Building a file server questions

[unimatrixzer0]

Basically planning on building a file server to record directly to or move TV captures. Also to save torrent downloads directly to. At most, no more than 2-3 devices at MAX would ever try accessing this server at any given time. I could have it downloading torrents and recording or streaming TV captures at the same time.

I don't want to be to cheap on the parts but I also don't want to over speed on muscle I probably wouldn't need. What would you recommend for a CPU? Something dual core.

For some basic parts I was thinking of WD 500GB hdds. Probably 2.5TB so 7 drives at the most which includes the hdd with the OS. How many watts should the PSU I buy have?

I'm also a bit confused about raid 5. I know if I keep adding more 500GB hdds the size will keep increasing by that amount. I also know if I were to pop in a 750GB hdd that it would only use 500GB's of that. But what would happen if one by one I replaced all the 500GB's with 750's? Would I have to basically start over and format all the drives to take advantage of the 750GB's or would raid 5 automatically enlarge?

One of my friends just uses the SATA ports on his ASUS mobo and I believe linux for a software based raid 5. Does windows xp support raid 5 or would I need windows 2003 server? Are there better third party application raid software that are windows based?

Is there any reason for me to go with a hardware based raid card vs software for the uses I mentioned?

Thanks.

 

[Lazn_Work]

Remember WD desktop drives have the TLER issue.. So it is not recommended to use them for RAID 5. (either get WD RE drives or get other brands)

As for expanding the array, if they are in RAID 5 and you add a 750, then yes you would only use 500GB of the drive. However you may be able to expand the array if the RAID card supports it and all the drives are replaced.

 

[unhappy_mage]

Basically planning on building a file server to record directly to or move TV captures. Also to save torrent downloads directly to. At most, no more than 2-3 devices at MAX would ever try accessing this server at any given time. I could have it downloading torrents and recording or streaming TV captures at the same time.

Linux software raid or a Highpoint card will work well.

I don't want to be to cheap on the parts but I also don't want to over speed on muscle I probably wouldn't need. What would you recommend for a CPU? Something dual core.

Aka muscle you don't need It's okay, they're cheap and you won't regret having the horsepower in the future. An E4300 or 6300 (if you want to run VMware) is a good bet.

How many watts should the PSU I buy have?

For 8 drives? A quality 600W unit will be just fine. Seasonic or Corsair are simple choices, but check with the power supply forum folks for more details.

I'm also a bit confused about raid 5. I know if I keep adding more 500GB hdds the size will keep increasing by that amount. I also know if I were to pop in a 750GB hdd that it would only use 500GB's of that. But what would happen if one by one I replaced all the 500GB's with 750's? Would I have to basically start over and format all the drives to take advantage of the 750GB's or would raid 5 automatically enlarge?

You'd have to start over. Usually storage needs grow slowly enough that you could build a whole new array for a decent price by the time you exceed the capacity of this system.

One of my friends just uses the SATA ports on his ASUS mobo and I believe linux for a software based raid 5. Does windows xp support raid 5 or would I need windows 2003 server? Are there better third party application raid software that are windows based?

Highpoint has driver-based software raid that's quite nice; it allows for expanding arrays and so forth.

 

[unimatrixzer0]

Thanks for answers. Still a confused about the TLER (Time Limited Error Recovery). What exactly is the problem and why are so many people trying to disable it? I saw some people trying to disable it even on the WD RE hdds.

 

[Lazn_Work]

Thanks for answers. Still a confused about the TLER (Time Limited Error Recovery). What exactly is the problem and why are so many people trying to disable it? I saw some people trying to disable it even on the WD RE hdds.

WD desktop (non RE) drives when they encounter an error will retry to get the data for up to 8 seconds. This is too long of a time for most RAID controllers and while the drive is retrying it thinks the entire drive has died and marks it as dead in the array, even though the drive is fine. So you do not want to use normal WD desktop drives in a RAID array. (RAID 0 is not RAID, and doesn't suffer from this, and a few controllers are patient enough to deal with the desktop drives, but it is hit and miss)

RE drives do not retry for as long, they will go ahead and report an error sooner to the RAID controller. If you are using a RE drive in a non RAID environment you do not want this behavior, you want it to recover the data if it can. This is why some people are wanting to turn of the TLER feature of their RE drives to let them behave as normal desktop drives.

clear as mud?

End result:

If you are building a RAID system using SATA drives, either don't use WD brand drives, or use WD RE drives.

If you are building a system and not using RAID, do not use WD RE drives.

 

[Ockie]

Basically planning on building a file server to record directly to or move TV captures. Also to save torrent downloads directly to. At most, no more than 2-3 devices at MAX would ever try accessing this server at any given time. I could have it downloading torrents and recording or streaming TV captures at the same time.

Just about anything will do what you need here.

I don't want to be to cheap on the parts but I also don't want to over speed on muscle I probably wouldn't need. What would you recommend for a CPU? Something dual core.

I would recommend an AMD variant such as an X2 3600+, they are 70 bucks, gives you dual core, and you can use cool n quite on them,,, save some heat, power, and have plenty of potential.

I would have recommended a C2D, but it's more power than you need and boards are moderately expensive for them in comparison to a AM2

For some basic parts I was thinking of WD 500GB hdds. Probably 2.5TB so 7 drives at the most which includes the hdd with the OS. How many watts should the PSU I buy have?

Right now frys.com has 500 Maxtors (made by Seagate) for $109 including FREE shipping. At that price you can't beat the price per gig.

You should be looking at a 500 or 600w psu, nothing more. I would recomend going with a good brand and something thats proven to work with many drives... something thats silent and power efficient to boot.

I would recomend the Seasonic S12 series as they are 80+ and super silent, also an awesome PSU. I personally tested and confirmed on a S12 600W 15 drives running with a dual core setup.. and if you focus on power consumption, you can exceed that.

I'm also a bit confused about raid 5. I know if I keep adding more 500GB hdds the size will keep increasing by that amount. I also know if I were to pop in a 750GB hdd that it would only use 500GB's of that. But what would happen if one by one I replaced all the 500GB's with 750's? Would I have to basically start over and format all the drives to take advantage of the 750GB's or would raid 5 automatically enlarge?

I would recomend running a storage pond solution such as JBOD and then just do a backup of your important files. Then you can add drives whenever you want, remove, and change. Perhaps look at Windows Home server for this (right now they are offering it for free for testers).

One of my friends just uses the SATA ports on his ASUS mobo and I believe linux for a software based raid 5. Does windows xp support raid 5 or would I need windows 2003 server? Are there better third party application raid software that are windows based?

Is there any reason for me to go with a hardware based raid card vs software for the uses I mentioned?

I'm not going to recomend a hardware vs software solution for two reasons. Your usage/data importance seems low, and your resource requirements are also not heavy. Another big reason is that it would be just a huge debate.

Personally in your case I would look past the raid solutions and rather focus on a better/cheaper solution with a backup plan.