I currently have a pretty simple media server. It runs on a desktop made of old parts and has 4 6 TB drives in a raidz1 array. It is used by a lot of friends who add a lot of media, so its been nearly at capacity for a while. The desktop has no more open SATA ports or drive enclosures, so I’m not sure what the best option for adding more drives is.
I know the most obvious answer is buying NAS, but I think it might be a little complex for what I need, because no other devices need any access to this storage. I was considering purchasing a DAS, as it seems like a simple option, but I’ve seen many people say its not worth purchasing a DAS over a NAS. Any opinions would be appreciated.
Edit: Thanks for the suggestions! I’m likely going to go with a new case for some extra drive bays and a PCI-E SAS controller, this seems like the best option for the simplicity and price!
I have the Silverstone GD-08 case that can fit 12 hard drives. It’s an inexpensive solution for a dedicated htpc/media server. Even managed to fit in an RX 6600 so my wife can play low spec games on the tv.
Then all you need is a pcie expansion card as others suggested.
That’s a great suggestion, thank you! I looked at a few cases with more drive space but didn’t see any this inexpensive.
I use a Fractal Design Define R6 but their newer model is around the same price (it actually appears to be $60 cheaper than the Silverstone case on NewEgg) and can hold the same number of drives. They’re solid cases.
https://www.fractal-design.com/products/cases/define/define-7/
For your lack of SATA ports, you can either buy a new mobo (use PCPartPicker and filter by SATA ports) or an LSI SAS HBA card to gain additional SATA ports.
I didn’t know that case could fit that many drives! I’m a fan of Fractal Designs cases, have used and recommended them for a few gaming PCs before. Thanks for the recommendation!
Yeah it only comes with 6 trays, so you’ll need to order more, but you can fill out the entire front section with drives.