling option. No idea if its any good. I like the idea though of having everything under one program. Then again I only paid $40. Not sure if I would feel the same at $70, for example.
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post #153 of 249
5/4/12 at 2:24pm
A common solution to pooling plus software RAID, besides FlexRAID, is to use something like DriveBender or DrivePool with SnapRAID. Both of those pooling programs have free trials and SnapRAID is free.

I wish FlexRAID would include a WHS dashboard add-in...
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post #154 of 249
5/4/12 at 2:27pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lars99 View Post

The differences between FlexRaid and SnapRAID are pretty significant. I would look at both and figure out which one suits your needs most. I believe FlexRaid now offers a free trial for limited number of drives, so perhaps that will let you evaluate both.
As far as versions go, that would only be applicable if there was something specific you wanted the current version to do that it does not. For the vast majority, they simply want it to be something they configure once and not mess with again. I can't think of anything major in the current file system that I would find lacking and need to be resolved in another major update.

Like I mentioned, I don't have time to do the free trial before tomorrow which is the deadline when the price goes to $100. Once it goes to that price, FlexRAID will no longer be an option for me. At the current $60 price it is at right now, I'm borderline on whether I should do buy it or just do the free SnapRAID. At $40 I would buy it.

Quote:
Originally Posted by assassin View Post

No pooling in SnapRaid (VERY nice to have for HTPC and none are free as far as I know so that balances the price out considerably)
Not sure about removing a drive and having the ability to read it outside of SnapRaid
Easy user interface in FlexRaid
Better integration into Windows with FlexRaid, imo

To me its about ease of use. I will pay $50 or so when I am dealing with $2000+ in parts and $5,000-$10,000+ in media.

Like I mentioned.......it does have pooling through a 3rd party program. You don't have to use a separate FS so yes, you should be able to remove a drive and read it on another computer. What I'm not sure about is the user interface and integration into windows, but from what I've read, SnapRAID is pretty easy to use. I think some guys talked about it in the beginning of this thread. Anyways, gtg, seeing the Avengers here in 30 mins at the theater. Should be a good movie according to reviews on rottentomatoes.

Comparison between unraid/flexraid/snapraid:
http://snapraid.sourceforge.net/compare.html
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post #155 of 249
5/4/12 at 2:33pm
I would be very leery of a product comparison page between companies A, B, and C when that comparison is created by the owner of product A.

For example, Flexraid offers automatic notifications, parity scheduling, SMART monitoring and notifications, etc... none of which appear there for comparison.
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post #156 of 249
5/4/12 at 2:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gigahertz21 View Post

Like I mentioned.......it does have pooling through a 3rd party program.

So in other words it doesn't.
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post #157 of 249
5/4/12 at 2:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Darin View Post

If you are changing from reiserfs to a Windows OS, it's going to be tedious. You're going to need to copy your data over drive by drive. FlexRAID doesn't use a cache drive, so you could use that for the OS drive. But you're still going to need at least one extra drive: you need an empty data drive to put into the new Windows install so you can copy the data from one of your existing reiserfs formatted drives onto an ntfs formatted drive. After that is successfully copied, you can format it as NTFS, add it to the Windows system, and proceed with the next drive, etc. Theoretically, you could take your cache drive to use for the OS, and use your existing parity drive as your "first" data drive to start you off in Windows, but that leaves you with no protection while you're copying lots of data. Personally, I would get a couple of extra drives. I wouldn't want a single parity drive for 20 data drives, but that's just me.


I know what you mean. That's why I want a program that supports multiple parity drives and maybe close to unlimited data drives.

I have 20 internal 2TB data drives and I also have 20 external 2TB USB data drives that's a 1 for 1 copy of each drive. Extra protection.

So I can use the cache drive for the OS and I'll be ok to re format drive 1 to NTFS. Stick it in and then copy from USB to now NTFS formatted.

But wait. That means I would have to build another Narco server -
Man $%#@!!!

Assassin - is there a WHS / FlexRaid setup guide?

Does WHS recommend a server mother board like a super micro or will a Asus ATX board work?
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post #158 of 249
5/4/12 at 3:02pm
WHS has very basic h/w requirements. No specific motherboard is needed and a server board is certainly not required.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/l...rements-2.aspx
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post #159 of 249
5/4/12 at 3:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gigahertz21 View Post

Like I mentioned, I don't have time to do the free trial before tomorrow which is the deadline when the price goes to $100. Once it goes to that price, FlexRAID will no longer be an option for me. At the current $60 price it is at right now, I'm borderline on whether I should do buy it or just do the free SnapRAID. At $40 I would buy it.



Like I mentioned.......it does have pooling through a 3rd party program. You don't have to use a separate FS so yes, you should be able to remove a drive and read it on another computer. What I'm not sure about is the user interface and integration into windows, but from what I've read, SnapRAID is pretty easy to use. I think some guys talked about it in the beginning of this thread. Anyways, gtg, seeing the Avengers here in 30 mins at the theater. Should be a good movie according to reviews on rottentomatoes.

Comparison between unraid/flexraid/snapraid:
http://snapraid.sourceforge.net/compare.html

Look if $40 is going to break the bank I would suggest the snap raid, or the free license of unraid (good for 3 drives). Check them out and see if they will work for you. If not then get flexraid for $100. All of these systems work. I have had my unRAID up for 3-years and haven't had one problem with it. No maintenance except for automatic monthly parity checks. It is getting easier to install add ons due to the great user involvement. Hell I am running my plex server from there.

Bottom line is if you have this much turmoil over $40 then the free version should be your choice.
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post #160 of 249
5/4/12 at 3:29pm
Look at this way, are you going use all the fancy features that FlexRAID has or do you just need a basic parity protection? FR and SR both have the basics and both will do it effectively. If you need features then go with FR. But if all you need is basic protection then why pay for it when you can get that for free.
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post #161 of 249
5/4/12 at 3:31pm
Interesting thread.

I'm an XBMC user who is ready to build a NAS. UnRaid seems to be the popular favorite over on the XBMC forums. It has a great user community with lots of guides on what to build and how. It appears to be light and lean such that you don't need a power hog to run it. Apparently it can handle other stuff like SABnzbd and the like too.

Still, it seems FlexRaid is better if you want the benefit of a Windows OS to run other stuff.
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post #162 of 249
5/4/12 at 3:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by HTPCMAM View Post

But wait. That means I would have to build another Narco server -

Not necessarily. I thought there was a driver or something that would let you read reiserfs in Windows. If so, you should be able to just install WHS on your existing server, install whatever tool it is that lets you read reiserfs, then start your copy process.
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post #163 of 249
5/4/12 at 3:54pm
Dont get me started on building a new server. I just blew my load (and not in a good way) on another 24-bay box.

My advice to anyone starting in this hobby...just quit now before you pawn one of your kidneys to pay for your next server build.
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post #164 of 249
5/4/12 at 4:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Darin View Post

Not necessarily. I thought there was a driver or something that would let you read reiserfs in Windows. If so, you should be able to just install WHS on your existing server, install whatever tool it is that lets you read reiserfs, then start your copy process.

I don't know how that'll work. It's a 24 bay narco server. No CD ROM drive / no browser to get to the internet. I guess I would have to set the boot drive to be the cache drive. But how would I get WHS on there?
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post #165 of 249
5/4/12 at 4:22pm
You don't have a CD/DVD drive you could connect temporarily? If not, I believe there are hacks to be able to install from a flash drive.
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post #166 of 249
5/4/12 at 5:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Darin View Post

You don't have a CD/DVD drive you could connect temporarily? If not, I believe there are hacks to be able to install from a flash drive.

Naw - #*$&$ uumm. Maybe I can buy a cheap external CD / DVD drive. I'll look around.
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post #167 of 249
5/4/12 at 5:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Killroy View Post

Dont get me started on building a new server. I just blew my load (and not in a good way) on another 24-bay box.

My advice to anyone starting in this hobby...just quit now before you pawn one of your kidneys to pay for your next server build.

HAHA thats true. I better go buy my License already
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post #168 of 249
5/4/12 at 5:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by HTPCMAM View Post

Assassin - is there a WHS / FlexRaid setup guide?

No, not yet.
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post #169 of 249
5/4/12 at 5:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by assassin View Post

No, not yet.

Say what???????? No, not yet??????? Mann - looks like you got some work to do huh?

Maybe even custom builds.
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post #170 of 249
5/4/12 at 5:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by HTPCMAM View Post

Say what???????? No, not yet??????? Mann - looks like you got some work to do huh?

Maybe even custom builds.

Custom builds yes.

Guide not yet.
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post #171 of 249
5/4/12 at 6:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Darin View Post

Not necessarily. I thought there was a driver or something that would let you read reiserfs in Windows. If so, you should be able to just install WHS on your existing server, install whatever tool it is that lets you read reiserfs, then start your copy process.

There is a Windows program that will let you read reiser filesystems.

Alternatively, any linux distro can read and write reiser and NTFS. Or Unraid includes windows file sharing (samba), so you could copy the files over the network to a windows machine with NTFS drives.

But any of those ways would be time consuming. A less time consuming method would be to keep the drives as they are and run a linux server, with snapraid (or flexraid) for parity, samba for file sharing, and mhddfs, aufs, greyhole, or `cp -asf` for drive pooling (if required).
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post #172 of 249
5/4/12 at 7:37pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by SUBCOB View Post

Look if $40 is going to break the bank I would suggest the snap raid, or the free license of unraid (good for 3 drives). Check them out and see if they will work for you. If not then get flexraid for $100. All of these systems work. I have had my unRAID up for 3-years and haven't had one problem with it. No maintenance except for automatic monthly parity checks. It is getting easier to install add ons due to the great user involvement. Hell I am running my plex server from there.

Bottom line is if you have this much turmoil over $40 then the free version should be your choice.

Did you even read? I didn't say $40 is going to break the bank, I wish it was that price or I'd buy it. It is $60 right now and at that price I'm not sure if I should buy it or just use SnapRAID, that's what I'm debating. I don't have time to take FlexRAID for a test drive before it goes up to $100 on May 6th, once it goes up to that price I'm not going to spend $100 on something that other people only paid $40 for or got for free.
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post #173 of 249
5/4/12 at 7:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gigahertz21 View Post

Did you even read? I didn't say $40 is going to break the bank, I wish it was that price or I'd buy it. It is $60 right now and at that price I'm not sure if I should buy it or just use SnapRAID, that's what I'm debating. I don't have time to take FlexRAID for a test drive before it goes up to $100 on May 6th, once it goes up to that price I'm not going to spend $100 on something that other people only paid $40 for or got for free.

Why is the value of a program determined by what other people paid for it? It was only free en mass when it was in beta.

If you're that concerned, use Windows raid and be done with it.
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post #174 of 249
5/4/12 at 8:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lars99 View Post

Why is the value of a program determined by what other people paid for it? It was only free en mass when it was in beta.

Agreed.

What's the cost of your server compared to these options?

What's the cost of your media compared to these options?

What's the cost of your time spent re-ripping or re-obtaining media if lost?

What's the cost of your time if the user interface isn't easy to use?

Seems to me that a server is one place where paying a little extra for these things is of paramount importance.
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post #175 of 249
5/4/12 at 8:19pm
I've never used snapraid, unraid or any other RAID for that matter until the other week when I bought a FLexRAID license for $50. I'm not nearly as tech savvy as a lot of people posting in this thread, but I have to say that in my limited experience with FlexRAID over the past week or two, I would happily pay $100 for it. It's so easy to setup and I would have to really try hard to screw it up. I really like the task scheduler and email notifications as well.
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post #176 of 249
5/4/12 at 9:40pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lars99 View Post

Why is the value of a program determined by what other people paid for it? It was only free en mass when it was in beta.

If you're that concerned, use Windows raid and be done with it.


It's hard to spend $100 on something when people a few weeks ago paid only $40 for the same thing. It makes you feel like you are getting a **** deal, and I think most people would agree with me. The way Brahim has done the pricing for this software has been a little silly. First $40, then $50, now $60, then $100 on May 6th. So when people stop buying it, I wonder if he will adjust it down to some low price again.

I have about 4TB of media spread around on 4 external USB hard drives (2)500GB/1.5TB/3TB. All I want to do really is backup the media on them in case one of those hard drives die. For my needs, there really is no need to build a server for now at least. I wonder if I should just buy another 3TB external hard drive and then use it as a parity drive for my 4 external hard drives that I already have. I can do that right? I just don't want to have to backup my data 1:1, meaning if I have 4TB of data, I don't want to have to take up another 4TB of space just to back it up. Eventually I'll have to probably build a server once my collection gets bigger since buying more external hard drives will be silly. When it comes to that, I guess the smart thing to do would be to just rip out the hard drives from the external USB enclosures and connect them internally to the server. I'm guessing the data on them would still be fine.
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post #177 of 249
5/5/12 at 3:16am
I personally do not have a single issue paying for this software . Hands down no sweat .

I do have to agree with Gigahertz in that we have seen substantial price increases for this product at a fairly rapid rate .

Any product is only worth so much . Doesn't matter what it is . A doughnut is a doughnut for example and will never be more than ..... well , a doughnut.

Maybe the developer is testing the water to see how much he can possibly get for the product before folks quit buying it and then that is what the market will stand ? Issue with that theory is you piss off a lot of people in the process that will never purchase even at a cheaper price .

Have we seen that many new releases or upgrades that are paced with the pricing ? I mean I'm asking ?
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post #178 of 249
5/5/12 at 3:27am
Quote:
Originally Posted by assassin View Post

Agreed.

What's the cost of your server compared to these options?

What's the cost of your media compared to these options?

What's the cost of your time spent re-ripping or re-obtaining media if lost?

What's the cost of your time if the user interface isn't easy to use?

Seems to me that a server is one place where paying a little extra for these things is of paramount importance.


$40 t0 $100 is not a little in my mind . Not try to be combative . Just my thoughts.

Btw ... I also think it would be counter productive for the survival of the product and the developer if the product was free based on the stage it is in now.
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post #179 of 249
5/5/12 at 5:33am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gigahertz21 View Post

It's hard to spend $100 on something when people a few weeks ago paid only $40 for the same thing. It makes you feel like you are getting a **** deal, and I think most people would agree with me. The way Brahim has done the pricing for this software has been a little silly. First $40, then $50, now $60, then $100 on May 6th. So when people stop buying it, I wonder if he will adjust it down to some low price again.

He will have to drop the price if the sales drop away. I believe he is currently testing the waters on the price.

Quote:


I have about 4TB of media spread around on 4 external USB hard drives (2)500GB/1.5TB/3TB. All I want to do really is backup the media on them in case one of those hard drives die. For my needs, there really is no need to build a server for now at least. I wonder if I should just buy another 3TB external hard drive and then use it as a parity drive for my 4 external hard drives that I already have. I can do that right? I just don't want to have to backup my data 1:1, meaning if I have 4TB of data, I don't want to have to take up another 4TB of space just to back it up. Eventually I'll have to probably build a server once my collection gets bigger since buying more external hard drives will be silly. When it comes to that, I guess the smart thing to do would be to just rip out the hard drives from the external USB enclosures and connect them internally to the server. I'm guessing the data on them would still be fine.

I have 8 TB of HDD storage and a single 2 TB parity drive, all connected to the SATA ports of my motherboard. I have an additional 1 TB drive for my TV Recordings and a SDD for my OS drive. In total I have 8 drives connected to the mobo, and I own a two port SATA extender which sits in a PCIe 1x slot if I want to add more drives - but at this point I will just increase their size instead (replacing the 1.5 TB drives with 3 TB ones).

To keep the size of my storage down, I occasionally go through the movies and say "am I ever actually going to watch this again?", if the answer is no, I delete it. I still have the physical disc if I find out I want to see it again years from now...but why waste space with a movie I am actually not going to watch?
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post #180 of 249
5/5/12 at 5:38am
For a program that was in beta for years and didn't have any revenue, I wouldn't bet on him lowering the price. It could certainly happen, however.

Introductory pricing is very common.

You shouldn't be concerned about if you are getting a "deal", you should be concerned about what you want a product to do and how much you are willing to pay for a product.
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