File Server Question

C

Chimaera*

n00b
Joined
Oct 31, 2007
Messages
6
My boss at work asked me to build a file storage server to hold all of our ghost images. He wants 4 TB of space in RAID 1 (so 8 TB). I was planning on using one of the Precision 390s as a start and add the storage to it. After looking around at my options, I'm even more lost than when I started. For a while I thought a NAS would be best, then I thought an external rack with 2x4 multi connectors running to it. I could even get another PCI-X SATA card in conjunction with the internal SATA connectors, convert them to ESATA connectors and just have a bunch of externals. Any help or recommendations you guys could offer would be greatly appreciated. Oh, I've got ~$5000 to work with.

Thanks in advance.

:confused:
 
I would go with a rackmount case, much like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811152052

Get 8x 1tb Seagate ES drives and run them in the raid 1 config, as you spec'ed (also keep in mind that raid 1 is not backup, simply protecting you from a drive failure)
You could run software or hardware raid, but with your budget, I would go hardware raid for sure....:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816131004
Run a Supermicro or Tyan mobo which can use either an AMD Opteron or Intel Xeon, and go for a dual core at minimum...
2-4GBs of ram.... you should be able to pull this off for the $5000....

And you may want to consider just getting a Dell or HP server with the drives and raid setup, for easy install....
The products I listed, were by no means the most bad*ss, but a good start.....
 
I was going to say, why RAID1?- that's a big waste of $$$ and disks. Also RAID 5 will get you better READ performance -which is what you need for an image storage server. About 5% write / 95% read. I've built probably 6 of these things in the past 8 years. Go with a hardware RAID5 array...
 
Didnt catch what controller was stated. Just said it as a general rule of thumb.
 
Dell's MD1000 might be an option. They charge a thousand freakin' dollars for the 1TB disks (eleven grand for what you want!), but if you talk to your Dell rep he might be able to give you a better deal. Alternatively, you might be able to install the 1TB disks from a third party into the Dell enclosure. It's an option, and if you have to support it, might be the best option. Not necessarily Dell, of course: if HP or whoever gives you a better deal and promises the same support go for it. But a support contract can be a good thing, if only to have someone to point fingers at.
 
The dell enclosures work with 3rd party disks im certian, well they used to with the old SCSI disks.
 
ring.of.steel said:
The dell enclosures work with 3rd party disks im certian, well they used to with the old SCSI disks.
Click to expand...

Working with the third party disks isn't in question. The question is will dell support it with third party disks installed.
 
Dew said:
Working with the third party disks isn't in question. The question is will dell support it with third party disks installed.
Click to expand...


Dell will support it, and they would never know about it as long as you use the same brands of disks. (Dell uses a mixture of all of them).

An MD1000 would run you over 6K easy for bare bones. Probably not the best option.

I agree though, RAID 5 is more than enough to run what you want, especially for an image server. Invest in a good card though. There are nice areca controllers in the 500-800 range.

I like the case linked above, get one with at least 8 hotswap bays, throw 7x750GB SATA drives in it (RAID 5 would give you over 4TB). You should be able to do this under 5k.
 
Thanks for the advice guys, I'm pretty sure the reason my boss stated RAID 1 was because he thought it was the "safest." These images are pretty important to us and while we keep CD/DVD backups offsite, the amount of work it would take to restore the image server would be costly. To quell his worries, I might go with RAID 6. It's probably overkill but the cost of one extra disk isn't a huge deal. So I guess now I just need to choose drives and a controller.

Thanks for your help. :D
 
Rocco123 said:
An MD1000 would run you over 6K easy for bare bones. Probably not the best option.
Click to expand...

Where do you get this pricing from? An MD1000 right now on dell.com sets you back $2,600 with two drives to get you started.

An MD1000 with 7x750's sets you back $5,693... and if you speak to a dell rep, they can probably get it under 5k easy.
 
Chimaera* said:
Thanks for the advice guys, I'm pretty sure the reason my boss stated RAID 1 was because he thought it was the "safest." These images are pretty important to us and while we keep CD/DVD backups offsite, the amount of work it would take to restore the image server would be costly. To quell his worries, I might go with RAID 6. It's probably overkill but the cost of one extra disk isn't a huge deal. So I guess now I just need to choose drives and a controller.

Thanks for your help. :D
Click to expand...

I would also go with R6, toss in a hot spare also to increase your uptime.
 
Ockie said:
Where do you get this pricing from? An MD1000 right now on dell.com sets you back $2,600 with two drives to get you started.

An MD1000 with 7x750's sets you back $5,693... and if you speak to a dell rep, they can probably get it under 5k easy.
Click to expand...

?

I'm looking at Dell.com as we speak. Starting price for an MD1000 is $7,096, that that's with 1 or 2 drives. Could you post a link with that price?

http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/pvaul_md1000?c=us&l=en&s=biz&cs=555.

Yes, of course you can get things cheaper, I won't disagree. I'm just reading what's on the site and relaying that info. I'm sure a Dell rep would work a deal. I don't want to mention how much I pay for them, but it's even lower than the price you mentioned. But those are bulk prices.

RAID 1+0 is not necessarily safer than RAID 5. Both arrays could be rendered useless in a two-disk failure. It just so happens that with a RAID 1+0, it's just more unlikely, since it would require two disks in one mirror to fail simulatenously.

Any RAID array can fail. I've seen RAID 6s/ADG fail at least once or twice in my lifetime. But that's why you design the system around backups as well.
 
Rocco123 said:
?

I'm looking at Dell.com as we speak. Starting price for an MD1000 is $7,096, that that's with 1 or 2 drives. Could you post a link with that price?

http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/pvaul_md1000?c=us&l=en&s=biz&cs=555.

Yes, of course you can get things cheaper, I won't disagree. I'm just reading what's on the site and relaying that info. I'm sure a Dell rep would work a deal. I don't want to mention how much I pay for them, but it's even lower than the price you mentioned. But those are bulk prices.

RAID 1+0 is not necessarily safer than RAID 5. Both arrays could be rendered useless in a two-disk failure. It just so happens that with a RAID 1+0, it's just more unlikely, since it would require two disks in one mirror to fail simulatenously.

Any RAID array can fail. I've seen RAID 6s/ADG fail at least once or twice in my lifetime. But that's why you design the system around backups as well.
Click to expand...


http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/pvaul_md1000?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd
 
Very strange. It's the exact same hardware, the only different is that the link you posted was for the MD1000 under "small and medium business", mine was "large business/enterprise". Same unit though, at like 1/3 of the cost. Either way I believe you. But I still think with what the OP wants, it's too expensive (5k for server and storage).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top