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File Server
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bawlmer
Newbie
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7. August 2008 @ 08:56 |
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Hi and thanks in advance for checking out this thread.
I have a small home office where three people usually work. I have one 500GB WD EBook attached to one computer which used to be the backup solution and has since turned into our sole source for working files. Currently it is attached usb to one of the computers and mapped to the others.
What is the best solution to get out of this situation? I fear one day coming into the office and the HD burns out with no backup and our business is gone.
My thoughts (I'm no expert) were to build a basic modern computer, dual core, 1 or 2 bg ram, and put 3 500GB in Raid5 for 1TB of redundancy.
Can anyone give me a handle if I'm on the right track or not? Thanks again.
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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7. August 2008 @ 14:05 |
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Sounds like a plan, you could potentially use four 400GB drive instead to get a bit more storage. RAID5 is very good for redundancy, but do yourself a favour and run it off a proper hardware RAID card, not software RAID, or you will find it a pain.
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bawlmer
Newbie
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7. August 2008 @ 16:48 |
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This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 7. August 2008 @ 16:55
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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7. August 2008 @ 16:50 |
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Hardware RAID certainly isn't cheap, but worth bothering with.
Your links haven't come out properly though, you'll need to repost them.
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bawlmer
Newbie
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7. August 2008 @ 16:56 |
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Sorry about that. Links have been fixed.
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Moderator
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7. August 2008 @ 17:12 |
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Just passing thru as i like researching RAID on PC's to see if it's any good (i use software and hardware RAID for a living, but not on PC's).
Anyways, it looks like there are cards out there that support loads of drives i.e. http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductID=298158
Quote:
The RocketRAID 2320 supports advanced RAID levels 0, 1, 5, 10, and JBOD for maximum configuration flexibility.
8 Device Channels
Main PC ~ Intel C2Q Q6600 (G0 Stepping)/Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3/2GB Crucial Ballistix PC2-8500/Zalman CNPS9700/Antec 900/Corsair HX 620W
Network ~ DD-WRT ~ 2node WDS-WPA2/AES ~ Buffalo WHR-G54S. 3node WPA2/AES ~ WRT54GS v6 (inc. WEP BSSID), WRT54G v2, WRT54G2 v1. *** Forum Rules *** |
AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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7. August 2008 @ 17:15 |
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Moderator
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7. August 2008 @ 17:20 |
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Soz, that was purely the first example i came across, i was googling as i found the above link for a 3-bay RAID5 NAS (with no drives) to be incredibly expensive. I was thinking there would be RAID5 controller cards out there that would prove cheaper (and better value) than a NAS enclosure.
Main PC ~ Intel C2Q Q6600 (G0 Stepping)/Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3/2GB Crucial Ballistix PC2-8500/Zalman CNPS9700/Antec 900/Corsair HX 620W
Network ~ DD-WRT ~ 2node WDS-WPA2/AES ~ Buffalo WHR-G54S. 3node WPA2/AES ~ WRT54GS v6 (inc. WEP BSSID), WRT54G v2, WRT54G2 v1. *** Forum Rules ***
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bawlmer
Newbie
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7. August 2008 @ 17:26 |
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Have you guys followed the links from my post above? Confused as I'm not sure if you have just simply missed them or have dismissed them as going down the wrong path? Am I way off?
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Moderator
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7. August 2008 @ 17:31 |
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I've been looking at them, i did recognise the PROMISE TX4 card, a little while back i was pondering getting one of those (they seem very good cards) but in the end bought a cheapy equivalent as i had no more free slots left for extra hard drives anyway.
i was reading this for the TX4 card - Quote:
it does not pass SMART info, even with manufacturer specific hard drive diagnostics. I highly recommend SMART monitoring software. I put 4 seagate 500GB (7200.10) on is and set it up as a software (win2k) RAID5. It took 24 hours to build the array. I know a P3 just isn't up to the task. After transferring a few large DV files, the system choked, and had to rebuild the array. Another 24 hours. This happened repeatedly after trying to dump large files to it.
Other Thoughts: If you are using this on a processor impaired system, don't set it as RAID 5. Mirrors or stripes might work as is what I had in that box before this card and drive config. If you want a real RAID5, get a decent MB with a ICH9 or ICH10 controller, as I am doing now
I'd have thought the TX4 had enough grunt for RAID5, it would appear not.
Main PC ~ Intel C2Q Q6600 (G0 Stepping)/Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3/2GB Crucial Ballistix PC2-8500/Zalman CNPS9700/Antec 900/Corsair HX 620W
Network ~ DD-WRT ~ 2node WDS-WPA2/AES ~ Buffalo WHR-G54S. 3node WPA2/AES ~ WRT54GS v6 (inc. WEP BSSID), WRT54G v2, WRT54G2 v1. *** Forum Rules ***
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 7. August 2008 @ 17:33
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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7. August 2008 @ 17:33 |
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Sorry, didn't notice you'd corrected them.
The Thecus box, and the PCI card in the barebone will work, but they will be slower than normal hard drives due to the lower bandwidth interfaces.
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Moderator
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7. August 2008 @ 17:49 |
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I'm just reading up some more on the 3-bay NAS, i might even consider one of these myself, though only 3 bays is a bit stingy, i would normally like to have a few spare drives available.
I could maybe buy one to use as a JBOD, to serve out music and movies around the house from 3 separate drives... hmmm.. pondering....
edited for disgraceful spelling
Main PC ~ Intel C2Q Q6600 (G0 Stepping)/Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3/2GB Crucial Ballistix PC2-8500/Zalman CNPS9700/Antec 900/Corsair HX 620W
Network ~ DD-WRT ~ 2node WDS-WPA2/AES ~ Buffalo WHR-G54S. 3node WPA2/AES ~ WRT54GS v6 (inc. WEP BSSID), WRT54G v2, WRT54G2 v1. *** Forum Rules ***
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 7. August 2008 @ 18:05
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bawlmer
Newbie
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7. August 2008 @ 17:59 |
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3 should be fine for me because we are only currently using about 3-400GB for the business now and 3 500's in a RAID 5 should yield me 1TB.
If you are thinking about getting something as a media server, I would definitely go with something expandable.
I'm having a hard time picking between the build-your-own and the thecus. I think I'm leaning towards the thecus because the compatability portion of the b.y.o.s is basically already done for me.
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bawlmer
Newbie
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8. August 2008 @ 10:07 |
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So I think I am going to go with the Thecus
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822102020
This is for business only so 1tb is going to suit just fine. And, after searching for a quality raid 5 card it turns out they hard not cheap. In fact, the card alone was approaching the same price as the thecus.
Thanks for your help. Much appreciated. :)
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Moderator
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8. August 2008 @ 13:42 |
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No worries. I noticed there's a 4-bay version of the Thecus but it's way more expensive. I will continue to ponder the 3-bay, for me it would be worth it to not constantly have a pc on just to serve out music/movies to the various xboxes around the house. All my backups live on loads of USB2.0 caddies so it would be nice to have something instead that's self-sufficient on the network (well it wouldn't be left running 24/7 but hey).
edited for spelling
Main PC ~ Intel C2Q Q6600 (G0 Stepping)/Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3/2GB Crucial Ballistix PC2-8500/Zalman CNPS9700/Antec 900/Corsair HX 620W
Network ~ DD-WRT ~ 2node WDS-WPA2/AES ~ Buffalo WHR-G54S. 3node WPA2/AES ~ WRT54GS v6 (inc. WEP BSSID), WRT54G v2, WRT54G2 v1. *** Forum Rules ***
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 13. August 2008 @ 18:03
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Moderator
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6. September 2008 @ 07:02 |
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I've done loads more researching (and pondering) of the Thecus NAS's since my last post, and finally decided against them. The 3 and 4 bay offerings draw the same amount of power as a PC, and the only reason i wanted a NAS unit was to have some device that would draw (much) less power than a PC.
Here's another recent thread on NAS discussions - http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/698692
Main PC ~ Intel C2Q Q6600 (G0 Stepping)/Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3/2GB Crucial Ballistix PC2-8500/Zalman CNPS9700/Antec 900/Corsair HX 620W
Network ~ DD-WRT ~ 2node WDS-WPA2/AES ~ Buffalo WHR-G54S. 3node WPA2/AES ~ WRT54GS v6 (inc. WEP BSSID), WRT54G v2, WRT54G2 v1. *** Forum Rules ***
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 6. September 2008 @ 07:04
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