Good idea? Raspberry pi with USB2 HDDs as media server

[sliem]

So I read that Raspberry pi 3 can be created as a media center but I'm missing the connection between it and its storage.
I want big storage (4TB or more) with RAID 1 (I'm new to this) so if one drive fails I could still have a mirror.
How does this work?
Raspberry pi 3 only has USB 2.0 so how is the performance?
It needs to serve the media through USB 2.0 and then through wireless.

 

[problematiq]

You cannot do a hardware raid via usb, you can however do a software raid. if you are using HDD's you won't notice a speed difference using USB 2.0. This can work, but I would advise against it. software raids suck, also using only usb to connect your drives is risky as far as walking along and bumping the drives. If you want a media center it might be more advisable to use a mini ITX PC, not as cheap though.

 

[CelicaGT]

The Pi 3 will not be able to run those drives without a powered hub, also I don't think it supports HDD storage without some tweaking (can someone comment if they know better? New to this myself). I'm using my Pi3b for a "portable* library while running OSMC, all I take along is the Pi and its wall-wart as CEC is supported and works really well. I've converted much of my library to mp4 which I keep on a couple cheapie 128GB thumbdrives. Each movie is only about 2 gigs this way with no reduction in quality from the source. Planning to set up Plex at some point but time is a scarce resource..

(edit: grammar and spelling stuff)

 

[sliem]

Thanks.
What are: OSMC, CEC and Plex?
Sorry I'm new.

Edit:
I guess what I want is a system that is always-on but low-power. It would have large 2 or 4TB HDD to store and serve all my media where any connected devices could read, write and play.
Said devices could be: Windows 10 PC or amazon fire stick or google chromecast.
The media would be: pictures, video clips and mp3 audio.

 

[CelicaGT]

Thanks.
What are: OSMC, CEC and Plex?
Sorry I'm new.

Edit:
I guess what I want is a system that is always-on but low-power. It would have large 2 or 4TB HDD to store and serve all my media where any connected devices could read, write and play.
Said devices could be: Windows 10 PC or amazon fire stick or google chromecast.
The media would be: pictures, video clips and mp3 audio.

OSMC = Open Source Media Center...it's basically a media center themed Linux based OS

CEC = Consumer Electronics Control, this lets one device control another via HDMI, I use my TV remote to control the Pi

Plex = Software to run a media server, it exists in free and paid versions

 

[ElRobbo2004]

So I read that Raspberry pi 3 can be created as a media center but I'm missing the connection between it and its storage.
I want big storage (4TB or more) with RAID 1 (I'm new to this) so if one drive fails I could still have a mirror.
How does this work?
Raspberry pi 3 only has USB 2.0 so how is the performance?
It needs to serve the media through USB 2.0 and then through wireless.

I've had an Rpi3 with a pair of Seagate 5gb USB3 hard drives from Costco running for quite a while now, and it works fabulously. No buffering, plenty of bandwidth for video over ethernet.

I'm using OpenMediaServer, which has a Plex plugin available.

The Costco drives actually have built-in hubs; I can't remember whether I daisy-chained them or not. But it's definitely beefy enough.