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Thread: Raid NAS Again

  1. #1
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    Raid NAS Again

    OK - I think I am ready to start and build a NAS server to serve mainly media around the house. I currently have a 2.8Ghz P4 with 512Mb RAM. I have been running Debian on this and use this as my general server for things such as MySQL, SSH server to the outside, Apache Web Server, Tomcat server etc, MP3 server.

    I like to take this and install probably 4-5 300/320GB HDD in this server - SATA drives so I need a PCI SATA adapter card. I will have a sepearte PATA drive for the OS (preferably Debian or another flavour of linux).

    The questions:

    The question is what level of RAID? - It seems from trawling the www that Raid 5 is the most popular for redundancy and performance. So this is probably the level of Raid I will use.

    Which card?
    XFX Revo 5-port: This card sounds appealing as its a full hardware based raid card - the OS sees it as a singular drive and there is no requirement for drivers. This is good from a linux point of view. However, there doesn't seem to be any linux support in terms of supporting apps for notification of Raid health.

    Promise TX4: Seems to have linux driver support.

    3Ware: Not sure which one.

    Highpoint RocketRaid 1640: Not sure about this - not read much about it and linux support.

    My main issue with the XFX card is that if the card fails - I guess I will lose my entire Raid array unless I can source an exact card. Hence one reason to get a fake raid card and let the OS do the raid. Will a 2.8Ghz P4 handle os raid ok?

    I currently have an Antec Sonata case - but will probably get an Akasa Eclipse 62 box to house this server as there is reasonable room in there for future drive additions and has good facilities for quiet cooling (120mm fan facilities). Coolermaster Stacker was the other option but I think its too big (only live in a small flat) and the mesh front won't be good for silence (no where to hide this server so its out of noise range). I can even use the Coolermaster 4-in-3 drive housing and put some black mesh to hide it for addtional drive space with suitable cooling. Probably keep the current PSU though (380 watt) - guess this be enough presently to power 5-6 drives and the p4 - no fancy gaphics requirements (on board graphics).

    I have looked at OpenFiler and NASLite which are lightweight linux distributions specifically for NAS applicances. I like to use a full blown linux distro because of other tasks this server will do such as print serving, database serving, caller id server, Squid HTTP Proxy server etc.

    Any one provide any helpful advice with regards to a SATA card for linux raid? Or any helpful pointers or help with tackling this project?

  2. #2
    YUKIKAZE arthurleung's Avatar
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    • arthurleung's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asus P5E (Rampage Formula 0902)
      • CPU:
      • Intel Core2Quad Q9550 3.6Ghz 1.2V
      • Memory:
      • A-Data DDR2-800 2x2GB CL4
      • Storage:
      • 4x1TB WD1000FYPS @ RAID5 3Ware 9500S-8 / 3x 1TB Samsung Ecogreen F2
      • Graphics card(s):
      • GeCube HD4870 512MB
      • PSU:
      • Corsair VX450
      • Case:
      • Antec P180
      • Operating System:
      • Windows Server 2008 Standard
      • Monitor(s):
      • Dell Ultrasharp 2709W + 2001FP
      • Internet:
      • Be*Unlimited 20Mbps
    I would recommend you to search ebay for 3Ware 8506-4 or 8506-8, there should be plenty of cheap one. These support RAID5 and have very reliable driver for all platforms

    Don't bother with XFX, HPT and Promise, they're all windows-orientated and linux driver is pretty crap.

    I would think you could just use Linux soft-raid. I haven't got a HDD dying on my for the past 18 months (thanks to good quality power supply). I opted for no raid. It is in some way more reliable in independent disks rather than RAID5 (bad reliability from SIL3114).
    Workstation 1: Intel i7 950 @ 3.8Ghz / X58 / 12GB DDR3-1600 / HD4870 512MB / Antec P180
    Workstation 2: Intel C2Q Q9550 @ 3.6Ghz / X38 / 4GB DDR2-800 / 8400GS 512MB / Open Air
    Workstation 3: Intel Xeon X3350 @ 3.2Ghz / P35 / 4GB DDR2-800 / HD4770 512MB / Shuttle SP35P2
    HTPC: AMD Athlon X4 620 @ 2.6Ghz / 780G / 4GB DDR2-1000 / Antec Mini P180 White
    Mobile Workstation: Intel C2D T8300 @ 2.4Ghz / GM965 / 3GB DDR2-667 / DELL Inspiron 1525 / 6+6+9 Cell Battery

    Display (Monitor): DELL Ultrasharp 2709W + DELL Ultrasharp 2001FP
    Display (Projector): Epson TW-3500 1080p
    Speakers: Creative Megaworks THX550 5.1
    Headphones: Etymotic hf2 / Ultimate Ears Triple.fi 10 Pro

    Storage: 8x2TB Hitachi @ DELL PERC 6/i RAID6 / 13TB Non-RAID Across 12 HDDs
    Consoles: PS3 Slim 120GB / Xbox 360 Arcade 20GB / PS2

  3. #3
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    When you say you aren't using raid, you just have a bunch of disks? Or do you use a JBOD/LVM type scenario? I haven't had a hdd die on me yet (touch wood.....) as I seem to manage to upgrade and delegate old hdd's to other pc's which has small usage. However, when I build a server, I expect the disks to be there for quite a while so would like some level of redunduncy just in case.

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