Best Hardware for Unraid in 2026

Quick Recommendation

Used Dell OptiPlex 5080 SFF ($150–$200) + Unraid Basic ($59). The i5-10500 handles Plex transcoding and Docker containers, you get 128 GB RAM max, and the SFF case fits two 3.5” drives plus an NVMe boot drive. Add a USB SATA dock for extra drives. Total build: ~$350 with 8 TB of storage.

For a dedicated NAS build with 4+ drive bays, pair an Intel i3-12100 ($100) or i5-12400 ($130) with a Fractal Design Node 304 case ($80) and a motherboard with 4+ SATA ports. Total: ~$450 before drives.

What Unraid Needs from Hardware

Unraid is unique among NAS operating systems. Understanding its architecture tells you exactly what hardware to buy.

How Unraid Storage Works

Unraid doesn’t use traditional RAID. Instead:

Each drive in the array is an independent filesystem (XFS or Btrfs)
A parity drive protects against single-drive failure (or two failures with dual parity)
Drives can be different sizes and brands — no matching required
Only the drive being accessed spins up, saving power and wear

This means:

You don’t need a hardware RAID controller. In fact, don’t use one — Unraid manages drives directly via the motherboard’s SATA/HBA controller.
SATA ports matter more than RAID support. Count the SATA ports on your motherboard. Each port = one array drive.
The parity drive should be the largest drive. Equal to or larger than any data drive in the array.

CPU Requirements

Unraid itself is lightweight — it runs from a USB flash drive and barely touches the CPU. Your CPU choice depends on what you’ll run on top of Unraid:

Use Case	CPU Recommendation
NAS only (file serving)	Any modern CPU — even an N100 works
NAS + Docker containers	Intel i3/i5 or Ryzen 5 with QuickSync/AMF
NAS + Docker + Plex transcoding	Intel i5+ with QuickSync (mandatory for HW transcode)
NAS + Docker + VMs	Intel i5-12400+ or Ryzen 5 5600 (6+ cores)
NAS + Docker + VMs + GPU passthrough	Intel i5-13500 or Ryzen 7 5700X with discrete GPU

Intel QuickSync is the deciding factor for Plex/Jellyfin users. AMD CPUs work fine for everything else, but Intel’s hardware transcoding is significantly better supported in media server containers on Unraid.

For CPU details, see Best CPUs for Home Server and Intel vs AMD.

RAM Requirements

Workload	Minimum	Recommended
NAS only	4 GB	8 GB
NAS + Docker (5–10 containers)	8 GB	16 GB
NAS + Docker (15+ containers)	16 GB	32 GB
NAS + Docker + VMs	32 GB	64 GB

Unraid doesn’t require ECC RAM (unlike ZFS-based systems). Standard DDR4/DDR5 is fine. ECC works if your platform supports it but isn’t necessary.

For RAM recommendations, see Best RAM for Home Server.

Storage Controller

Use the motherboard’s SATA ports for up to 4–6 drives. For more drives, add an HBA (Host Bus Adapter):

Controller	Ports	Interface	Price (Used)
LSI 9207-8i	8 SAS/SATA	PCIe x8	$25–$40
Dell H310 (flashed to IT mode)	8 SAS/SATA	PCIe x8	$15–$25
LSI 9211-8i	8 SAS/SATA	PCIe x8	$20–$35
Broadcom 9500-8i	8 SAS/SATA	PCIe x8 Gen4	$80–$120

Flash to IT mode. These cards often ship in RAID mode (IR firmware). Unraid needs direct disk access, which requires IT (Initiator Target) firmware. Search “flash LSI 9207-8i IT mode” for your specific card.

SAS breakout cables ($10–$15 each) connect the SFF-8087 connector on the HBA to individual SATA drives. You need one cable per 4 drives.

Boot Drive

Unraid boots from a USB flash drive — not an SSD or HDD. The USB drive holds the Unraid OS and license key.

Use a quality USB 2.0 or 3.0 flash drive. USB 2.0 is actually preferred — it’s more reliable for the constant small writes Unraid does. Recommended: SanDisk Ultra Fit 32 GB ($8).

The cache drive (separate from the boot USB) is where Docker containers, VMs, and app data live. This should be a fast NVMe SSD:

500 GB NVMe for Docker containers and VM images
1 TB NVMe if you use the cache for writes before they move to the array

Recommended: Samsung 970 EVO Plus 500 GB ($40) or WD Black SN770 500 GB ($35).

Recommended Builds

Budget Build ($300–$400)

NAS + lightweight Docker (Pi-hole, Vaultwarden, Home Assistant).

Component	Recommendation	Price
CPU + Board	Used Dell OptiPlex 5060 SFF (i5-8500)	$100
RAM	16 GB DDR4 (2x8) — usually included	$0–$20
Boot USB	SanDisk Ultra Fit 32 GB	$8
Cache SSD	WD Black SN770 500 GB NVMe	$35
Storage	2x Seagate IronWolf 4 TB	$130
Unraid license	Basic (6 devices)	$59
Total		~$352

Limitations: Only 2 SATA ports available after the SSD (SFF has 3 total bays). Expand via USB SATA dock if needed.

Mid-Range Build ($500–$700)

NAS + Docker + Plex transcoding. The sweet spot.

Component	Recommendation	Price
CPU	Intel i3-12100	$100
Motherboard	ASRock B660M-HDV (4 SATA, M.2)	$80
RAM	16 GB DDR4-3200 (2x8)	$30
Boot USB	SanDisk Ultra Fit 32 GB	$8
Cache SSD	Samsung 970 EVO Plus 500 GB NVMe	$40
Case	Fractal Design Node 304 (6x 3.5” bays)	$80
PSU	Corsair CX450M	$45
Storage	3x Seagate IronWolf 4 TB (1 parity + 2 data)	$195
Unraid license	Plus (12 devices)	$89
Total		~$667

Usable storage: 8 TB (2 data drives) with single parity protection.

High-End Build ($800–$1,200)

NAS + Docker + VMs + GPU passthrough. Full homelab.

Component	Recommendation	Price
CPU	Intel i5-13500	$180
Motherboard	ASUS Prime B760M-A (4 SATA, 2x M.2, 2.5GbE)	$120
RAM	64 GB DDR4-3200 (2x32)	$80
Boot USB	SanDisk Ultra Fit 32 GB	$8
Cache pool	2x WD Black SN770 500 GB NVMe (RAID 1)	$70
Case	Fractal Design Define Mini C	$80
PSU	Corsair RM650 (80+ Gold)	$80
HBA	LSI 9207-8i (IT mode, used)	$30
Storage	5x Seagate IronWolf 8 TB (1 parity + 4 data)	$650
Unraid license	Pro (unlimited)	$129
Total		~$1,427

Usable storage: 32 TB (4 data drives) with single parity protection.

Unraid-Specific Considerations

Drive Sleep and Power

Unraid only spins up drives that are being accessed. A 6-drive array with one active drive draws less power than a RAID array where all drives must spin together.

Expect:

Cache SSD + boot USB: 3–5W
Each spinning 3.5” HDD: 6–8W active, 0.5W spun down
System idle (CPU + board + 1 SSD): 15–30W depending on CPU

A typical mid-range build with most drives spun down: 20–30W. All drives active: 50–70W.

Parity Checks

Unraid maintains parity in real-time — every write to the array updates the parity drive(s) immediately. Monthly parity checks verify this data by reading every drive to confirm consistency. These checks take 12–24 hours and all drives spin up simultaneously. Schedule them for a time when noise and power draw don’t matter (e.g., Tuesday 3 AM).

Docker Storage: Cache vs Array

Docker containers and their data should always live on the cache SSD, not the array. The array is slow (single-drive speed, not striped). Configuration:

Set Docker image location to /mnt/cache/docker/
Set Docker appdata to /mnt/cache/appdata/
Set VM storage to /mnt/cache/vms/

The array is for bulk data: media files, backups, documents.

Community Applications (App Store)

Install the Community Applications plugin — it’s Unraid’s app store. One-click installs for:

Plex, Jellyfin, Emby
Nextcloud, Vaultwarden, Home Assistant
Pi-hole, AdGuard Home
All the popular self-hosted apps

Each app is a pre-configured Docker template. Easier than writing Docker Compose files manually.

Unraid License Tiers

Tier	Devices	Price	Best For
Basic	6	$59	Small NAS (2–3 data + 1 parity + 1 cache + 1 USB)
Plus	12	$89	Mid-range NAS with room to grow
Pro	Unlimited	$129	Large arrays, future-proof

“Devices” includes all storage devices: array drives, parity drives, cache drives, and the boot USB. It does not count VMs or Docker containers.

Recommendation: Buy Plus ($89). Six devices fills up fast once you add parity + cache + boot USB. The $30 difference between Basic and Plus is worth the headroom.

FAQ

Do I need ECC RAM for Unraid?

No. Unraid’s main array uses XFS or Btrfs per-drive with parity protection — neither filesystem requires ECC the way ZFS does. Standard DDR4 is fine. Unraid 7.0+ added native ZFS support for cache pools, but even ZFS on Unraid works without ECC. ECC works if your platform supports it but isn’t required.

Can I mix drive sizes?

Yes — this is Unraid’s biggest advantage. The only rule: the parity drive must be equal to or larger than the largest data drive. So if you have 4 TB, 8 TB, and 12 TB data drives, your parity drive must be at least 12 TB.

SSD array or HDD array?

Unraid’s array is designed for HDDs — single-drive performance is fine for bulk storage. SSDs in the array are wasted because Unraid doesn’t stripe data across drives. Use SSDs for cache only. Use HDDs for the array.

How does Unraid compare to TrueNAS and Synology?

See Synology vs Unraid and TrueNAS vs Unraid.