New Server (Pics)

[assassin24]

Just wanted to share a new custom HTPC server that we did for a customer...

 

[LoveMachine]

Holey Harddrives, Batman! I'm gonna guess 12TB of RAIDed storage? Details, please.

 

[Charlie98]

Love to see the specs on that. I like that case...

 

[assassin24]

Holey Harddrives, Batman! I'm gonna guess 12TB of RAIDed storage? Details, please.

I don't do, believe in or recommend hardware raid of any sort for htpc or a htpc server.

Software raid all the way.

 

[LoveMachine]

Sorry, didn't mean RAID details (I don't bother with any sort of RAID, but backup on a physically separate drive), but rather details on the build itself.

 

[assassin24]

Holey Harddrives, Batman! I'm gonna guess 12TB of RAIDed storage? Details, please.

7 x 3TB storage. Not sure if this one was setup with FlexRaid or not but I would assume it was. I will have to ask our build team.

 

[assassin24]

Here are some larger pics for those interested...

http://www.assassinserver.com/

 

[thestrangebrew1]

Wow this is an awesome setup! That case looks crazy.

 

[Aikouka]

Is that a Noctua PF-12 being used as a case fan?

EDIT:

I also don't understand why someone would shove so many hard drives into such a small space. Honestly, I don't trust hard drives being that close to each other after I've seen how ridiculously hot they get even with a fan blowing air onto them. I recall having a hard drive start to act flaky on me, and when I tried to take it out, I couldn't. Why? It was too hot for me to handle it! After that, I leave a gap between each drive and still have fans blowing air through them.

 

[assassin24]

Is that a Noctua PF-12 being used as a case fan?

EDIT:

I also don't understand why someone would shove so many hard drives into such a small space. Honestly, I don't trust hard drives being that close to each other after I've seen how ridiculously hot they get even with a fan blowing air onto them. I recall having a hard drive start to act flaky on me, and when I tried to take it out, I couldn't. Why? It was too hot for me to handle it! After that, I leave a gap between each drive and still have fans blowing air through them.

We do things a little differently. I am not sure what fan they used but obviously its a Noctua.

One of the great things about software raid is the ability to be able to spin down drives when not in use. The case temps are very good.

 

[Aikouka]

We do things a little differently. I am not sure what fan they used but obviously its a Noctua.

The reason why I asked about the Noctua PF-12 being used as a case fan is because everything that I've read about it shows that it's far better suited for being used with a heatsink/radiator (because of the high static pressure). That's actually why I bought one the other week as I wanted to try it out. The $25 price tag made me a little hesitant on buying more than one though.

My main desktop's radiator fan is making some noise, so it'll actually come in handy. I'm planning on using an Enermax Magma on my HTPC (only $12!), which is another fan with good static pressure. I really need to put a fan near the Ceton InfiniTV as I think it's getting too hot which may be why I'm seeing slight artifacting in video.

One of the great things about software raid is the ability to be able to spin down drives when not in use. The case temps are very good.

You can tell Windows to spin a drive down regardless of it being in a software RAID or not. However, I don't care much for that feature, because I've had issues with pausing video and having the source drive spin down, which then causes some odd lagging when it spins back up.

Although, just because the case temps are good doesn't mean the drives don't get hot.

 

[assassin24]

Thats what s.m.a.r.t. monitoring is for.

 

[SMOGZINN]

Although, just because the case temps are good doesn't mean the drives don't get hot.

I wouldn't try that for a large database server that is going to be getting lots of random read/write hits from multiple connections, but for a HTPC it should be fine, few of the HD's will be active at any given time in typical usage, and then it will be mostly sequential read/writes.

 

[assassin24]

I wouldn't try that for a large database server that is going to be getting lots of random read/write hits from multiple connections, but for a HTPC it should be fine, few of the HD's will be active at any given time in typical usage, and then it will be mostly sequential read/writes.

I have done a lot of testing and R&D. Its much more than "fine".

I do things a little different.

 

[Fallen Kell]

Someone spent some cash on that OrigenAE case. As much as I like OrigenAE, the flip down LCD just doesn't do it for me. I prefer to have my optical drive readily accessible (even though I only use it when Netflix drops off a package in my mail).

That is a lot of WD green drives in there, but glad they picked a SSD for the OS. Personally I have had nothing but issues with the WD Green line with not a single one of them lasting a year (glad mine all have the 3 or 5 year warranty before they changed it to 1 year).

 

[assassin24]

We have used hundreds of drives including many greens. No issues. I personally have about 8 and have some that are a few years old. Again, no issues.

 

[assassin24]

Just to expand my thought process a little more...

I don't think you can make generalized statements anymore about the reliability of a particular brand of hard drives or even a particular model of hard drive within that brand. I have tried all sorts of different drives (Samsung F4, EARS, EARX, EADS, Reds, Blacks, etc) and all seem to have different characteristics and even different number of platters within a particular model. I have had some that were noisier than the others as well --- again sometimes within a particular model.

The reason for this is simple: All the hard drive manufacturers change components and firmware frequently. So while one particular "run", "lot" or "batch" may be particularly unreliable and problematic others will be excellent. (As an aside I also don't subscribe to the purchasing of drives from different "lots" theory as I think this increases your chance of getting one of these problematic drives). So I think unless you can test hundreds or even thousands of drives and know what is inside each drive (and what firmware they are running) you really cannot make a generalized statement at all. A normal consumer just doesn't have the sample size to make a statistically significant conclusion. This is complicated by the fact that by time these drives will have failed (1-3 years in most cases for what I think is deemed an "early failure") they are often not relevant to current options and no longer available for purchase.

So you have to weigh all of these things into consideration when purchasing drives or considering what to use. I have had excellent luck with Green drives but haven't had bad luck with Red or Black drives either.

I don't see the point of Black drives for storage so they are out for me (I use an SSD for my OS) unless they are a great value, quiet and a model that is energy efficient.

I love Green drives and Red drives (5400 RPM) for storage especially for HTPC and HTPC software based servers as I think they are usually the best bang for the buck. I would gladly purchase a red drive for the extra warranty alone but probably would only spend an extra $10 or so.

That's my $.02.

 

[Zxian]

I love Green drives and Red drives (5400 RPM) for storage especially for HTPC and HTPC software based servers as I think they are usually the best bang for the buck. I would gladly purchase a red drive for the extra warranty alone but probably would only spend an extra $10 or so.

That's my $.02.

:thumbsup:

I probably haven't bought quite as much bulk storage as you have, but my preference for general purpose storage has also been Greens and Reds. I just upgraded my server storage to eight 3TB Reds thanks to Black Friday sales. Prior to that, I had eight 1TB Greens, and then four 2TB Greens. All of those drives have been donated and sold to friends and family and are still running now.

 

[djDoubleP]

nice work there mate