Merging multiple SSDs into 1 drive?

[tkline]

So I’m going to be doing a new build and I’d like to do all SSDs for storage.. I’m doing a compact system so I don’t have the space inside for larger hard drives. I don’t really know much about raids..

The motherboard I’m going to use is an Asus ROG Strix 270I (itx) . It has 2 m.2 slots and I will have room for 2 2.5” drives in my case. So with potentially having 4 drives, is it possible to set them up as a RAID where Windows will treat them like 1 big C drive? I don’t think I can mix PCIE and SATA in a raid, but can I have all 4 of them be considered a SATA and then that will work?

Also if I can do that, am I able to, say, buy just 1 or 2 drives first, and then add another one later on and the RAID will know it’s there and just increase my available space automatically?

Or am I just better off doing 1 small m.2 as the boot/OS drive and then combining the other 3 drives with something like windows storage spaces? I don’t really like having separate drives in windows though. Guess I’m lazy, I'd just prefer to have 1 big C drive if I can.

 

[rgd1101]

How big of a drive C do you need? Samsung 960 Pro got a 2TB m.2

 

[tkline]

I saw that, but it was over $1000 I have 2 older 2.5" SSDs, one is 256 GB and the other is 480 I think. I was going to use those, and then get a 1TB M.2. Since there's 2 M.2 slots I though it would be cool to be able to add in 1 extra m.2 later on if I feel I need the space.

 

[ArtPog]

So I’m going to be doing a new build and I’d like to do all SSDs for storage.. I’m doing a compact system so I don’t have the space inside for larger hard drives. I don’t really know much about raids..

The motherboard I’m going to use is an Asus ROG Strix 270I (itx) . It has 2 m.2 slots and I will have room for 2 2.5” drives in my case. So with potentially having 4 drives, is it possible to set them up as a RAID where Windows will treat them like 1 big C drive? I don’t think I can mix PCIE and SATA in a raid, but can I have all 4 of them be considered a SATA and then that will work?

Also if I can do that, am I able to, say, buy just 1 or 2 drives first, and then add another one later on and the RAID will know it’s there and just increase my available space automatically?

Or am I just better off doing 1 small m.2 as the boot/OS drive and then combining the other 3 drives with something like windows storage spaces? I don’t really like having separate drives in windows though. Guess I’m lazy, I'd just prefer to have 1 big C drive if I can.

Doesn't that ASUS ITX board support four (4) SATA connectors aside from the two SATA PCIe M.2 connectors? Are you unable to install a large-capacity 3.5" HDD on that MB?

 

[tkline]

I'm using a small case so I don't really have the space for a 3.5" drive, I don't think there's even a space to mount one. I just was looking at the motherboard manual and it says the the m.2 slots are actually 1 PCIE only, and then one other can be PCIE or SATA. So I guess my best bet is just going to go with 1 smaller PCIE for the OS, and then SATA for everything else. I was hoping to avoid having the extra cables since there won't be a lot of space inside so that's why I wanted to try to use 2 M.2 drives, the PCIE drives cost a lot more.

 

[ArtPog]

I would be virtually certain that MB would support at least one large-capacity 3.5" HDD, so check this out thoroughly. Contact ASUS if necessary.

 

[tkline]

Sorry, I meant there is no room in the tiny case, it only fits 2.5" drives. Maybe I could squeeze one in somehow but I would like to keep the clutter to a minimum so that's why I wanted to go with m.2. I was just hoping if I did that and had multiple drives I could make them all work together in a raid so I just have one big C drive.