New file server

[nmX.Memnoch]

Yeah, I've been really happy with their controllers. I'm glad you're happy with the card as well...

Also, make sure you see my edit above about the SMART data. You posted about the same time did the edit.

BTW, I also found this in regards to the conversations about 2TB arrays. It turns out it is a limitation of Windows...

That's the only place I've ever seen is spelled out like that though...and unfortunately I don't have anything to really test that with.

The 3ware 7000, 8000, 9500S, and 9550SX series controllers can support disk drives of up to 2 TBytes maximum in capacity. That is to say, the limit of the size of an individual disk drive within an array is 2 TBytes maximum.The 7000/8000 series supports disk arrays of up to 2 TBytes maximum in capacity. Disk arrays over that capacity will be truncated to 2 TBytes.

The 9500S/9550SX series supports disk arrays much larger than 2 TBytes. However, 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows only support up to 2 TBytes per physical disk drive or array. Linux distributions with the 2.4 kernel only support up to 2 TBytes per physical disk drive or array. Linux distributions with the 2.6 kernel support more than 2 TBytes per physical disk drive or array.

Edited August 14, 2007 by nmX.Memnoch

[Zxian]

I've been digging a bit more about the 2TB limit, and found out that they corrected it for Server 2003 SP1.

Windows Support for Logical Units Larger than 2 TB

With Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 (SP1) and Windows XP 64-bit Edition (x64), these limits have changed.

Microsoft added support for 64-bit block numbers in the disk/class layer, using the new SCSI Commands included in the SCSI-3 Block Commands-2 command set. Microsoft also enabled GPT support for all Windows Server 2003 SP1 platforms. With this change, for example, a snapshot of a GPT partition on an Itanium-based machine can now be transported to a 32-bit machine for data mining or archiving purposes.

The new limits are as follows:•

Basic or dynamic volume size: 2^64 blocks = 2^73 bytes (too big to pronounce)

•

Maximum NTFS file system size that can be realized on Windows: 256 TB

Note: Disk devices with more than 2 TB of disk space must be converted to GPT format for all of the disk space to be usable. If the device uses MBR format, the disk space beyond 2 TB will be unusable.

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/storage/LUN_SP1.mspx

For those who don't know, GPT stands for GUID Partition Tables. They used to be available only on Itanium based systems, but should now be available for all Server 2003 SP1 and up.

EDIT - Hmm... I just read that an MBR based volume cannot be converted to a GPT volume - it must be wiped clean and started fresh. Maybe I should let my expansion complete... purposefully degrade the array, and use the spare drive to put all the backup data on, then wipe the array and set it to a GPT volume, then copy everything back and expand again. That way I'd have a GPT volume that's ready for future expansions, and this is still when I've got less than a single drive's data on the array (which won't be the case next week...).

[nmX.Memnoch]

That's some very good information to know. I noticed a while back that Disk Management has a "Convert to GPT Disk" option when you right click a disk (not partition). I forgot to lookup what that was...and now I know. I guess you have to do that before you format the paritition.

This is my favorite line in that article you linked:

There is no substitute for sane layout of storage.

I've been telling people that for years (although not in those exact words)!

[Zxian]

Haha - yup. My problem has always been that music is there, video is here, installers are somewhere in the void, and backups went on what little RAID1 space I had before (started this whole RAID escapade with 80GB).

The migration from 3 disks to 4 is taking a little while... 13 hours after I started it, it's at 21%...I was hoping to have this partition/disk structure figured out sooner rather than later. Goes to show you that you should do your research first, then your implementation. *facepalm*

[nmX.Memnoch]

Mine is all broken down, but it took me a whiiiiile to figure out how I wanted it. I probably map more drives than some small business do...

-Files ----> Maps to F: on clients

--Applications

----Adobe

----Benchmarking Tools

----CD & DVD Tools

----Compression Tools

----Image Apps

----Installer Tools

----Microsoft

----Scripting Tools

----Symantec

----System Tools

--Documentation

--Drivers

----CD & DVD Burners

----Keyboards & Mice

----Motherboards

----Network Equipment

----Printers

----Sound Cards

----Video Cards

--Games

--Operating Systems

--Patches

----Applications

----Games

----Operating Systems

--Wallpapers

--Web Graphics

-Multimedia ---> Maps to M: on clients

--Mini-Series

--Movies

--Music

----Broken down in directories by artist name

--Sound Effects

--TV Shows

----Broken down in directories by show name

-Netlogon ---> Logon scripts, maps as N: for Domain Admin(s)

-Outlook ---> Maps as O: for clients

----broken down by user name, each directory is restricted

I use this share for Outlook PSTs. I'm thinking about changing it from "Outlook" to "Office" and moving the MyDocs for each user there as well. Everyone maps directly to their directory (i.e. O: maps to \\COLOSSUS\Outlook$\Curtis for me). BTW, don't try putting your PST on your server unless you have a GigE network. It'll work on 100Mbit, but it's not ideal.

-Pictures ---> Digital camera pics, maps as P: on clients

--Broken down in directories by picture series date and event

-Software ---> Maps as S:, but only for me

--I work on stuff out of this share (extracted ISOs, etc)

-Unattended ---> Maps as U:, but only for me

--I use this for Unattended CDs/DVDs

Edited August 14, 2007 by nmX.Memnoch

[Zxian]

So... one last update, since everything is in and installed.

Some necessary pictures...

I went out to FutureShop today and bought a craptastic 500GB external drive to hold my data temporarily while I converted the disks. The array is now a dynamic GTP disk with a simple volume on it.

My Disk Configuration

While I had an empty drive to play with, I made sure that I could create a volume, and then extend it as needed. I was able to without any troubles, but I noticed that what Windows actually does is create another volume with the same label and drive letter, and just merge the two for the rest of the system - See here

I'm still playing with the configuration a little bit here and there, but I'm wondering about the "StorSave" setting. If I set it to "Protection" or "Balanced" I get pretty poor write speeds - 5MB/s on protection - 7-8MB/s on Balanced. If I set it to Performance, I'm limited to whatever the other medium is, and it can copy to itself at nearly 100MB/s. Any thoughts on this? I've got write-cache enabled, and queuing enabled as well.

[jcarle]

I'm still playing with the configuration a little bit here and there, but I'm wondering about the "StorSave" setting. If I set it to "Protection" or "Balanced" I get pretty poor write speeds - 5MB/s on protection - 7-8MB/s on Balanced. If I set it to Performance, I'm limited to whatever the other medium is, and it can copy to itself at nearly 100MB/s. Any thoughts on this? I've got write-cache enabled, and queuing enabled as well.

You might want to take a look here: http://man.och.cz/3dm2/3DM_2_OLH-4-07.html

My take from that would be if you had the BBU installed with the StorSave set to Balanced, you'd gain the protection that the BBU offers with a step of speed towards the Performance profile.

Edited August 16, 2007 by jcarle

[Zxian]

I think it's the Force Unit Access that's killing performance on Protection and Balanced...

Write journaling would be disabled anyways, since I don't have a BBU.

[nmX.Memnoch]

But I'm ticked off at the moment because when I looked at mine my drives are running at 1.5Gbps instead of 3.0Gbps for some reason. I'll get that sorted out.

Well...I finally shutdown the server tonight to check this out. Turns out my suspicions were correct...in my haste to get the new controller setup I'd left the jumper on the 7200.10 drive that limits them to 1.5Gbps.

BUT...the story doesn't end there. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

While I was in there I noticed things were a little...warm, specifically around the Visiontek GeForce 4 Ti4600 video card. Turns out the fan had died on it and things were getting VERY toasty inside the case. I happened to have a BFG GeForce FX 5200 Ultra laying on the shelf so I swapped 'em out. Man was it ever warm inside that case. I'm really surprised the Supermicro utility didn't pick up the warmer temps.

[jcarle]

But I'm ticked off at the moment because when I looked at mine my drives are running at 1.5Gbps instead of 3.0Gbps for some reason. I'll get that sorted out.

Well...I finally shutdown the server tonight to check this out. Turns out my suspicions were correct...in my haste to get the new controller setup I'd left the jumper on the 7200.10 drive that limits them to 1.5Gbps.

BUT...the story doesn't end there. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

While I was in there I noticed things were a little...warm, specifically around the Visiontek GeForce 4 Ti4600 video card. Turns out the fan had died on it and things were getting VERY toasty inside the case. I happened to have a BFG GeForce FX 5200 Ultra laying on the shelf so I swapped 'em out. Man was it ever warm inside that case. I'm really surprised the Supermicro utility didn't pick up the warmer temps.

What kind of case do you have your server in? Don't forget also that our perception of temperature is flawed. What may seem quite warm may in fact only be a few degrees above ambient.

[nmX.Memnoch]

Well considering that the copper heatsink I had on the Ti4600 was completely untouchable for several minutes...I'd say it was pretty darn warm. I can also notice an audible difference in the fan speeds today (they're spinning slower) so it was definitely warming the case up.

I have a Thermaltake Armor case (with the stupid "flaps" on the front removed). I wish I would've got the CM Stacker but this works fine. I have two of the iCages but I'm thinking about replacing them with something from either 3ware or Supermicro. I can't for the life of me figure out why Thermaltake took three 5.25" bays for one iCage and it only holds three 3.5" drives.

[Zxian]

Yea... the 3-3 iCages are kinda dumb. Way to go ThermalTake.

Is this the 3ware cage you were talking about?

Also... is there somewhere to get a shorter ML breakaway cable? Something like... 12"? You can see, the card and drives are pretty close to each other, and having 3ft of cable is rediculous.

[nmX.Memnoch]

Yea... the 3-3 iCages are kinda dumb. Way to go ThermalTake.

I'll correct that for you...they are dumb.

Is this the 3ware cage you were talking about?

. Yep...either that one or this Supermicro cage. My current controller is only four channel...but the Supermicro cages are also available in black.

Also... is there somewhere to get a shorter ML breakaway cable? Something like... 12"? You can see, the card and drives are pretty close to each other, and having 3ft of cable is rediculous.

Not sure, but I'll look around.

EDIT: Did some searching. The part number you're looking for is CBL-SFF8087OCF-05M. That's a .5 meter cable so it should be half the length of the one you got with the controller. If you go to this page there's a PDF you can download that has all of their cable part numbers.

Edited August 17, 2007 by nmX.Memnoch

[Zxian]

Thanks Memnoch. I'll look into getting a couple of those... but boy are they expensive...

Another thing I realized... I finally retired my old file server altogether and moved the two PATA hard drives I have into the new system. Interestingly enough - the JMicron PATA controller doesn't support SMART data over the PATA connector. I haven't tried hooking up a hard drive to the SATA port yet, but it's a little strange that I can't pickup the temperatures in either Everest or SpeedFan.

[nmX.Memnoch]

Yeah, they aren't cheap. But I'm looking at the drive density. Being able to put 10 drives in the same space where I can currently only put 6 would be awesome. And right now, with only four drives in my data array, they're taking up SIX freakin' 5.25" drive bays because of those stupid iCages. I can get one of the Supermicro cages and reduce that down to three 5.25" bays.

I wish I could afford to go to SAS and 2.5" drives.

http://www.supermicro.com/products/accesso...k/CSE-M28E1.cfm

http://www.supermicro.com/products/accesso...ack/CSE-M14.cfm

Either of those would net you eight drives in the space of two 5.25" bays...