It depends on your use case, if the idea is simply to get the shared storage, the windows option should work there.

I would avoid Storage Spaces since it is too unreliable, especially the parity option. As alternative to it you might use stablebit drivepool with snapraid or collect the drives into software raid inside of linux vm. Shouldn’t be an issue with Starwinds cvm https://www.starwindsoftware.com/blog/file-share-with-starwind-vsan

It really depends on you. Synology is more plug and play solution which is easy to configure with the most basic applications.

If you want to save some money or get better hardware than used in Synology for the same prize than DIY NAS should be your choice. It will take some time to configure it, however, it is more customizable with a better hardware.

Check on the deals for the switch, it might be some especially on the upcoming Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Also, you would need shared storage for the cluster. For the common OS, the best option for 2-3 nodes is starwinds vsan, it also doesn’t require witness node for 2-node configuration, so you might save some bucks on it. It has minimal hardware requirements so, just put the drives and you are in.

I see, than good luck with finding good deals on the hardware!

Well, than, you should bge fine with VMUG subscription to get licenses. The options you have mentioned, should be able to run it.

As it was mentioned, there is no real need for SSD caching unless it is required by your workload. In any case, you should be able to configure caching later if the performance of HDDs wouldn’t satisfy your needs.

Basically, I don’t think there is a way to check that. Usually, with the new drive you get a warranty, so even if it fails in some time you get the replacement.

Do not forget about backups since even healthy drives can fail at any moment for any reason, so you have to be prepared for that.

You may get additional server and run 2 node cluster with Starwinds vsan. It is hardware agnostic, so, basically, hardware won’t be an issue, also it doesn’t require witness node which might save you from getting 3rd computer. I believe it is the most decent option for 2-3 node setups.

It really depends on your needs. If you can go with 20TB over 22TB and it won’t create any issues than better deal for 20tb drive makes more sense.

Try to connect the drives in another machine without enclosure if possible.

It is normal if you have the encrypted drive. If you want it to show up normally without password on any machibe than remove encryption.

I do not think, that this rate will make much sense for users since it will be visible with the huge amount of drives. So, I will still look for the best deals on the drives rather than brand.

For the mixed size drives, I believe, one of the best options are unRAID and mergerfs with snapraid. Also, if you want to use windows, stablebit drivepool would make it and snapraid can be used for redundancy.

Get an HDD for it. Internal or external, depends on you.

Alternatively, you may store it in Backblaze personal.

As a common source, obviously, internet archive is my choice. If I cannot find anything there, I start googling, so basically no favourite archive repositories for me.

As it was mentioned, it’s the normal prize now. Just check the prices next time for alternatives or check on a few sellers.

You just check the best $?TB ratio and warranty time. That’s really all the things you need when choosing the drive. Also, remember that there are only 3 brands Seagate, WD and Toshiba to look for.

Depends on your configuration.

If you do not need to passthrough the whole HBA to a VM for example, then, just go with the most convenient way for you.

Check the specs and decide on your choice. Also, depending on your workload maybe the best option is to get the cheapest drive.

I follow it for the most critical data, other data get just one copy (but those data is not important to me)