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Netix · 2013-07-23, 16:11

Hi everyone,

(Sorry for my english, it is not my first language)

First post on this forum, i've been wandering around for a few months but i've decided to ask you guys some help since i've reach the limit point of my external HDD and I want to me able to expend properly. Basically i use my pc for everything and it's on 24/7. (Torrents, Couchpotato/Sickbeard, Plex for accesing media outside the house).

My media collection is about 2.3 TB right now and it's on a single external HDD. I want to expand within my pc by doing either a NAS or RAID. I dont know much about those and i dont know if it possible that's why im asking. My pc can support 4 more internal HD and 4x3 TB would be enough for me. I would also like to have some security as of now if my external HDD fails, i got no backup of everything.

Any suggestions ?

My pc is running windows 7 and it run everything i throw at him right now.

Thanks everyone for your time

**Dougie Fresh** · 2013-07-23, 16:24

There are some good add-ons for Windows 7 that implement RAID in software:

FlexRAID: http://www.flexraid.com/
StableBit DrivePool: http://stablebit.com/
Drive Bender: http://www.drivebender.com/

I don't know yet which of these is "best" or even worthy. I am researching that myself for my WHS2011 machine. These all work in Windows 7 so you could add the drives to your current machine and run one of these with Windows 7. Right now I manage file mirroring manually by using SyncTool and scheduling it to copy anything new every night as a scheduled task but I would rather have a pool with mirroring all managed automagically.

Netix · 2013-07-23, 16:27

If I setup a Raid within my gaming rig will it be possible to use NAS to share the media ? All on Window 7 ?

**Dougie Fresh** · (This post was last modified: 2013-07-23, 17:49 by Dougie Fresh.)

You can create network shares in Windows 7 or if all your PCs are Windows 7 use the HomeGroup feature. So, yes you can share the media with other PCs even if the drives are installed in your Windows 7 HTPC.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windo...essentials
http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/how-to/window...windows-7/

Netix · 2013-07-23, 18:23

Thx for the input Dougie but what if i want to use something else then a window powered device to use XBMC would i be able to share my library ? I'm looking at the little black box right now.

**Dougie Fresh** · 2013-07-23, 19:46

It would depend on if the Little Black Box supports SMB shares. If not, see if the software you want to use for RAID supports NFS and you could set that up. Not my area of expertise though so I cannot offer too much more there though.

**natethomas** · 2013-07-23, 20:12

If it runs XBMC, it should support SMB. That's a software issue.

Netix · 2013-07-24, 02:51

So i looked up the 3 options : FlexRaid, StableBit and Drive Bender and I was wondering if there's anything offering the same as FlexRaid (Drive pooling + Data Protection Parity) at a cheaper price ? StableBit and Drive Bender are less expensive but only offer duplicate as a protection.

WebSheriff · 2013-07-24, 02:55

My recommendation is if you have the money just build a cheap PC that can be a NAS and use freeNAS and connect it to your network. This will allow you to just add drives to this PC when you need more space. This will also allow you to access it anywhere on your network, you could have multiple XBMC's in different rooms and have all the same content, multiple computers could also push content that you want to save on the NAS.

Netix · (This post was last modified: 2013-07-24, 23:44 by Netix.)

Thx for the advice guys. If the money was available i would have built a standalone pc for NAS but i rather use my money to buy HDD so i can expend my library.

Any advice for the three programs mentionned earlier ? I want something that could allow me drive pooling and offer some data protection (dont want to lose all my movie/tv collection) that's not duplicate since it's gonna take twice the amount of space.

**Dougie Fresh** · 2013-07-25, 00:04

For running under Windows 7 and combining both pooling and parity, FlexRAID is probably your best choice.

RaggSokk3n · 2013-07-25, 11:04

or you could go windows 8 and storage spaces Smile

Netix · 2013-07-25, 16:21

Well.. there's goes my expectation ! I started to read on Windows 8 Storage Spaces and I found this : http://helgeklein.com/blog/2012/03/windo...ign-flaws/

I think i'll go with FlexRaid even if that option looks like the most expensive. Thanks for your advice guys !

Netix · (This post was last modified: 2013-07-27, 01:23 by Netix.)

Hi guys, one more question. I would like to buy a box for my tv to only play XBMC and tu run smootly the Aeon Nox Skin on it so I can game on my pc while my wife is watching her episode on the tv. Which one would be the best ?

- The Little Black Box
- Smart Tv Box (J1nx)
- Pivos
- Rasberry PI