Hey everyone! I've got a bit of a unique situation. I work for an MSP that lets us take home wiped hard drives. Right now, I have eight 512GB NVMe drives that I'd like to combine into a single 4TB drive, or at least two 2TB drives. I'm no newbie when it comes to PC building, but I'm looking for the most cost-effective way to merge these drives, regardless of the speeds. My motherboard has slots for four NVMe drives, but three are occupied by 2TB drives. I'm considering using the Thunderbolt or PCIe 5.0 port for this. Any suggestions?
5 Answers
You should really think about selling and then buying a larger drive. Tackling a RAID setup would require extra costs for controllers and could lead to more problems than it's worth.
Unfortunately, combining that many drives isn't straightforward. You'd need very specific hardware, and not all PCIe 5.0 ports can handle that many drives at once. If you have to go that route, consider getting some USB to NVMe adapters and a couple of hubs instead.
It’s pretty much impossible unless you have a compatible motherboard and enough PCIe lanes. Most adapters only support up to four, and the costs can add up quickly. Just selling them would save you a lot of headaches.
Honestly, I think your best bet is to sell those drives and save up for one big 4TB drive. Setting up NVMe RAID can get complicated, and it’s often just a hassle.
I agree. Selling them is the way to go. If they're not worth much, I wouldn't risk trusting them in a RAID either. It's just too much work for less reward.
And there’s also a higher risk of data loss with so many drives in play!