Help with media server?

[TeeJayHoward]

My objective: Be able to stream 1080p content to any machine in the house. Have a backup of all data.

File Server:
-Opteron 165
-4GB
-8x320GB WD RE
-1x320GB WD non-RE
-2x160GB Maxtor
-1x150GB Raptor
-3x1TB Hitachi (currently contains data)
-2x AOC-SAT2-MV8 in 32-bit PCI slots
-headless
-Dual gigabit NICs, but a cheapo 100Mbit switch

Which OS should I go for? I have legit copies of Server 2K3 (forgot which version), XP x64, and Vista 32-bit Business. I'm also a huge fan of Linux, and have no problems working from a command line.

How should I share the data? I've played with iSCSI, but am a little confused when it comes to software-raided SANs. (Wouldn't know how to set it up.) A samba share may be the easiest to set up, but is there a speed hit? What other options are available?

How should I raid the drives? I was thinking, 8x320 in RAID5, 2x160 in RAID1, 3x1TB in JBOD - That way I could use the 1TB drives for backup, and the RAID5 for storage (Or vice versa?) It's important to me to have a 1:1 copy of all of my data, and when you're looking at around 3TB, DVD-Rs just aren't feasible.

When it comes to software RAIDs, which configurations (xfs vs. Windows Drive Management vs. whatever) allow for easy transfer to a new machine? If my motherboard dies and I need to reinstall the OS, I don't want to lose the data on my array.

In the event that I do decide to buy a bajillion DVD-Rs and just pool my disks, is there a software raid configuration that doesn't limit me to the size of my smallest disk times number of discs? I see a lot of talk about WHS's Disk Pooling feature - What differentiates this from a JBOD configuration?

[Thejavaman1]

If you do the RAID5 with the 320's use that for your primary drive. If they are your backup drives, there is no point to having them in RAID because RAID is for increased uptime which doesn't really matter for backup drives. However, if you care about power usage, you might want to sell all of the smaller drives and get more 1TB drives (a RAID5 array of all eight of the 320GB drives still gives you less space than 3 1TB drives). Yes running 13 drives would make sense if you were trying to have 6TB of space with 6TB of online backup, but it doesn't really make that much sense for less than half that. To get to 3TB of online space with 1:1 backup this is probably what I would do:
4x 1TB drives in RAID5 (better uptime than JBOD, this also makes the sharing easier because everything is on one virtual drive)
3x 1TB drive in JBOD for backup

[TeeJayHoward]

4x 1TB drives in RAID5
3x 1TB drive in JBOD for backup

I'm not against the idea of selling the non-1TB drives, but can I really get enough money out of them to buy 4 new 1TBs? Right now I'm making use of what I have. I'm not familiar with the technology currently available, and am trying to get myself up-to-date.

[nitrobass24]

Windows Home Server
Use the non-re 320 drive as the system drive.

Its awesome because you can add any size disk to the storage pool at any time. I stream 1080p over gbit to 4 computers simultaneously without a hitch..can probably handle more but thats all I have to test.
I used to use RAID5 with expensive RAID cards but this is just so easy and it works awesome. Also when Im playing movies to my htpcs or other comps...I can also be making copies to the server and doing rendering on the server because its not RAID and its using separate spindle I dont notice much of a slowdown in transfer rate at all.
Thats what me and Ockie and few others do, and it works really well.

[TeeJayHoward]

Use the non-re 320 drive as the system drive.

Why the non-RE 320 instead of the WD Raptor?

[nitrobass24]

Why the non-RE 320 instead of the WD Raptor?

Personally WHS does not really benefit from a Raptor I had one in WHS i used and its just not needed...I would save that drive and use it in another system personally but yea it would work just as well. I also like to have a fairly large system drive.

[[LYL]Homer]

Another vote for WHS. It's based on Server 2003 and is only about $150.

[Thejavaman1]

I'm not against the idea of selling the non-1TB drives, but can I really get enough money out of them to buy 4 new 1TBs? Right now I'm making use of what I have. I'm not familiar with the technology currently available, and am trying to get myself up-to-date.

If you need it right now, maybe not, but I'm sure Black Friday will have a bunch of 1TB for sub $100 deals. I don't know exact used prices but you could probably get around $40 for each of the 320GB drives which would give you almost enough for 4 1TB drives (depending on the price, if they were $90 each, it would be enough).