I'm not getting any response in the Windows 11 Forum on this so I thought I'd try here.

I'm currently running RAID 10 on an LSI/BROADCOM/AVAGO card. My system board is an ASUS X99E-WS USB 3.1 monstrosity of a board, but that's okay because I like it. I've been thinking about getting another RAID card to expand my ports. Yes, I'm running out of port space for SATA and I would like just a little more. An additional 8 ports via breakout cables would suffice. Combing through the offers on Amazon I noticed that many of these LSI cards are being presented as unRAID and configured as IT mode instead of good ole fashioned RAID. I'm not so closed minded as to not be willing to give new things a try, but I do recall having to re-flash my original LSI card on the aforementioned system board on an older DELL (as it used PCIe gen 2) in order to convert it back into a genuine RAID card. I don't ever want to have to do that again.

So here's the rub: Can I run the unRAID card alongside my RAID card on the same system board without conflicts and other grievances of that nature? And: If I can will I be able to configure the unRAID card for the purposes of accessing other drives independantly, via Windows Disc Manager, without putting them in a RAID array? And: Will this affect my currently existing Network Attached Storage which is running just fine? Will I have to pay munny to someone simply because I have an unRAID card installed but have no intentions of using it as a NAS? And: Will there be a problem with this if I happen to be using another part of my system board to facilitate a server? I have so many questions!

Any input on this from someone who is experienced with such things would be greatly appreciated. I've run standard port mutlipliers before and I don't like them. UnRAID seems to be the right solution in this case as I am currently happy with the RAID that I have but could use some extra SATA ports for what I'm planning to do in the future. Please don't send me links to technical sites as my old and addled brain will likely cave under duress in a futile effort to comprehend what I'm reading. Give it to me straight. Layman's language if need be. Thanks in advance.

*Editor's note* - I'm using Windows 11 and Windows 7 on the system being addressed in this thread.