network storage computer

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dpidcoe
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network storage computer

Post by dpidcoe »

I've been thinking about building a computer to act as a network storage device and would like some input. My idea is something that won't be too costly to build (maybe under $500?) that I could just stick somewhere and forget about. I don't really want to get one of those networked terabyte storage things because the computer might end up doubling as a personal webserver or occasional dedicated gameserver. It's likely it will end up running windows 2000, mostly because linux hates me, and I have a few copies of it laying around so that'll save me a few bucks not having to buy the OS.

my first round of questions:

is this even doable?

I'd like to use sata, just because that offers the ability to use the drives in other computers later on if I upgrade them, or vice versa. is this a good or bad idea?

should I go for 2 large drives on raid1 or multiple smaller drives on raid5?

will I need to get a pci/pci-e card to run the raid setup or can I just use a motherboard that says it supports raid?

what hard drive attributes should I be looking for if I'm planning on using them in a raid setup (cache size, seek time, latency etc.)?
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Chrisax
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Post by Chrisax »

How much storage space do you need?

How critical is the data you want to store there?


A system dedicated to storage over a small network doesn't need a lot of CPU power, as, anyhow, the bottlenecks are the disks and to some degree the network itself.

It could be possible FOR EXAMPLE to use one of the new low-cost Intel MB with CPU

http://www.intel.com/products/motherboa ... /index.htm

http://www.intel.com/products/motherboa ... /index.htm


IMHO it's doable in SATA, and RAID 1 is the minimum.

On the other hand, RAID 5 solutions, when you build them yourself are often a pain in the neck to make them work properly. But, of course, when it works, the level of security is much better.

Most motherboards only include Raid 0 and Raid 1 solutions. Sometimes with limitations. Unfortunately, unless you can read the full installation manual, this is usually not clear in the ads or specs sheets.

You should use the same model of drives in you array (safe solution). Unless you run critical applications (and it doesn't seem to be tha case), any good HD of today will do the job.

I have not looked into the HD market for a while, so I'm not sure I can give you the best advice. My personal choice would be a Seagate Barracuda with 8 or 16MB cache, 7200 RPM. But, for example, I have no idea of how good Samsung disks are.

What you need also is a decent enclosure, with good cooling and a GOOD power supply. Avoid low-cost power supplies, and the ones equipping low-cost enclosures. When they die, they can do a lot of damage to your system. Personally I'm happy with Antec computer cases and power supplies for years. But there are several other good makers.
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dpidcoe
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Post by dpidcoe »

I don't really "need" the extra storage, but it'd make stuff a lot simpler to have a centralized storage space for stuff like pictures (my sister has about 60gb of them sitting on my computer :roll: ) and backups (which are currently spread across several computers in a disorganized fashion). The data isn't really really critical, but I don't want to loose stuff if a drive goes down, so thats why I was thinking a raid array instead of just slapping multiple drives in. I'll probably start out with around 400 gigs, but thats why I was asking about different raid setups, right now I'm leaning towards raid5 just because it's easily/cheaply expandable (I'm assuming it is at least, never actually played with a raid5 setup before).

The intel boards look like an interesting option, not sure how much they run for but from looking at newegg I can pick up a mobo and ~2ghz dual core cpu for around $100 (this might end up having some other uses besides pure storage, such as hosting the occasional fps game that could potentially be slightly more demanding of the CPU)
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Chrisax
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Post by Chrisax »

For what you want to do, two drives in Raid 1 on a network comp should offer enough security. The probability the raid totally fails (both drives) at the same time as the original storage fails is close to zero. With one restriction though: if you are in an area where power issues are frequent, you might want to have your raid computer plugged on a specific power line, or protected by a specific UPS.

Of course, nothing is safer than saving your Raid data on DVDs (or Blue Ray now) from time to time and keep them in a safe place.

The Intel MB is around 62 USD with 512MB of RAM on the Web. A small local reseller can discount it a bit more. It's not much more for the 1 GB version. Note that you don't need a video card, as video is integrated. (If you were under Linux, you would have to verify if the MB is supported for graphics.)
Rulzern
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Post by Rulzern »

I have not looked into the HD market for a while, so I'm not sure I can give you the best advice. My personal choice would be a Seagate Barracuda with 8 or 16MB cache, 7200 RPM. But, for example, I have no idea of how good Samsung disks are.
Last time I looked into the HD market (two years ago?), Samsung were getting pretty good reviews. But that information could be outdated, doesn't take long to get a good overview of that on any decent hardware review site though.

RAID1 will give you a (theoretical) doubling of read speed, with no write speed advantage over a single disk, RAID5 should give almost the same read speed increase, I'm not sure how the write speed compares to a single disk.

In a small RAID5 array, the failiure rate should be reduced to around the same as a RAID1 array (I beleive?) that is, the probability of failing ^2.

About the video drivers, those motherboards use a SiS chip, for which the support was somewhat... lacking... last time I checked, but you can still use the vesa driver, if it's just a file/game server, there shouldn't be any need for anything beyond that.

Also, if I was building this computer, I'd be thinking about noise and power consumption as well (well, they tend to go hand-in-hand). Lookin up reviews on SilentPCReview and other sites is probably a good idea. Especially if you're planning on making that computer double as a HTPC (I would!).
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