Homelab upgrade

[LJensen]

Hello all, been reading here for a long time, but now it was time to actually become a member

My setup (Bought with alot of reading from these forums)

Supermicro X9SCA-F
Intel Xeon E3-1230
16GB ECC RAM
ESXI 5 (on usb-key)
Datastore = Perc 5 with 2X250gb 2.5" HDD's (raid 1)
Qnap 219+ Nas box


On the datastore
Server 2008 with exchange
Server 2008 with sccm 2012
Windows 7 Test pc1
Windows 7 Test pc2

At the moment i only take Backup of the 2008 with exchange since it is the only thing i care about (My personal mails). I take a manual backup of the VMDK files and store it on the NAS. ( I know that is worst case.. But still)
The SCCM server and the Test pc's are only for testing = No need to backup.

I would like to upgrade the server/nas. Thought about upgrading to a NAS with 5 disk and go diskless on the Esxi, but i have had some trouble before with the Qnap and it took 4 weeks to get it repaired.
Would you advise to get more disks in the actual server or go with a NAS solution? (Maybe even a homebuild nas)

Reason for upgrade would be to learn more about virtualisation (thinking about taking the VMWare VCP later this tear) and get a better backup solution. Some sort of shared storage would also be prefered, but i could always use the Qnap 219+ for that.
Price range = 1000-2000$

Thanks in advance
LJensen

 

[RezQme]

With your price range I would go with Synology's new DS1512+. I just bought one and loaded it with 5 x 2TB seagates. I REALLY like the DS1512+. Currently I have iSCSI set up on it that is my vmfs datastore for my esxi hosts, and I set up iSCSI multipathing as well. I also have an NFS file store on the 1512+ for shared storage/streaming to my Windows PCs.

 

[LJensen]

TY for the answer. That is probably also what i am gonna do, just wanted to check if there was a better solution. Seems like the synology interface is alot better than the qnap. Don't really like the qnap after i have tried the synology one, its like vista vs win7

 

[dashpuppy]

TY for the answer. That is probably also what i am gonna do, just wanted to check if there was a better solution. Seems like the synology interface is alot better than the qnap. Don't really like the qnap after i have tried the synology one, its like vista vs win7

I love my Qnap, but everyone likes what they like

I'll be upgrading my qnap to 2tb drives soon, from the 4 x 1tb drives it currently has.

 

[LJensen]

With your price range I would go with Synology's new DS1512+. I just bought one and loaded it with 5 x 2TB seagates. I REALLY like the DS1512+. Currently I have iSCSI set up on it that is my vmfs datastore for my esxi hosts, and I set up iSCSI multipathing as well. I also have an NFS file store on the 1512+ for shared storage/streaming to my Windows PCs.

A side question. Where do you store your backup of your datastore? Lets say your Synology dies? (god forbid if that ever happen)

 

[LJensen]

I love my Qnap, but everyone likes what they like

I'll be upgrading my qnap to 2tb drives soon, from the 4 x 1tb drives it currently has.

Have you seen the interface on a synology?
Might be because i have a small version of the qnap. Its a Qnap TS-219P+

 

[dashpuppy]

Have you seen the interface on a synology?
Might be because i have a small version of the qnap. Its a Qnap TS-219P+

I have the 410U ( a eol device )

Nope never seen the Synology.

 

[RezQme]

A side question. Where do you store your backup of your datastore? Lets say your Synology dies? (god forbid if that ever happen)

Indeed! I just set it up a few weeks ago, so my back up solution is not fully implemented as of yet. But I have two 2TB seagates in external enclosures connected to the Synology's eSATA ports. Don't actually have the backups "configured" yet, hopefully this week.

I did already have a drive fail though, luckily it was only one and I could rebuild the RAID 5 array. I would strongly recommend ordering a spare. WIth the HDD production demands as high as they are it looks as though quality is slipping a bit.