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ReadyNAS --> Homemade NAS

T

ToddW2

2[H]4U
Joined
Nov 8, 2004
Messages
4,017
So I've outgrown my ReadyNAS Duo (and it's SUPER SLOW), and want to upgrade to something more robust, and scalable.

I've got an extra i7-950 CPU, motherboard, 12gb RAM, video card, a couple SSDs, and numerous new WD 1TB Blacks, etc. I've got this entire other system I can put together for it however I want to be able to have separate arrays so I can run MYSQL on 1 array, and my backup/nas on another.


What RAID card should I buy ?
I`m pretty sure I want to max out the ram/cache on the RAID card too, and have a battery unit because power can be spotty at my house at times.

Do I need an external enclosure ? My current tower should be able to handle my current drives and expand maybe 2-3 more in 5.25 bays.

What OS can I run so that I can the arrays how I want, and run mysql, and use the system if needed for browsing the web. I`m ok with LINUX but not sure which flavor works best with the RAID card / setup ?

Thanks
 
A couple of thoughts, the hardware is way overkill, but if you already have it on hand I get it.

Are you comfortable in linux?

Adding the complexity of RAID isn't always the right solution for what you're doing. If you're set on doing RAID1, I'd suggest whatever flavor of linux you like best with software RAID, over a hardware RAID card.

Do know know anything about TLER with your Western Digital Black drives?

Black drives and hardware RAID cards and motherboard RAID can have issues with Western Digital Black drives, where the drives drop out of the arrays

If you're not comfortable in Linux, I'd suggest presenting each disk as just that, a single disk, to windows, then using some automated software to back up your files disk-to-disk periodically though the day.

Isolate the mysql database traffic to a single disk or SSD depending on size, and run backups onto other black disks
 
hotcrandel said:
A couple of thoughts, the hardware is way overkill, but if you already have it on hand I get it.

Are you comfortable in linux?

Adding the complexity of RAID isn't always the right solution for what you're doing. If you're set on doing RAID1, I'd suggest whatever flavor of linux you like best with software RAID, over a hardware RAID card.

Do know know anything about TLER with your Western Digital Black drives?

Black drives and hardware RAID cards and motherboard RAID can have issues with Western Digital Black drives, where the drives drop out of the arrays

If you're not comfortable in Linux, I'd suggest presenting each disk as just that, a single disk, to windows, then using some automated software to back up your files disk-to-disk periodically though the day.

Isolate the mysql database traffic to a single disk or SSD depending on size, and run backups onto other black disks
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info.

Yeah - the system is overkill, it won't be accessed often for backup/archive more for storage/access, and long-term storage that's not accessed but maybe once a month. The dual purpose will be using it as a desktop for misc stuff and/or local mysql purpose. This way it could be on linux as browsing the web/etc on linux is not a challenge with a desktop environment.

I`m comfortable with linux in the sense that I manage 5+ dedicated servers, and 20+ dedicated VPS/Cloud servers. Although I'm never the one to setup RAID on any of them since the datacenter does that for me. A quality raid card that's friendly in linux would probably be best for me.


I`m wanting to do RAID1 for all my file storage, backup, mp3s, etc, and then RAID0 for mysql.
I may actually be better off with:
1 - Raid1 or RAID6 for Backups (ideally want raid6 with 2 drives mirroring the data)
2 - Raid1 File Storage (MP3s / Movies / ETC)
3 - RAID0 MySQL Drive (Intel 510 120gb SSD x 2)
4 - OS Drive (40gb Intel 310)

Could probably combine #1 and #2 and be fine and simpler setup.


I could probably use the Black drives for other purposes.

I have a couple new HD103SJ I could use for the RAID1 then if they work ?


I have maybe 60-80gb of mp3s, no movies yet (not planning on anytime soon), and maybe 20-50gb of other data I need archived.
Luckily I`m not dealing with a lot of data so the hard drive cost shouldn't be a huge concern. I just want to make sure my archive data is kept safe with at-least a 2nd hard drive having the data on it the 1st does, ideally 2 drives with the same data as the original. Due to my data requirements this should be pretty cost-affective in-terms of hard drives go. I can always trade off/sell my 1TB black and samsungs to get 1.5-3TB drives that work better with RAID, and will prolong my storage capacity.


#1 goal is at least 1 mirror of the backups, ideally 2. And then the rest (mysql, os, etc) configured separately at max available speed.
 
Drobo FS and DroboPRO look nice -- but really for the $$ it seems I can get a kick-ass RAID card that will allow a TON more expansion in future ??? So I`m thinking they are just a plug-n-play easy solution for the masses... ?

Does Windows Home Server have anything built-in that would make RAID setup/usage easy ? Or is it all software based, and sluggish ?
 
If you're serious about getting a hardware RAID card, I'd suggest going by the manufacturer compatibility list, if you can find one that supports your samsung drives, all the better. Generally Hitachi drives, Seagate Constellation ES2 drives, and Western Digital RE drives are the preferred SATA drives for RAID configurations.

I think most people like Areca and LSI (including their rebrands) hardware RAID cards.

You do have a powerful enough CPU that you could consider a VMware ESXi all-in-one setup with Napp-it and ZFS, if you can get VTD pass-through working.

I don't get the impression that you would do this, but keep in mind RAID is not backups. Make sure your important data is in more than one place
 
hotcrandel said:
If you're serious about getting a hardware RAID card, I'd suggest going by the manufacturer compatibility list, if you can find one that supports your samsung drives, all the better. Generally Hitachi drives, Seagate Constellation ES2 drives, and Western Digital RE drives are the preferred SATA drives for RAID configurations.

I think most people like Areca and LSI (including their rebrands) hardware RAID cards.

You do have a powerful enough CPU that you could consider a VMware ESXi all-in-one setup with Napp-it and ZFS, if you can get VTD pass-through working.

I don't get the impression that you would do this, but keep in mind RAID is not backups. Make sure your important data is in more than one place
Click to expand...

Sounds good, I was thinking the WD RE drives for building this out.
I had looked at the ARECA cards before, probably go this route.

Yeah - all my stuff is on backup media as well. I just hate restoring from it due to time, and hassle :) so more robust RAID the better.
 
I think I've decided to run Win7 or Win Server so that this can easily double-duty as a desktop for visitors / friends working from my home-office.

There seems to be a lot of cards out there with various model #s, and varying options from LSI and ARECA.


Is this something I'd be looking at?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816151105

How many drives does that limit me to in the future ?

If I had the budget I'd snag:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816151121
Just to plan for the future but that's out of the range at the moment.
 
Is there any point to get a RAID card that only does SATA II ????

Seeing how things are moving rapidly in the HD space as far as speed goes would I be just pissing $$ away with a SATA II card vs III ? Or will it be 5+ years before we see SSD prices drop enough that they are used in storage ??? HMMMMMM
 
ToddW2 said:
Drobo FS and DroboPRO look nice -- but really for the $$ it seems I can get a kick-ass RAID card that will allow a TON more expansion in future ??? So I`m thinking they are just a plug-n-play easy solution for the masses... ?
Click to expand...

I'm just curious, why do people gravitate toward drobo when they think off-the-shelf nas? They have the worst rep of all the big names even if you count lacie... Is it the glossy black finish?
 
rsbennett00 said:
I'm just curious, why do people gravitate toward drobo when they think off-the-shelf nas? They have the worst rep of all the big names even if you count lacie... Is it the glossy black finish?
Click to expand...

I can't speak for everyone only myself, but I didn't gravitate toward it.

I already own a ReadyNAS and the DROBO is just another option out there that's NOT something I have already ;)


But if I had to guess why other people gravitate toward's DROBO I am going to say Marketing... same reason for many things in life :)
 
Those are all cards very much on the "High-End" of the RAID card spectrum.

You can get much cheaper cards that would probably do what you need.

Technically any card with a SFF-8087 port should be able to break out into a SAS break-out card, letting you wire up hundreds of hard drives.

I'd suggest getting a card with enough ports for you without using a SAS expander. , probably between 8 and 16, or 2-4 SFF-8087 ports with 1->4 breakout cables.

The ARC-1882I is very popular on this forum, but even so much more than I'd every consider spending on my home setup. Generally I consider performance in the hundreds of megabytes a second useless unless you're doing heavy VMware or database work.

I have to admit the out-of-band management on the cards is really, really nice.

I also like the LSI 9265-4i or 8i cards, and they are much less expensive than than the areca cards, but also lack the out-of-band management.

There are even older cards like the PERC 6i that are capable of RAID6.

Again, this seems like a lot of cash just on the CARD, not even the drives. Lots of people use the CPU to do RAID/Parity calculations with various pieces of software as well, you might look into that a little bit, and it can be significantly less expensive than buying a fancy Areca card.
 
I think you're getting a little overly complex for what you're wanting to do. You certainly don't seem to need a $1000 or even $800 raid card.

I`m wanting to do RAID1 for all my file storage, backup, mp3s, etc, and then RAID0 for mysql.
I may actually be better off with:
1 - Raid1 or RAID6 for Backups (ideally want raid6 with 2 drives mirroring the data)
2 - Raid1 File Storage (MP3s / Movies / ETC)
3 - RAID0 MySQL Drive (Intel 510 120gb SSD x 2)
4 - OS Drive (40gb Intel 310)

Could probably combine #1 and #2 and be fine and simpler setup.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't bother splitting your backups and storage into different arrays. You can have two different shares and separate them that way. From what you said you have less than 200gb currently (not counting SQL databases). I would make one array for storage then get a 2-3tb external to back up to.

Assuming the file storage is just to stream music/movies off of and have a central location for files I think even software raid would provide plenty of performance. I don't know what your SQL performance needs are, however.

If you're comfortable with Linux and don't mind learning something new, ZFS is a popular option (one that I went with), no raid card and you can have your pools set up with a few commands. WHS would work except that from my understanding it doesn't actually use raid so wouldn't get the performance for your SQL backend.

Just some food for thought. ;)
 
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