Project: Galaxy 4.75

Damn Ockie, you fuckin nut. You didn't tell me the Norco was full of drives when we spoke at QC.

Here I was pounding my chest after hearing that 8 15.6's were getting ready to be shipped over to play with. My epenis has shrunk.
 
Hey Ockie I saw you looking at generators earlier, have you looked into Kohler natural gas generators? They have "residential" models that go up to 125kW. And it's natural gas, so no worries about running out of fuel (unless you don't have gas lines, in which case they have LP and diesel models.) I don't have one, but I was doing some light research into them awhile back since they're pretty cheap to run compared to diesel units, not to mention the advantage of gas lines.

Nice servers btw. Overkill for anything I'd do in the near future but I can appreciate the detail work that went into it. Great job!
 
coolrunner84 said:
if a drive failed, how would you determine which of the 20 drives is bad?
Click to expand...

WHS has a plugin called Drive manager, which allows you to identify each drive based on it's serial or physical location.

Highendtoys said:
Damn Ockie, you fuckin nut. You didn't tell me the Norco was full of drives when we spoke at QC.

Here I was pounding my chest after hearing that 8 15.6's were getting ready to be shipped over to play with. My epenis has shrunk.
Click to expand...

Yeah, they are all filled ;) When my third norco arrives, that will be filled too ;)


tonytnnt said:
Hey Ockie I saw you looking at generators earlier, have you looked into Kohler natural gas generators? They have "residential" models that go up to 125kW. And it's natural gas, so no worries about running out of fuel (unless you don't have gas lines, in which case they have LP and diesel models.) I don't have one, but I was doing some light research into them awhile back since they're pretty cheap to run compared to diesel units, not to mention the advantage of gas lines.

Nice servers btw. Overkill for anything I'd do in the near future but I can appreciate the detail work that went into it. Great job!
Click to expand...

Just an idea really. Yeah, I've looked at kohlers. The thing is, that diesel unit can run 7 days on that tank, not to mention, it's actually quite cheap (almost half the price of residential home generators NG).
 
Doesn't look nearly as nice as the stuff we do here... but then I remember this is a HOME setup. Jeebus. INSANE. :D

/me pats his "mere" 7TB of harddisks...
 
i got 2 of the PPC 750 watts, LOVE EM! <3

Cheap, reliable, quiet.. done 3x CF 4870 phenom 9850 3250 mhz, 4 x 1gb mushkin 6 drives +1 dvd on ONE! and still not a airplane =)
and the single rail is lovely, the voltage output is good too, a good buy if you ask me.
I reccon mostly all single rail psu's since they are more easy to work with, a 850 watts ocz couldnt do what i listed ;)
 
Ockie, great work on getting loads of storage but am I missing something here? why'd do you need that much storage in one box? it'd be next to impossible to back it up unless you forked out for an autochanging LTO4, so if your one of the controllers corrupt something on a rebuild from a drive loss in RAID 5 then retrieving this quantity of data will be a big ask.

or is it just the e-penis thing?

:confused:
 
continuum said:
Doesn't look nearly as nice as the stuff we do here... but then I remember this is a HOME setup. Jeebus. INSANE. :D

/me pats his "mere" 7TB of harddisks...
Click to expand...

You should see what I have at work ;)

acra2 said:
Ockie, great work on getting loads of storage but am I missing something here? why'd do you need that much storage in one box? it'd be next to impossible to back it up unless you forked out for an autochanging LTO4, so if your one of the controllers corrupt something on a rebuild from a drive loss in RAID 5 then retrieving this quantity of data will be a big ask.

or is it just the e-penis thing?

:confused:
Click to expand...

This whole project was designed to backup the primary servers.
 
Ooookay... it sort of makes more sense now =), can you do snapshotting and deltas with that box then? Are you running any FC HBA's for connectivity as transferring 25Tb over copper would take over 24 hours (57 hrs assuming no overheads) ? lastly and sorry for being dull but why a 3com switch?!?

I don't want to sound like an arse, I'm just trying to understand why.
 
acra2 said:
Ooookay... it sort of makes more sense now =), can you do snapshotting and deltas with that box then? Are you running any FC HBA's for connectivity as transferring 25Tb over copper would take over 24 hours (57 hrs assuming no overheads) ? lastly and sorry for being dull but why a 3com switch?!?

I don't want to sound like an arse, I'm just trying to understand why.
Click to expand...

Using gigabit, only occasional backups and backups are typically only changed files. This isn't a mision critical thing, if it takes a week than it takes a week, no big deal to me.

3Com makes some of the best switches out there, I don't care what people say, yes, Force10 is better, yes Extreme and Cisco is also better, but for the price, you can't beat a 3Com. I have always liked their managment features and thier performance is great.
 
For those reading this thread (doesn't really apply to the original poster if he is using WHS)

Don't stick too many physical disks in a single RAID5 volume. More physical disks = more chance of having a disk fail. RAID5 can only handle a single drive failure at once so you have a greater risk of losing your data. I'd split it into multiple volumes. May be a tad more annoying not having that single huge partition but there is a better chance of your data surviving if you lose more than one disk.

Of course the smartest thing is to keep good backups happening since RAID is NOT backup.
 
that's why they have raid 6 and hot spares, makes it bit safer for large # of disk in 1 array. Of course having adequate backup is also important.
 
acra2 said:
Ockie, great work on getting loads of storage but am I missing something here? why'd do you need that much storage in one box? it'd be next to impossible to back it up unless you forked out for an autochanging LTO4, so if your one of the controllers corrupt something on a rebuild from a drive loss in RAID 5 then retrieving this quantity of data will be a big ask.

or is it just the e-penis thing?

:confused:
Click to expand...

"e-penis thing" *roll eyes*

He like some others here have that much storage in one box because we need that much storage. There's no badge of honor in shelling out many thousands of dollars for harddrives that will be worth half as much in 3 months, as I well know.

LTO4 is silly and only useful for transportable (offsite) backups. Harddrives have reached a pricepoint where there's not much reason to use tapes for backups that stay onsite.
 
Update: Waiting for some stuff to sell so I can reinvest it into my project.

As for right now, I have another galaxy configuration coming in tomorrow and another one to be ordered this week, then I have one remaining to complete the collection.

Also, I am looking for UPS systems (rackmount, perferably 2u units, 1500) and I'm having a hard time finding anything for a reasonable price (shipping kills most of the deals).
 
Blue Fox said:
Checked eBay/craigslist for stuff? APC UPSs are dirt cheap on there. Just saw one of these on there for ~$500: http://www.apc.com/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=MX5000&tab=models
This is also on eBay locally for me (which I think will end for $1 due to shipping): http://www.apc.com/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=SU3000RM3U
Otherwise, everything is really really expensive. :(
Click to expand...

I did, but here in Michigan, finding a UPS thats rack mountable is next to zero chance. I have a better chance finding martians and moon rock in my backyard than finding this here.

There is a local guy that I found on craigs list, but his systems are lacking the rails and the rack bracket ears, so that is a major bummer. I was thinking of still going for this, but the no rack ears kills it IMO.

[H]utch;1033010215 said:
http://heatwavedata.com/Product.aspx?id=M001259507&gclid=CJHwqKydz5UCFQTklAodnnAUig

$451 including shipping.
Click to expand...

Thats more than I want to spend per UPS, however, I did find some online for much cheaper (same model), less than half the price. I'm just trying to see if I can't find anything thats larger rather than going with small units.

I would absolutley love to get an APC 5000 unit, but the closest deal is in Wisconsin (10 hour drive at least)

EDIT: Wait, i forgot about the ferry, hmm I'll check into that again.
 
Abell 2029, lol (Cluster of galaxies).

Anyways. I got the new Version 2 norco case in today, some of the most distinct diffrences:

Optical and floppy mounting mechanism improved
Dual 771 socket mounting mechanism improved
Redundant PSU backing plate removed
SAS ports and Fan headers removed (increases room to work with)
Modular signaling cables (nics are seperate, usb seperate, allows you to remove the cables you dont have headers for)


I just really hope they did not change the fans on this one :)
 
Ockie said:
Thats more than I want to spend per UPS, however, I did find some online for much cheaper (same model), less than half the price. I'm just trying to see if I can't find anything thats larger rather than going with small units.

I would absolutley love to get an APC 5000 unit, but the closest deal is in Wisconsin (10 hour drive at least)

EDIT: Wait, i forgot about the ferry, hmm I'll check into that again.
Click to expand...

Hey Ockie post a link to those cheap apc 1500 ups, I'm in a market for few rack mountable ups and something cheap would be nice :p
 
Ockie said:
Anyways. I got the new Version 2 norco case in today, some of the most distinct diffrences:

Optical and floppy mounting mechanism improved
Dual 771 socket mounting mechanism improved
Redundant PSU backing plate removed
SAS ports and Fan headers removed (increases room to work with)
Modular signaling cables (nics are seperate, usb seperate, allows you to remove the cables you dont have headers for)


I just really hope they did not change the fans on this one :)
Click to expand...

I am curious to see pictures of this new case.... Is it from Newegg?
 
Yes, it's newegg. It looks the same as the other guy who posted his revision 2 case, but I noticed other things as I could see it in person. Interesting part is that it seems like most of the efforts were cost cutting efforts, rather than true improvments, the result of the cost cutting was some improvements but I don't think improvements was the goal on this case. One thing to note is that the trays on this case are a little PITA (same trays, but looser tolerances).
 
Personally I like the "zero tolerance" of the trays, less likely that they'll start vibrating.
 
Unfortunately I have to pay sales tax through newegg.

I took a chance and ordered from Directron. It came out to be $30 cheaper than newegg. However, under Availability they state that it ships from their affiliate warehouse, which I am hoping is Norco itself.
 
coolrunner84 said:
Unfortunately I have to pay sales tax through newegg.

I took a chance and ordered from Directron. It came out to be $30 cheaper than newegg. However, under Availability they state that it ships from their affiliate warehouse, which I am hoping is Norco itself.
Click to expand...

Yep, drop shipped :)
 
Faldaani said:
Personally I like the "zero tolerance" of the trays, less likely that they'll start vibrating.
Click to expand...

Ugh. I don't like the zero tolerance at all - why make them "hot swap" at all then when you have to use a crowbar to get them in and out? hate those trays - always think i'm going to break the plastic arm trying to pull a drive out.

Also the zero tolerance makes for horrible airflow as testing has confirmed.

I have mixed feelings about buying a second Norco 4020 case but will probably proceed anyway because I'm in love with the quiet noise level of my first build. It's allowed me to relegate my noisy Supermicro cases to backup server status and keep them powered off but once a week.
 
Thanks bro.

Ordering two more norco cases tonight and hopefully, I can start getting the UPS systems in order, then I'll post pics when it's all done.

In the end, I'll have capacity for 113 spinning disks.
 
Ockie do you have a link for those rails? Also I thought I remembered you saying somthing about them not spacing correctly?
 
odditory said:
Ugh. I don't like the zero tolerance at all - why make them "hot swap" at all then when you have to use a crowbar to get them in and out? hate those trays - always think i'm going to break the plastic arm trying to pull a drive out.

Also the zero tolerance makes for horrible airflow as testing has confirmed.

I have mixed feelings about buying a second Norco 4020 case but will probably proceed anyway because I'm in love with the quiet noise level of my first build. It's allowed me to relegate my noisy Supermicro cases to backup server status and keep them powered off but once a week.
Click to expand...

Eh, mine are not _THAT_ zero tolerance... o_O
 
nitrobass24 said:
Ockie do you have a link for those rails? Also I thought I remembered you saying somthing about them not spacing correctly?
Click to expand...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=270235167237

Great company to deal with, I purchase on ebay from their store since it makes things a whole lot easier to order.

Faldaani said:
Eh, mine are not _THAT_ zero tolerance... o_O
Click to expand...

I think odditory is confused with the wording or something, the trays are snug, sometimes too snug... but they still have more than adequate airflow.

Oh and go to bed :)
 
As an eBay Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
What kind of internet connection do you have Okie? Guessing it's something extreme like these servers :D ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top