ideas for my server

[chronic9]

got a nice PC from work to use as a server at home, loaded server 2003 on already and now I want to figure out a storage scheme for it...

I was thinking about raid 1 of two 1 TB drives

keep ALL of my data on the server and just have my windows box access it via shares. - mainly movies and MP3s
and my macbook pro access it as well.

and pull out the 500gb i have in my current system and sell it i guess?

i figure the raid 1 is safe enough for a backup of my data.

and i could get a small hard drive in a enclosure to double back up my pics, and documents folder.

I am also considering using this box to act as my router - for learning something new.
can a system with 3.4 ghz, 1gb ram handle 5 internet connections for routing packets and stuff without crashing EVER?

 

[vsboxerboy]

Do keep in mind that RAID 1 is not a backup and merely increases the uptime of the array and will prevent data loss due to physical damage incurred on one and only one drive - data will still be affected by viruses, power surges, accidental deletion, etc etc. so whatever you choose to do, make certain that you have this data truely backed up (which I consider to be another HDD kept in one or more places separate from the main computer or even better in a separate physical location so as to avoid data loss by theft, fire, etc.)

As far as using the computer as a router, you would be looking at something like monowall or clarkconnect both of which 3.4ghz is far far more than enough - although I am not familiar with server 2003 to say if that is possible or not with your current os.

Regardless, a RAID 1 isn't a bad idea necessarily but think about how important it is that you are able to have that data available in the case of a HDD crash to the people on your network. If the they can live for a few hours without it, then it would make more sense IMO to keep the two drives separate (one external) and use it as a regular backup for the first and then separate the two once the backup is complete to avoid any of the problems listed above. If the uptime really is that important, then RAID 1 sounds good, but do make sure to back up regularly.

 

[verymagicalguy]

You could keep the 500GB drive and buy two more and RAID5 it. You'll have 931GB instead of 1000GB but the price will be better. And if you are concerned about uptime if a drive crashes, you can do a RAID 0+1 with 4 500GB at 1TB.

 

[chronic9]

i've thought about backing up data, maybe I will keep the 500gb in a external case connected to a different machine and back up to it at night.
and instead of 2 1TB drives, just use one. I really dont care about ALL of my data, so I will routinely just backup the most important stuff onto the 500gb.