So, long story short I am out of SATA connections on my MoBo. I have already put in a PCIe card which added two more SATA connections. I am looking for a better solution, maybe a raid card without running raid? I want to keep the storage local and in the case -already have 16TB in externals. Also looking for expandability for the future, so adding multiple (6) SATA ports with one card and the like.
I have room for 5 more 3.5” drives and several 2.5” drives, but don’t see how to support them. I would prefer to have no Externals but $$$, time, and hardware have been hurdles.
Open to suggestions and recommendations!
My current build…
NZXT H440 Case (refresh)
EVGA 750W Gold Power Supply
16GB Corsair Vengeance RAM (4 Sticks)
Intel i5 6600K CPU
Storage:
2x Seagate 8TB External USB 3.0 HDD (Movies/TV Shows)
4x WD Red 3TB HDD in RAID 5 (Movies/TV Shows)
1x Seagate 2TB HDD (media processing before adding to libraries)
1x WD Blue 1TB HDD (Music)
1x Seagate 750GB SSHD (Seasonal Libraries/Misc)
1x Samsung 250GB SSD (OS)
1x Samsung 128GB USB Flashdrive (Plex Metadata)
When I have the money I’m going to start replacing the smaller HDDs with 8/10TB HDDs. $400/drive is a chunk of change!
The cheapest (but not really that cheap) is replace the small drives with 8 or 10 or 12TB drives
A 4 bay USB3 box can be got for under $100 is another option.
And if you are planning to go real big - buy an 8bay NAS !!
lsi SAS9211-8i works for me. (works for SATA drives too)
You can always opt for the M1015/LSI 9240-8i card and flash IT so as it acts as a HBA card.
Get an LSI HBA and get rid of the other sata card. I use a 9207-8i.
Thank you all…
@spikemixture I’ll be working on drive increases over time, $300-$400 a drive will be the biggest hurdle. I am really hoping to avoid adding to my external collection.
@sGarver @Peter_W @nagle3092 These are what I’ve been looking for, I am crossing raid off my list since it’s more costly and honestly a true backup is a smarter approach considering my Plex setup.
Thanks again! Plex Forums FTW.
@sGarver I purchased an LSI 9211-8i…
The card loads its own bios on every reboot and the computer doesn’t start. I have been able to get into the system and the drives and card show up in device manger but I can’t seem to make them into useable volumes. Since you have the same card I wanted to see if you had any suggestions. I think I’m missing something for getting this thing configured.
