Building a 1TB+ File Server

[PerfeK]

Originally posted by: dowxp

Originally posted by: PerfeK

Originally posted by: PerfeK
He is asking me if he will be able to mount the server as a network drive (assign a drive letter) and have full write/read/delete access. Will he?

Bumping so someone can hopefully answer my question.

sure why not, assuming windows... btw just burning in my own file server, though it is a rack that is going into a DC

http://downloadanime.org/server2

going on a gig-e x-connect to

http://downloadanime.org/server

That's what I thought. Just had to be 100% sure. Thanks

What RAID card is that?

Does this card look okay?

http://www.lsilogic.com/products/megaraid/sata_300_8x.html

It's the only 8 port SATA RAID card on the site.

I have to order through zipzoomfly (Int'l order).


How about a UPS? Any of these look good?

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductList.jsp?ThirdCategoryCode=011802

 

[imported_Phil]

Here's a link to a 5-bay hot-swap SATA caddy, we use them at work and they're very reliable. One thing I should mention is that it has a maximum transfer rate of 150Mb/sec - I don't know if this is per-drive or per-caddy (i.e. either 150Mb/sec per drive, or 150Mb/sec for all 5 drives). If it's the latter, then this will impede performance, but you'll be hard-pressed to find a regular desktop motherboard that has PCI-X slots, so I wouldn't worry about it too much

As for auto-rebuild; yes, if the controller supports it then it should start rebuilding automatically. It's highly recommended to keep the GAM software for the card loaded (array monitoring software), as not only will this inform you of any problems, it can perform maintenance on the array, such as displaying bad block lists, adding/removing hot spare drives, etc.

You'll definitely be wanting a UPS. APC make great UPSs, but they're expensive. Belkin-made units are also pretty good.

Low-noise cooling is going to be an issue. Any half-decent 5-bay caddy will have a 60mm/80mm fan mounted in the front (see the link I posted above for an example), and these tend not to be the quietest of fans in the world - they're designed to keep drives cool, and that's it.

A good bet might be to look at an Aerogate fanbus controller- as long as it's set up correctly, it will spin the fans up and down depending on the temperature readings it receives. For example, mine spins the rear exhaust fan up if the graphics card probe reads above 65C, and spins it back down to 1400rpm (virtually silent) when it cools back down. Recommended

[Edit] The LSI controllers are good performers and reliable - definitely a good choice.

[Edit2] This UPS should do you fine, 1500VA which gives ~800W for 4 minutes - long enough for a shutdown. Half-load should give you 12 minutes runtime, and that's roughly what you're aiming for.

[Edit3] One more thing - I cannot recommend strongly enough for you to keep a spare drive around should one of the drives in the array fail. If a drive fails, then you're skating on thin ice until it's replaced and the array has completed a rebuild. The array will keep running if a drive dies, but you should swap the failed disk, stat, unless you enjoy running the risk of losing your data

This is why a large proportion of the RAID systems we sell at work come in a 3+1, 4+1 etc setup - 3 or 4 drive in the actual array, and one more as a hot-spare; i.e. one that will kick in automatically and begin a rebuild without any intervention. Once the dead drive is replaced, then it becomes the new hot spare.

 

[PerfeK]

Originally posted by: Phil
Here's a link to a 5-bay hot-swap SATA caddy, we use them at work and they're very reliable. One thing I should mention is that it has a maximum transfer rate of 150Mb/sec - I don't know if this is per-drive or per-caddy (i.e. either 150Mb/sec per drive, or 150Mb/sec for all 5 drives). If it's the latter, then this will impede performance, but you'll be hard-pressed to find a regular desktop motherboard that has PCI-X slots, so I wouldn't worry about it too much

As for auto-rebuild; yes, if the controller supports it then it should start rebuilding automatically. It's highly recommended to keep the GAM software for the card loaded (array monitoring software), as not only will this inform you of any problems, it can perform maintenance on the array, such as displaying bad block lists, adding/removing hot spare drives, etc.

You'll definitely be wanting a UPS. APC make great UPSs, but they're expensive. Belkin-made units are also pretty good.

Low-noise cooling is going to be an issue. Any half-decent 5-bay caddy will have a 60mm/80mm fan mounted in the front (see the link I posted above for an example), and these tend not to be the quietest of fans in the world - they're designed to keep drives cool, and that's it.

A good bet might be to look at an Aerogate fanbus controller- as long as it's set up correctly, it will spin the fans up and down depending on the temperature readings it receives. For example, mine spins the rear exhaust fan up if the graphics card probe reads above 65C, and spins it back down to 1400rpm (virtually silent) when it cools back down. Recommended

[Edit] The LSI controllers are good performers and reliable - definitely a good choice.

[Edit2] This UPS should do you fine, 1500VA which gives ~800W for 4 minutes - long enough for a shutdown. Half-load should give you 12 minutes runtime, and that's roughly what you're aiming for.

[Edit3] One more thing - I cannot recommend strongly enough for you to keep a spare drive around should one of the drives in the array fail. If a drive fails, then you're skating on thin ice until it's replaced and the array has completed a rebuild. The array will keep running if a drive dies, but you should swap the failed disk, stat, unless you enjoy running the risk of losing your data

This is why a large proportion of the RAID systems we sell at work come in a 3+1, 4+1 etc setup - 3 or 4 drive in the actual array, and one more as a hot-spare; i.e. one that will kick in automatically and begin a rebuild without any intervention. Once the dead drive is replaced, then it becomes the new hot spare.

Do you have any links to better looking hot swap bays?

I'll definitely remember to keep the software running. Thanks for the recommendation.

What will that UPS be able to power the server, his notebook and his 2405FPW? Doesn't the UPS send a signal that tells the computers connected to shut down?

I'm buying six drives, putting five into a 1TB RAID-5 array and using the 6th as a hot spare in the system.

Also buying a spinpoint as a system drive. This computer will be pretty nice. I'm replacing my computer also but I don't need to make a thread about that (4200+, 7800GTX, NCQ'd Spinpoint).


I think you may have missed this so I'll ask again. Is this a good RAID card? If not, could you recommend something from ZipZoomFly? I couldn't find any reviews online. It's an SATAII card with NCQ.

http://www.lsilogic.com/products/megaraid/sata_300_8x.html

 

[RadiclDreamer]

http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/default.aspx?EDC=731618

 

[PerfeK]

Originally posted by: RadiclDreamer
http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/default.aspx?EDC=731618

No thanks.

Can anyone tell me if this RAID card is good?

http://www.lsilogic.com/products/megaraid/sata_300_8x.html

 

[Arcanedeath]

For the raid card I'd suggest a PCI-E 8x Tekram / Arcera ARC 1220 8 port Sata 2 card, it's a hardware raid card that comes w/ 128mb of user upgradable cache (up to 1GB its a 200pin DDR sodimm) (its an enterprise card so supports online array expansion, rebuilding, hotswaping ect... ) 6x wd 3200JD's from the hot deals fourm Here. and setup a raid 6 array (its just like raid 5 except it uses 2 drive's capasity for parity so even if 2 drives fail you still don't lose your data instead of just 1 w/ raid 5) an SLI motherboard of your choice (I'd suggest the DFI Lanparty UT or Asus Premium) and pretty much run of the mill other parts for a 939 system if you'd like suggestions for other parts I'd be happy to mention some, but I belive the ARC 1220 raid card has the most features and is the best performing card out of the ones listed in the thread (heres its specs Arc 12XX series product page ) take a look at the specs for all the details on the card. This should perform better and have more redundancy that any other suggestion so far. Anyways hope this helps...

 

[PerfeK]

Originally posted by: Arcanedeath
For the raid card I'd suggest a PCI-E 8x Tekram / Arcera ARC 1220 8 port Sata 2 card, it's a hardware raid card that comes w/ 128mb of user upgradable cache (up to 1GB its a 200pin DDR sodimm) (its an enterprise card so supports online array expansion, rebuilding, hotswaping ect... ) 6x wd 3200JD's from the hot deals fourm Here. and setup a raid 6 array (its just like raid 5 except it uses 2 drive's capasity for parity so even if 2 drives fail you still don't lose your data instead of just 1 w/ raid 5) an SLI motherboard of your choice (I'd suggest the DFI Lanparty UT or Asus Premium) and pretty much run of the mill other parts for a 939 system if you'd like suggestions for other parts I'd be happy to mention some, but I belive the ARC 1220 raid card has the most features and is the best performing card out of the ones listed in the thread (heres its specs Arc 12XX series product page ) take a look at the specs for all the details on the card. This should perform better and have more redundancy that any other suggestion so far. Anyways hope this helps...

http://resellerratings.shopping.com/xPC-LSI_Logic_MEGARAID_300_8X_8PORT_SATA_II

Is that card good? I have to order from Zipzoomfly and they don't have any Tekram, Adaptec or 3ware cards.
Why in the hell would I need SLI for a headless server? I'm using a PCI vanilla $20 video card.

 

[dowxp]

Originally posted by: PerfeK

Originally posted by: dowxp

Originally posted by: PerfeK

Originally posted by: PerfeK
He is asking me if he will be able to mount the server as a network drive (assign a drive letter) and have full write/read/delete access. Will he?

Bumping so someone can hopefully answer my question.

sure why not, assuming windows... btw just burning in my own file server, though it is a rack that is going into a DC

http://downloadanime.org/server2

going on a gig-e x-connect to

http://downloadanime.org/server

That's what I thought. Just had to be 100% sure. Thanks

What RAID card is that?

Does this card look okay?

http://www.lsilogic.com/products/megaraid/sata_300_8x.html

It's the only 8 port SATA RAID card on the site.

I have to order through zipzoomfly (Int'l order).


How about a UPS? Any of these look good?

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductList.jsp?ThirdCategoryCode=011802

I'm not raiding it since its too expensive. So i'm just JBOD'ing.

http://downloadanime.org/server2/sata/DSC00838.JPG

If you really have the money try any promise controller. I like them a lot.

As for UPS, I have no idea, the Datacenter takes care of that

 

[dowxp]

If you are set on sata raid, try

http://www.promise.com/product/segment_lv2list.asp?segment=RAID%205%20HBAs

 

[PerfeK]

Goddamnit, guys. Do you read? I'm ordering from ZZF. They don't sell high end Promise cards. I specifically asked about this card:

https://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=132621

I asked about 5 times and for some reason, you keep skipping and ignoring the question. I appreciate the help and all but it's getting frustrating. I've spent 30 hours with this topic this weekend, trying to find parts at stores which accept Int'l orders and I'm exhausted. Please, PLEASE, just answer my question.

Is this card decent? Will it work? It's pretty much my only option:

https://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=132621

 

[dowxp]

Yes it will work. Is it decent? I don't know. I doubt anyone has any experience with it -- too expensive for a normal "consumer"

 

[PerfeK]

Originally posted by: dowxp
Yes it will work. Is it decent? I don't know. I doubt anyone has any experience with it -- too expensive for a normal "consumer"

Is it common for certain brands of RAID cards to be crap? That's basically what I'm asking. You know how VIA makes bad chipsets compared to nvidia? That's what I mean. Do I have to worry about this LSI card being an unstable, faulty mess? Other than the name, the features look pretty(very) good.

 

[dowxp]

I would probably use it. LSI isn't a crap company. But I really can't comment on the card, never used it.

 

[PerfeK]

Here are the final specs of the server:

$158 - Coolermaster CM Stacker
$266 - Highpoint RocketRAID 8 Port SATAII RAID-5 Card
$54 - (3) Vantec Thermoflow 120mm Fans
$24 - (4) Vantec Thermoflow 80mm Fans
$82 - Antec Truepower 2.0 430W (12v - 17A x2)
$146 - AMD Athlon 64 3000+
$82 - Chaintech VNF4 Vanilla
$41 - Corsair 512MB Value Select
$44 - eVGA GF4 MX4000 PCI card
$65 - Samsung Spinpoint 80GB System Drive
$774 - (6) Seagate 7200.8 250GB SATAII Drives (~1TB RAID-5 + 1 Hot Spare)
$329 - (7) Vantec EZ-Swap Mobile Hot Swap Racks w/ LCD screens
$67 - SMC Gigabit Switch w/ Jumbo Frames
$215 - APC BR1500 UPS
$14 - Sony FDD
$21- Liteon CD-ROM Drive
_____________________________

$2,337 + SH

 

[PerfeK]

Originally posted by: dowxpLSI isn't a crap company.

Thanks. As long as they aren't bogus, I'm cool.

I really appreciate all of the help. I'm FINALLY done. Time to email the lists and bide my time until I hook this up on July 11th when I visit him.

So what's the procedure for setting up a server like this?

-Install hardware except for RAID card and HDDs
-Install XP on Systm Drive
-Install RAID card in PCI, add hard drives
-Boot into RAID utility and configure?

Is that how it works? Do I just do it like any other computer? The card should come with software, right?

 

[dowxp]

Yup, should be normal as usual ...

 

[dowxp]

hrm does that mobo support PCI-X?

 

[PerfeK]

Originally posted by: dowxp
hrm does that mobo support PCI-X?

No, just vanilla PCI. I think PCI-X is supposed to be backwards compatible with PCI.

 

[PerfeK]

Bumping to make sure that PCI-X is backwards compatible.

 

[dowxp]

I do not know the answer

 

[PerfeK]

Originally posted by: dowxp
I do not know the answer

I sure hope so. I'm about 2 hours away from ordering.

 

[dowxp]

Well.. i'm going to say no, its not compatible. why don't you order to your house and then when you go over, take it with you? or order it yourself and forward it out.

 

[PerfeK]

Originally posted by: dowxp
Well.. i'm going to say no, its not compatible. why don't you order to your house and then when you go over, take it with you? or order it yourself and forward it out.

I'm not taking 60lbs of computer stuff in a suitcase to the Caribbean.

And yes, it is compatible. Thanks for spreading misinformation.

 

[dowxp]

well, sorry for attempting to help. see ya

 

[Pariah]

One word for this thread, comical.

This thread should be stickied to the top of this forum as a prime example of why you should not ask a question like this on this forum without at least having a ballpark idea of what you need and what it will likely cost.

$2600 for a do-it-yourself terabyte of useable storage to store music and movie files that at most 2 people will ever be using at once? You can probably get a corporate prebuilt/preconfigured NAS box from Dell with a similar feature list and techsupport in the same price range and no one remotely in their right mind would buy one of those for this application. Unbelievable.