Hi, id like to ask for any suggestions or corrections with my planned build. The system will be used for media streaming to multiple devices, routine backups of windows machines, automatic torrent downloading and a ftp server. From what I've read i think i want RAID-Z with ZFS.
Own:
Intel i5 Processor with 4gb RAM and 6 SATA connections on the motherboard
It also has a Nvidia 330M Graphics Card
2x 1tb HDD's
2x 2tb HDD's
and a 30gb SSD for installing FreeNAS onto
Purchasing:
another 4gb RAM
1x 3tb HDD
Possibly a PCI-E SATA3 RAID Interface (if someone can tell me what it does or why i need it)
The problems i am contemplating:
Own:
Intel i5 Processor with 4gb RAM and 6 SATA connections on the motherboard
It also has a Nvidia 330M Graphics Card
2x 1tb HDD's
2x 2tb HDD's
and a 30gb SSD for installing FreeNAS onto
Purchasing:
another 4gb RAM
1x 3tb HDD
Possibly a PCI-E SATA3 RAID Interface (if someone can tell me what it does or why i need it)
The problems i am contemplating:
- My 4 hard drives are already full of data (music, movies etc..), are they able to be added straight into the system without erasing the data? If not, what would be the fastest way to transfer some of the data onto the new 3tb when it arrives? That way i can free another hard drive, add it to the system, and so on..
- Is ZFS with RAID-Z the best option for me? i understand i need a fast read-time for streaming, but i would also like to backup the data in case of a hard drive failure.
- All my hard drives are different brands and most likely different speeds (ie. SATAII or SATAIII) is this a major problem?
- If in the future i decide to add another hard drive to the ZFS system, is that possible?