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Hello all,
I am doing a major overhaul of my file server, and am looking to add more storage as well as an overall hardware upgrade. There seems to be a lot of possible directions for me to go however, so I'd love some feedback on my plan. The bulk of this will be for media storage.
Current items that will remain / legacy requirements:
1) I have an existing RAID 6 array on my Areca 1220 of eight HGST 4TB drives (https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/835055-REG/Hitachi_0S03359_4TB_Internal_Hard_Drive.html), formatted NTFS. They are in two supermicro 5 in 3 bays https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817121405
2) File server hardware is now a ryzen 1700x on an Asus Prime X370-Pro (Two 16x pcie slots 3.0 @ 8x each & one 16x pcie 2.0 slot @ 4x) w/ 16gb 2400mhz ddr4, evga 750 supernova b2 psu. GPU is just an old 9800gtx for now, will probably pick up something better & more power efficient soon.
3) I use Backblaze for backing up, so I must maintain compatibility.
4) I will be using Windows 10 for the first time
What I think I want to do:
I would like to add these new drives (eight 8TB WD Reds shucked from easystores) as a new array on a new card, and have them housed externally on the shelf right below my server's case in some kind of enclosure. The space on the shelf is 21.25" wide max, 13.5" deep (can overhang a few inches if needed) and 7" high (could lower the shelf up to 3" if needed.) I would pass power and data cables from the current server chassis to the new enclosure in some way, be it just long sata cables or maybe sas cables, and the enclosure would provide power to the drives directly via an outlet or I would pass sata/molex power from the server.
Initial ideas for execution:
a) I could duplicate what I already have. Grab another ARC-1220 and two of the supermicro bays. Use long sata cables and molex connectors through a pci slot. Set it up in RAID 6 just like I did the 8x 4TB drives. This is obviously not ideal but it's a starting point.
b) Same as idea a, except get a superior 8 port raid card and enclosure(s). I know the current card I have is EOL, and certainly there are better options for an enclosure.
c) Consider a 16 port card that would handle both arrays. I don't know if this would be a good idea or not. One thought that I have is if I get a new Areca, the old 8 port could serve as an emergency backup for one of the arrays if the new raid card dies at some point, since arrays should work between the same manufacturer's card right?
d) Consider a 16 drive enclosure and retire the supermicro bays. I don't know if these old enclosures and their back planes are restricting my performance. I like this as an idea, even if I don't do one 16 port raid card, it may still hold value with using two raid cards.
e) Just get a new case altogether. I'd need 16 bays for the array drives, one more for another 3.5 disk, two ssds, and an optical drive. To hell with the shelf below?
In general I am pretty happy with my existing array's performance, except for rebuild times. Of course that may not be able to be helped given the lower rpms of the drives and the sheer size of it. I feel like I had a handle on things years ago when I originally got the 1220 for my 5x 1TB raid 5 array, but I feel like I'm doing the external bays wrong. A NAS setup won't work due to Backblaze, and I don't need it since I have a dedicated pc anyway. Thanks for reading, I look forward to your responses!
I am doing a major overhaul of my file server, and am looking to add more storage as well as an overall hardware upgrade. There seems to be a lot of possible directions for me to go however, so I'd love some feedback on my plan. The bulk of this will be for media storage.
Current items that will remain / legacy requirements:
1) I have an existing RAID 6 array on my Areca 1220 of eight HGST 4TB drives (https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/835055-REG/Hitachi_0S03359_4TB_Internal_Hard_Drive.html), formatted NTFS. They are in two supermicro 5 in 3 bays https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817121405
2) File server hardware is now a ryzen 1700x on an Asus Prime X370-Pro (Two 16x pcie slots 3.0 @ 8x each & one 16x pcie 2.0 slot @ 4x) w/ 16gb 2400mhz ddr4, evga 750 supernova b2 psu. GPU is just an old 9800gtx for now, will probably pick up something better & more power efficient soon.
3) I use Backblaze for backing up, so I must maintain compatibility.
4) I will be using Windows 10 for the first time
What I think I want to do:
I would like to add these new drives (eight 8TB WD Reds shucked from easystores) as a new array on a new card, and have them housed externally on the shelf right below my server's case in some kind of enclosure. The space on the shelf is 21.25" wide max, 13.5" deep (can overhang a few inches if needed) and 7" high (could lower the shelf up to 3" if needed.) I would pass power and data cables from the current server chassis to the new enclosure in some way, be it just long sata cables or maybe sas cables, and the enclosure would provide power to the drives directly via an outlet or I would pass sata/molex power from the server.
Initial ideas for execution:
a) I could duplicate what I already have. Grab another ARC-1220 and two of the supermicro bays. Use long sata cables and molex connectors through a pci slot. Set it up in RAID 6 just like I did the 8x 4TB drives. This is obviously not ideal but it's a starting point.
b) Same as idea a, except get a superior 8 port raid card and enclosure(s). I know the current card I have is EOL, and certainly there are better options for an enclosure.
c) Consider a 16 port card that would handle both arrays. I don't know if this would be a good idea or not. One thought that I have is if I get a new Areca, the old 8 port could serve as an emergency backup for one of the arrays if the new raid card dies at some point, since arrays should work between the same manufacturer's card right?
d) Consider a 16 drive enclosure and retire the supermicro bays. I don't know if these old enclosures and their back planes are restricting my performance. I like this as an idea, even if I don't do one 16 port raid card, it may still hold value with using two raid cards.
e) Just get a new case altogether. I'd need 16 bays for the array drives, one more for another 3.5 disk, two ssds, and an optical drive. To hell with the shelf below?
In general I am pretty happy with my existing array's performance, except for rebuild times. Of course that may not be able to be helped given the lower rpms of the drives and the sheer size of it. I feel like I had a handle on things years ago when I originally got the 1220 for my 5x 1TB raid 5 array, but I feel like I'm doing the external bays wrong. A NAS setup won't work due to Backblaze, and I don't need it since I have a dedicated pc anyway. Thanks for reading, I look forward to your responses!
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