SnapRAID storage pool question.

I am going to build a 24 bay norco system and expand it over time as I have funds and need more space.

I currently have ~14 3 TB drives IIRC and I was wondering if I decide i need more space but can't afford to replace the 14 3 TB drives I already have is it a bad idea to make a second pool of larger drives like 4TBs or 6 TBs?

So lets say I put 12 3 TBs in and decide 24 3 TBs will not be enough space for my needs. Can I just do 2 separate pools of 3 and 6 TBs? 12 of each let us say.

Pros cons?

The other option is could I just get a second norco case and have another HBA card go into the other case instead of buying all new drives or building a second server?

Thoughts?

On a side note I plan on not just using it for data and back ups but also as a media server where I will be ripping DVDs and BDs into ISOs and h.264/5s (either mkv or mp4)

Also I plan on figuring out how to connect the thing to my direct TV so I can use it as a DVR. Parents always have stock DVR maxed out.

Pool is not the right word. Array is less ambiguous.

You can certainly make multiple arrays with snapraid. But the disadvantage is that you end up using more parity drives (for example 21+3 vs. 10+2 & 10+2).

Since Snapraid does not require you to have all drives the same size, it is usually better to just use one array. Just add your 3TB and 6TB drives to the array. The only thing you have to keep in mind is that your parity drives need to be at least as large as your largest data drive. So if you started with all 3TB drives (including parity), and then wanted to add some 6TB drives, then you would first want to replace your parity drives with 6TB drives. Then you can add 6TB data drives (and keep any other 3TB data drives you had in the array).

And if you do want pooling in addition to Snapraid, I'd recommend Drive Pool if you don't already have something else.

http://stablebit.com/drivepool

JoeComp said:

Pool is not the right word. Array is less ambiguous.

You can certainly make multiple arrays with snapraid. But the disadvantage is that you end up using more parity drives (for example 21+3 vs. 10+2 & 10+2).

Since Snapraid does not require you to have all drives the same size, it is usually better to just use one array. Just add your 3TB and 6TB drives to the array. The only thing you have to keep in mind is that your parity drives need to be at least as large as your largest data drive. So if you started with all 3TB drives (including parity), and then wanted to add some 6TB drives, then you would first want to replace your parity drives with 6TB drives. Then you can add 6TB data drives (and keep any other 3TB data drives you had in the array).

Click to expand...

sorry i got confused with the term. I am researching so much its better hard to keep track of all these new terms. -_- derp derp

I forgot that the parity has to be as big as the largest drive and that was it so i could get away with one array.

although it might not affect capacity depending on how many paritys (SP?) i had. I would be doing at least 4 parity on a 24 pay set up. some people have had 4 drive failures -_-

http://www.snapraid.it/faq.html#howmanypar