The Uncast Show

Everything that happened with Unraid in April 2026 in 6 minutes.

This month: the X15 server is here, Unraid 7.3.0 hits RC, 7.2.5 lands for stable users, we spotlight the Custom SMB Shares plugin, and much more!

X15 by 45HomeLab x Unraid: 15 bays, built from the ground up by both teams.

Order yours: Specs:

-Intel i7-14700 — 20 cores, 28 threads, integrated GPU handles hardware-accelerated transcoding with no discrete card needed

-Gigabyte MW34-SP0 workstation board — Intel W680 chipset with ECC memory support, ASPEED AST2600 BMC for full IPMI remote management, 4x PCIe Gen4 M.2, 8x SATA, dual PCIe Gen5 slots for future GPU expansion

-Arctic P12 Pro fans — quiet enough for home or office, enough airflow for full load

-Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 Mini CPU cooler — full speed under load, no thermal throttling

-Intel x550-T2 dual 10GbE NIC — fast file transfers over standard Cat6, plus dual onboard 2.5GbE and dedicated IPMI port

-LSI 9400 HBA — 12Gb/s SAS, one of the most trusted storage controllers in the Unraid community

-Corsair RM1000x — 1000W, 80+ Gold, fully modular, headroom for a GPU or additional hardware

-16GB DDR4 ECC UDIMM — catches and corrects single-bit errors before they become data corruption

-1TB Kingston NV3 NVMe boot drive — dedicated solid-state boot, no SD card or USB stick

-Lifetime Unraid license included — $249 value!

Order yours.

Unraid 7.3.0-rc.1 is live with Internal Boot (NVMe, SSD, eMMC), a new onboarding wizard, ZFS/VM/storage improvements, and more. Stable is close.

🔒 Unraid 7.2.5 is out now with security and bug fixes covering a myriad of CVEs and quality-of-life improvements. All users should update:.

App of the Month: Custom SMB Shares offers granular per-share SMB config, subfolder sharing, custom names, special characters, share cloning, and per-user permissions.

Full setup video.

🌐 Cloudflare Tunnels vs NGINX

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In the April episode of Ed & Stefano Unleashed, we're talking the Unraid 7.3 beta with internal NVMe boot, a huge 45 HomeLab partnership for the first official Unraid server, backup strategies and why most of us are doing them wrong, a Supreme Court ruling that could have broken the internet, compromised routers and supply chain security scares, Intel's new 32GB Arc GPUs for under $1,000, smart TVs shoving ads into HDMI switching, Meta's AI agent going rogue, and a Neuralink patient playing World of Warcraft with his mind.We kick things off with Unraid 7.3 Beta, which finally lets you boot from NVMe or SSD instead of a USB flash drive, plus dedicated boot pool support and TPM 2.0-based license keys.

Then the big announcement: a partnership with 45 HomeLab to create the first ever official Unraid server, purpose-built for media streaming, ZFS, VMs, and local AI, shipping with a lifetime license and ECC RAM this spring. The community chat dives deep into backup strategies, why parity is not a backup, the 3-2-1 rule, and why you should test your backups before you actually need them. Ed reveals he runs no parity on his main server, instead doing nightly rsync delta backups to a second parity-protected box.

Episode Takeaways

◦ Unraid 7.3 Beta brings internal NVMe/SSD boot, dedicated boot pools, and TPM 2.0 license keys. Enable TPM2, not Secure Boot

◦ Official Unraid server with 45 HomeLab coming this spring. Lifetime license, ECC RAM, pre-orders soon

◦ Parity is not a backup. Use the 3-2-1 rule and don't forget Docker volumes and AppData

◦ Supreme Court ruled 9-0 in Cox v Sony: ISPs are not copyright gatekeepers

◦ FBI reports 369,000 compromised routers since 2020. ASUS routers hit by Cadnap malware. LiteLLM also compromised

◦ Intel Arc B70 (32GB) coming under $1,000. B65 also 32GB at around $700. Great for local AI

◦ Chuwei caught reprogramming BIOS to make older Ryzen CPUs report as newer chips. Full recall underway

◦ Hisense showing non-skippable ads when switching HDMI inputs. Vizio now requires a Walmart account

◦ Meta AI agent posted wrong info on an internal forum without permission and exposed confidential data

◦ NVIDIA DLSS 5 demo needed two 5090s. Community calling it an Instagram filter for games

◦ Cloudflare CEO says bot traffic will exceed human traffic by 2027

◦ Neuralink patient playing World of Warcraft entirely by thought

Chapters

0:00 Welcome and housekeeping

1:17 Unraid 7.3 Beta: internal NVMe boot and TPM 2.0 keys

3:53 45 HomeLab partnership: the first official Unraid server

6:18 Uncast updates: AI photo tool and Ollama for Intel GPUs

9:21 Community chat: backup strategies and the 3-2-1 rule

28:52 Supreme Court rules 9-0 in Cox v Sony

31:04 FBI compromised routers and LiteLLM security breach

34:41 Stefano's conspiracy: government backdoors in routers

39:03 Intel Arc B70 and B65: 32GB GPUs under $1,000

42:54 Chuwei caught faking laptop CPUs

47:06 Hisense HDMI ads and Vizio's Walmart account requirement

54:31 Meta AI agent goes rogue internally

56:58 Microsoft forces OneDrive on ClipChamp

1:03:08 Dead internet theory and AI content flooding YouTube

1:05:25 NVIDIA DLSS 5 roasted by the community

1:09:52 French Navy officer leaks carrier location via Strava

1:11:00 Neuralink patient plays WoW by thought

1:12:13 Closing thoughts and happy Easter

What will you build with Unraid?

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The hosts of Ed & Stefano Unleashed are passionate about home servers, open-source tech, and sometimes going off on tangents. The views and opinions expressed on the show are solely those of the hosts and guests and do not reflect the opinions, policies, or positions of Lime Technology, Inc.

This show is intended for entertainment and informational purposes only. Listeners are encouraged to do their own research, experiment responsibly, and not hold the hosts accountable for any questionable home lab decisions. Most importantly, enjoy the show!

In this month's digest, Stefano walks through everything that shipped in March, including the ‪@45HomeLab‬

Unraid Signature Series announcement, Unraid 7.3 Beta updates, and what nearly 3,000 of you told us in the 2026 customer survey.

Links mentioned in this video:

45HomeLab +Unraid Signature Series

Unraid 7.3.0 Beta

7.3.0-beta.2 Release Notes

2026 Customer Survey Results

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In the March episode of Ed & Stefano Unleashed, we're talking Unraid storage layouts done right, the Huntarr security disaster, vibe coding and whether AI-generated code can be trusted, NVIDIA's latest driver chaos, the Windows 12 subscription rumour, smart TVs secretly turning your home into a botnet, and the ongoing hardware shortage hitting RAM and hard drives alike. 

We kick things off with the new Unraid product portal, teases an upcoming local AI Uncast video, and reveals his new RTX 5090, which idles at just 7 watts. The community storage deep dive covers when to use XFS vs ZFS, why you should never format array drives as individual ZFS pools, and the one trap that can silently wipe data when adding an old drive. 

Then the Huntarr security incident gets a full breakdown, including how a simple curl command exposed every API key in your entire *arr stack, and how to use AI agents to audit open source code before running it on your server.

⁠New Stirling PDF Video⁠

Episode Takeaways
◦ Unraid product portal live at product.unraid.net for bugs and feature requests
◦ RTX 5090 idles at 7W. Enable NVIDIA persistence mode to drop from P0 to  P8
◦ XFS for your array, ZFS for irreplaceable data. Never format array drives as individual ZFS pools
◦ Huntarr stored all *arr API keys unencrypted. Regenerate everything if you ran it
◦ NVIDIA driver 595.71 stops fans spinning. P2000/P4000 users need the production v580 branch
◦ Steam survey: Windows 11 down 10%, Windows 10 up. Linux gaming is coming
◦ Windows 12 rumoured to be subscription-based and AI-focused (disputed live on air)
◦ Microsoft banned "microslop" on their Discord, then shut the whole server down
◦ Smart TV apps silently enrolling your home IP in AI proxy networks
◦ Hard drives and RAM both surging in price. DDR4 128GB kits fetching £500+ in the UK

Chapters
0:00 Welcome and housekeeping
2:04 New Unraid product portal
2:29 Local AI Uncast teaser
3:33 RTX 5090 idle power and NVIDIA persistence mode
5:58 Stirling PDF mention
6:09 Community storage deep dive: XFS, ZFS, and Unraid arrays
20:06 Huntarr security incident: your entire *arr stack was exposed
24:38 Vibe coding, AI-assisted development, and code review
29:17 NVIDIA driver 595.71 kills GPU fans
32:14 Legacy NVIDIA cards on Unraid: use the production branch
34:58 NVIDIA hiring Linux gaming engineers: Proton and Vulkan
36:40 Steam survey: Windows 10 up, Windows 11 down, Linux on the rise
45:24 Windows 12: subscription-based, modular, and AI-focused
45:59 The rumour gets disputed live on air
49:41 Battlestate Games fined for storing Russian user data outside Russia
52:30 App-forced insurance rant
56:10 Microsoft bans "microslop" on Discord
58:02 Copilot summarises confidential emails users never sent
1:00:19 Smart TV apps as an AI proxy botnet
1:04:09 Western Digital out of stock, hard drive prices surging
1:07:00 RAM prices: sell your DDR4 now if you have spare
1:10:46 New EUV chip technology could increase yields 50% by 2030

⁠Get Started with Unraid in 15 minutes or less.⁠ 

The hosts of Ed & Stefano Unleashed are passionate about home servers, open-source tech, and sometimes going off on tangents. The views and opinions expressed on the show are solely those of the hosts and guests and do not reflect the opinions, policies, or positions of Lime Technology, Inc. This show is intended for entertainment and informational purposes only. Listeners are encouraged to do their own research, experiment responsibly, and not hold the hosts accountable for any questionable home lab decisions. Most importantly, enjoy the show!

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Hear all about what went down with Unraid in February 2026!
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In the February episode of Ed & Stefano Unleashed, we cover a wide-ranging set of topics shaping the future of self-hosting, open source, and consumer technology. From new Unraid features and internal boot teasers to the rise of local AI workloads, this episode blends practical homelab insights with big-picture tech trends.

Follow the channel on Spotify: Now with dual audio/video feeds! 

Ed and Stefano break down the ongoing Jellyfin vs Plex debate, explore how RAM shortages and GPU demand are impacting everything from AI to gaming, and take a close look at OpenClaw, an open-source AI assistant pushing local, privacy-first automation forward.

Take the Unraid Customer Survey

The conversation expands into the broader tech landscape — including data centers and their impact on local communities, advances in storage technology, the shift from VR headsets to smart glasses, and more!

Episode Takeaways• Why VRAM matters more than GPU speed for local AI workloads• The 3090 as a sweet spot GPU for running LLMs at home• Jellyfin vs Plex: Samsung Tizen support and Plex's new paywall• OpenClaw: what it is, how to set it up, and the security risks• RAM shortages are real, data centers will consume 70% of memory chips in 2026• 40TB hard drives are coming, but they're SMR, here's why that matters• CMR vs SMR: what every Unraid user needs to know before buying drives• Internal boot teaser: booting Unraid from SSDs and hard drives is coming• Paperless NGX: the self hosted document manager you've been waiting for• Smart glasses vs VR: cool tech or just a gimmick?• Meta Pixels, privacy laws, and OpenAI's HIPAA workaround• France ditches Teams and Zoom for sovereign platforms• Cloudflare vs Italy: when piracy laws break the internet• MTV is officially goneChapters00:00 Housekeeping! Uncast Show on Audio+Video Spotify Feeds02:01 Unraid Customer Survey + Internal Boot Teaser07:02 Paperless NGX and Document Management11:43 Jellyfin vs Plex: The Streaming Wars17:08 The Rise of Local AI and GPU Workloads32:34 OpenClaw: The Future of AI Assistants?47:11 The Impact of RAM Shortages on Technology and Gaming54:01 Data Centers and Community Impact59:18 Western Digital 40TB Drives and SMR vs CMR Explained1:07:05 Smart Glasses: Cool or Just a Gimmick?1:10:19 Why VR Still Isn't There Yet1:13:07 Meta Pixels and the 1988 Privacy Law1:17:06 OpenAI's ChatGPT Health and HIPAA Concerns1:18:07 Social Media Bans and the Impact on Kids1:22:25 France Goes Sovereign: Ditching Teams & Zoom1:22:54 The UK Digital ID Backtrack1:23:31 Notepad++ Hacked by State Sponsored Attackers1:25:10 Bazzite Is Dead, Nobara and Linux Gaming1:28:55 LG Wants You to Rent Your TV1:31:48 Cloudflare vs Italy: Piracy Laws Gone Wrong1:34:00 The Splintering of the Internet1:37:01 Kids Can't Read Clocks After Phone Bans1:39:02 The End of MTV and Cultural Shifts

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​ @SPXLabs is back to bring you all the main highlights for Unraid in January 2026 including:

1. Unraid Internal Boot First Look
2. The 2026 Unraid Customer Survey is here! Let us know your feedback in 5-10 minutes and score 20% off Unraid Merch for your troubles!
3. Apprise-Go is Live! Learn More here.
4. January App of the Month= Paperless NGX!  

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We kick off 2026 by revisiting the biggest Unraid 7 changes (native ZFS, optional Unraid array, UI refresh, built-in file manager, official API) and what actually matters in daily homelab use: foreign ZFS imports, VM snapshots, GPU acceleration, and where containers still win on efficiency as RAM prices climb.

We also cover:

• HDMI 2.1 on Linux (what’s blocking it) + why DisplayPort may be the practical choice
• RAM market chaos + counterfeit return headaches
• Plex transcoding comparison: P2000 vs iGPU vs Intel Arc + AV1 wins
• GitHub walking back a plan to charge for orchestrating self-hosted runners
• A GPL enforcement case (Vizio) and what it could mean for compliance expectations
• Privacy creep: ACR TVs, GPS-locked streaming, and “smart” appliances collecting too much
• Practical exits: self-hosting where it counts (Nextcloud, LibreOffice, etc.)

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In the final Unraid digest of 2025, ‪@SPXLabs‬ brings you everything that went down with Unraid in December 2025 and gives a peek at what's coming for Unraid in 2026!

Also, don't miss the Unraid Year in Review for more details on what changed for Unraid and what's coming in the new year!

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🎄 Holiday Deal Alert
All Unraid merch is 15% off through December—perfect time to gear up or grab something for the Unraider in your life.
 

🆕 Unraid OS 7.2.1 Released
The latest update to Unraid 7.2.1 is live and packed with fixes, refinements, and performance improvements.
Check out what's new: https://unraid.net/blog/unraid-7-2-1

✨ Brand-New Unraid Account + Checkout Experience
We’ve fully rebuilt the Unraid account app and checkout flow to make license management, purchases, and account settings smoother than ever.
Learn more here: https://unraid.net/blog/new-unraid-account

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