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I recently obtained a surplus rackmount server, but it is BIG and HEAVY and LOUD. 6 fans in parallel, its nuts. It also has a bunch of really good hard drives (8 x 500gb) and I'm all like... dang... that would make one heck of a plex media server if I could plug those drives into a raspberry pi.

But I don't know if it all works that way, if a RAID controller yoinked from the server really mushes 8 HDs down to 1 virtual HD that can just plug into a USB port. I'm guessing not, because similar things on Amazon go for about $200.

6 fans in parallel backed by dual power supplies are... quite a lot.

Benjamin H
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  • only if they're spinning at full tilt. My puter has 6 fans & I can't hear them at all most of the time. Does it have no controller? 8 500GB drives are going to be ancient power-burners too. One 4TB drive would be cooler, quieter, cheaper to run & need no RAID array. – Tetsujin Aug 24 '19 at 17:43
  • @Tetsujin "Does it have no controller?" - ummmm. Not sure. I'm new to this. – Benjamin H Aug 24 '19 at 18:24
  • You are using the word “RAID” in a very loose way. What is the model number of this machine? Some servers have built in RAID controllers that can’t be removed since they are soldered to the motherboard. Some have expansion boards are PCI cards. Others are are expansion cards that use proprietary connectors. Meaning this is not an issue of being a “mere mortal” but your question is way too broad. Also your desire to run a RAID off of a Raspberry Pi is a bit of a pipe dream. Better you just get a purpose built RAID array that can use USB than attempt this “weekend project.” – Giacomo1968 Aug 24 '19 at 20:29

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To answer the question in the title of your post, you can remove a RAID controller from a server. That is assuming it a removable expansion card. Some servers might be using an on-board RAID controller built in to the motherboard, which would not be removable.

Obviously, you cannot plug an expansion card into a Raspberry Pi, as they dont have an expansion bus, or the power to run an expansion card.

However, you do not need a physical RAID controller to have RAIDed disks. Software RAID works just fine. You could buy an enclosure like the one you listed and still have all the benefits of RAID.

Also, eight 500 GB drives in a RAID 5 will give you 3.5 TB if usable space. You can buy a portable 4 TB USB 3 HDD drive for less than $100. Alternatively, 2 TB SSDs are about $200.

Keltari
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