2tb storage/backup setup

[dino213aa]

Hey, I'm looking for a way to establish 2tb of hard disk storage that I can also backup. I know there are some RAID solutions that would work, but what is the best configuration or hardware to implement this? I was looking at the 2tb Buffalo Terastation Pro, but under "mirrored" mode that would be 1tb instead of 2. Or would I just leave it on the factory default (RAID 5) and keep a spare HD handy? I also have no objection to tape- time is not a factor here.

What's the best way to go about this?

[CoffeeFiend]

RAID5 to prevent data loss in case of HD failure. Four 750GB Seagate drives in RAID5 would work fine (on a nice and expensive hardware RAID card or cheapo software RAID card or anything else you like). They're pretty expensive though, so if you can do with smaller drives (less storage) or doing software RAID using more drives then it'll be far cheaper (nice hardware RAID cards for many drives are very expensive unfortunately)

The NAS you're mentioning is only 2GB without any "redundancy" (4x500GB HDs in RAID0) - a drive fails, you lose it all (I believe backups should be safe and secure, and that RAID0 is a bad choice for that). There's some RAID modes (1 and 5), but then you have less than 2TB (1TB with RAID1, 1.5TB with RAID5), which doesn't answer your needs anymore. 500GB drives can be had for 150$ each at newegg. So 4 of those (for a similar setup) would be 600$. That NAS costs more than twice that. Besides, most NAS (besides being pricey) usually have issues, like slow performance (this one seems rather slow in RAID5 too - check this review -- 70GB/7h is under 3MB/sec) and countless little things...

Either ways, I'd skip the whole NAS idea altogether. Either just fill an old box with a lot of cheap and large HDs, or go the SAN way. Tape is the most expensive and slowest solution of 'em all (it's just somewhat convenient for storing stuff off-site and such), and it would involve changing and storing lots of expensive tapes. I'd even pick the NAS over that, and that's saying a lot.

Edit: BTW, there are other threads about large backup solutions like this one which are worth reading too (I've answered and convered this more in detail in that one, esp WRT tapes)

Edited January 14, 2007 by crahak

[dino213aa]

Hey crahak, thanks for your help. I saw the other thread you provided the link for, but the original poster seems to have more constraints than I do. I agree that tape seems expensive and time-consuming.

Since I'd be mainly using this storage for media files (especially lossless audio), I'm not too terribly concerned with speed. I'm just realizing that with my ever-burgeoning multimedia collection, I'm going to need not only something larger than the 500gig internal drive I have now, but something that can protect all of this data.

Still, knowing exactly what hardware I need is the big question. I don't have a PCI Express slot available just a reguler PCI, so is there a way around that?

[CoffeeFiend]

Then your needs are very much like mine then. Most of my storage is used by media contents (mpeg4 video though).

I'd just throw 4 cheap 500GB SATA drives on a cheapo RAID card, like the Sabrent PCI SATA RAID card (like this one @ 42$ CDN). Speed isn't as good as with a 300$+ PCI-e RAID card, but it's already overkill for streaming AV anyways (like 30x faster than that NAS too)

Very affordable overall (as much storage as you can buy), very much bang for the buck, scalable (just buy more controllers as required), reliable, fast enough for almost anything, etc. Works for me at least!

For the price of the NAS you were looking at, you could buy 2 such PCI SATA RAID cards, and fill 'em both with 4 cheap 500GB drives like I've pointed to. That's a lot of storage As long as it all fits in your case and that the PSU can handle it... You could turn this into a iSCSI SAN too (I would, if only I had a place to put the box out of the way where I don't hear it, but there's no basement in this condo unfortunately, maybe next place...)

[LLXX]

How about two of these?

Edited January 14, 2007 by LLXX

[glent]

Hitach "DeathStar" Unreliable

[dino213aa]

That's a lot of storage As long as it all fits in your case and that the PSU can handle it...

Crahak, thanks so much for your help. One more question: what should I use for a case? What drives should I use? Can you recommend any brands/models for those?

[DL.]

You'll need quite a large case for that many drives, to make sure they are properly cooled.

Any version of the Cooler Master Stacker (add some more 4-in-3 device modules) will probably do just fine.

Seagate hard drives are considered quite reliable these days.

[dino213aa]

You'll need quite a large case for that many drives, to make sure they are properly cooled.

Any version of the Cooler Master Stacker (add some more 4-in-3 device modules) will probably do just fine.

Seagate hard drives are considered quite reliable these days.

So a CM Stacker, seagate drives, and a sabrent controller would do the trick? Anything else I'm missing on my shopping list?

[DL.]

Make sure you get a few more 4-in-3 device modules (put 2-3 hard drives in each).

You'll need a strong high quality PSU too (others will probably be able to help you select one).

[CoffeeFiend]

So a CM Stacker, seagate drives, and a sabrent controller would do the trick? Anything else I'm missing on my shopping list?

It depends on your budget and how many drives you'll be getting, sort of.

-A bunch of HDs (Seagate's my favorite, so no objections here)

-a cheapo PCI RAID controller (e.g. silicon image based, like the sabrent one) or 2 depending on how many drives (4/card)

-a case & PSU(s) that can handle your setup

The coolermaster stacker 810 (with 2 extra modules and 2nd PSU) is your best bet if you're going to use a dozen drives or so. But it's not the cheapest way... If you're going to have 4 to 8 drives or so, you can find a smaller case that will cost under half of that (it's a matter of budget really, if one can afford it, the CM stacker is the way), like perhaps this one which can still hold many HDs (4X5.25 2X3.5 5X3.5INT bays on this one), and has decent cooling too. Again, any more than that, and you'll want dual PSUs anyways, and more space, so CM stacker. It's just that a ~200$ case might seem a bit too expensive for someone who just wants 4 HDs. Your call.

[dino213aa]

Make sure you get a few more 4-in-3 device modules (put 2-3 hard drives in each).

You'll need a strong high quality PSU too (others will probably be able to help you select one).

Hey DL, thanks for you help. So basically I need a budget-minded shopping list to set this up.. including a PSU.

1) Any controller would have to be standard PCI since my express slot is already taken.

2) Since it's just a media server, the drives don't need to be hot-swappable.

Any help would be great.. I'm clueless.

[CoffeeFiend]

Hey DL, thanks for you help. So basically I need a budget-minded shopping list to set this up.. including a PSU.

It entirely depends on how many drives you're going to use (4x500 for 2TB?), and how much expandability you want (will you want to add more HDs to that box sometime?). Recommendations for a 4 drive or a 12 drive setup will be very different, especially for the case and PSU. With just 4 drives you can use just about anything, but as you add more drives you need more drive bays, more cooling, more power and all.

Edited January 14, 2007 by crahak

[bonestonne]

Hitach "DeathStar" Unreliable

you know, thats a pretty lame thing to say...have you seen another company throw a 1TB drive out yet? its the first i've seen.

not to mention i'm running a pair of deskstars...haven't shown a hint of failure, even though one drive is damaged [thanks to an HP tower].

[dino213aa]

Hey DL, thanks for you help. So basically I need a budget-minded shopping list to set this up.. including a PSU.

It entirely depends on how many drives you're going to use (4x500 for 2TB?), and how much expandability you want (will you want to add more HDs to that box sometime?). Recommendations for a 4 drive or a 12 drive setup will be very different, especially for the case and PSU. With just 4 drives you can use just about anything, but as you add more drives you need more drive bays, more cooling, more power and all.

I guess I had in mind a 4 drive setup, but I'm open to a larger drive setup if that's what it takes. From what I've been reading, a 4 drive, 2tb (available) raid 5 isn't possible unless I use (I'm assuming) 750gig drives... which I guess is fine except I haven't seen any hardware that seems to actually support this. That being said, wouldn't I need more that 4 drives to achieve a true 2tb of available storage in raid 5? As for expandability, at this stage of the game I'm not concerned with that at all. Considering all of the additional cost and considerations, I'd rather just stick to a goal of 2tb, and accept that one day I may have to start from scratch. I can live with that.

Does this help narrow it down any?

Edited January 14, 2007 by dino213aa