Using external drives for file server (support for raid5 etc.)


Hello all,

I have a Synology NAS server that I would like to retire. At the same time, I would like to setup a home server for various tasks such as running virtual machines that I can RDP into.

I am therefore considering a MacMini with max amount of RAM and an I7 processor and use this as a home server with OS X server installed.

Instead of buying a new Synology NAS server, I would like to use the file server functionality of OS X Server. For that I need four or five external hard drives which should connect to the MacMini through the thunderbolt port (or maybe using the SATA3/eSATA port).

If I do this:
1) Will I then be able to setup up the drives in a RAID5 configuration?
2) If I format these drives using the OS X file system, will I then be able to setup spotlight to index these drives and search them from my desktop computer using spotlight?
3) Will there be any performance penalty in attaching the four or five drives to the same thunderbolt/SATA3/eSATA port (there will usually be two users using the file server and max. 5 users using it at any given time and I will probably be using 5400RPM drives)?