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8x3TB storage from Constellation CS

Q

qhash

Weaksauce
Joined
Oct 25, 2011
Messages
110
Hi guys,

I have a small dilemma how to build an array that will ensure best reliability and data integrity. I am going to buy 8 constellation SATA (or maybe 12) drives that will be installed inside supermicro chassis. I can connected them to internal 8 sata ports (cant do that with 12 drives) on the motherboard and try software raid5 or use Supermicro RAID card and create stripped RAID6 array.

I need this configuration to store CCTV material. There are 40 camerasthat together create a 25MB/s stream, so perfromance isn't an issue.

I have read some other threads before posting mine, like this one:
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1709651&page=2
but still I am not sure what will be the safest and most futureproof approach. Currently I have an Adaptec card and RAID5E on another system and that controller failed once and I was VERY lucky to buy the same one and recreate the array. This is one of the threats I am really afraid of.
 
Is this going to be a NAS box for bulk storage from a NVR, or is this machine going to have the capture cards installed in it? Are you locked into any particular OS? With this large an array, I would not use any less than double parity of whatever FS and topology you choose. Do you have any regulatory requirements for the video storage? Is this going to be a straight FIFO surveillance package or will you need historical backup? From the bitrate you quoted I am guessing you are using QCIF, but what video size/compression type are you using? Are the cameras constant record or are they motion triggered?
 
Safest? ZFS by FAR over ANY hardware RAID system (or at least any that we could afford). You are right to be skeptical of hardware RAID cards, and you should further downgrade your trust of them to 'wouldn't even consider it.'

Definitely use RAID-6/RAID-Z2 over RAID-5/RAID-Z.

Also, I recommend mixing up your drives somewhat. You don't want all the same drive from the same batch - those would be more likely to fail at similar times. You can use completely different drives from different brands together, different lines of drive from the same brand, or the same model drive ordered from multiple sources or at different times. Though this is less important with relatively good drives like the Constellation line when compared to low-quality drives like the Barracudas.
 
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sorry guys i did not respond and that i dig it up now, somehow i did not notice your answers. thank you very much for your effort.
The HW raid card was a must as well as Windows 2012 Foundation Server, also I do not have much experience with ZFS but I will look into it in the nearest future. As the OS drives are 2x60GB SSD in RAID1 fake-raid using mobo chipset, can I achieve ZFS on such an array of 12 drives connected to a ANY raid controller (there has to be one, as the midplane requires miniSAS-miniSAS feed) and windows system?
 
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