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So I filled up my array......

V

vsboxerboy

2[H]4U
Joined
Oct 17, 2005
Messages
3,661
So I filled up my array of 4 WD3200JDs in a RAID 5 array on a Highpoint RocketRaid 2300 and managed to fill it all up with uncompressed video but I need more space. I'd like to minimize waste and setup another RAID 5 array and waste another disk. It's not mission critical data here so if one disk goes down, I can keep the machine (HTPC) off until I replace the faulty drive.

That being said, is there any way to:
1) add another controller and span the array across two seperate controllers
2) add a port multiplier to the 2300
3) buy a pci express x1 controller that would let me do what I want to do

The other route would be to go with larger capacity HDDs and go JOBD until I can afford enough to make another array...I can get my hand on the 750GB seagate monsters for ~320 a pop which is $.43 a gig isntead of $.31/GB for the 3200JDs.

I don't really have a goal to reach becuase I plan on adding more and more video so expandability is a plus.
 
well, how much would you have to pay for a port multiplier? How much room do you have for extra drives? Does the 2300 support port multipliers? Would you be able to sell the used 320GB HDDs if you went for the 750GB solution? At what rate is your data growing?
 
I think that selling the 3200's would be a good move and going to 750s seeing as I could probably get enough from selling 4 of the 3200s to buy one 750. Its just the thought of not having parity is very unsettling to me. Looks like its time to burn down the credit card.
 
oh and to the best of my knowlege the 2300 doesnt support PMs, and keeping my case neat and cool is always a plus
 
so in a previous thread:

unhappy_mage said:
If you've got the extra slots, you could get a 2300 now and another when budget allows, and it *should* allow spanning over the two controllers. Highpoint says they support this, and with the high bandwidth of pci express it shouldn't be a problem, but I haven't heard from anyone who's done it. And that would take two slots, and be more complex, and cost $50 more in the long run.

Click to expand...

...any idea of the 2300 does support spanning an array across two controllers?? And then this would mean that I could hook 4 more 3200JDs into a second 2300 and have a 8 drive raid 5 array with only one drive net loss to parity?
 
Spanning is definately not recomended though. If one card goes down you typically lose the entire array as the other card sees it as 4 drive failures. I made the mistake of spaning an array from one raid box and an attached JBOD. Someone powered down the JBOD and we lost the whole array.
 
Agreed - with only one card, the array would be offline but intact if the card went. With two, if one goes out, the array is destroyed since four disks are missing. You might be able to get a good price for the card on the FS/FT forums here, or find someone selling their 2320 cheap.

 
rrrr... well then I guess the best option would be to relegate my computer now to server duty, take out the graphics card, use a pcie x4 or x8 RAID card with 8-12 ports where the graphics card would be. So now which card would you reccomend. PCIX is not an option as all I have is PCI, 2 PCIe x1, and a PCIe X16. It would be nice if it would support PM's becasue it would allow me expandability, but by the time I would fill up an 8 drive RAID 5, I'm assuming larger drives would be cheaper.

I was looking at the highpoint 2320 just becuase my last controller was highpoint but anyone else have a suggestion??
 
oh yeah once again, speed isn't the most important thing here. I'm looking to maximize GB per $. The storage is for a HTPC so it just has to be fast enough to stream uncompressed DVDs and ultimately HDTV.

Let's say that the worst case senario would be streaming a two TV shows recorded in HD or two movies uncompressed to two different computers at the same time....pcie sould be enough for that (but PCI wouldnt be a good choice I'm assuming).
 
Multiple file output from my fileserver running a 2320 on Linux is 43MB/sec sustained over Gigabit for two or more files(Testing was done with 8 concurrent transfers, 4 each on two computers). So you could easily stream 5 1080i HDTV streams, if not more. (Assumes 25Mbit per stream)


A suggestion for you. If you aren't already, use the SATA power connector for all of the WD drives. I had issues with them dropping from the array on Molex, but no issues since using Molex to SATA adapters.

Something else to consider is how much space you are going to be using. You may want to consider the 2340, which supports 16 drives(I would do 15 + one hotspare). At 320GB/drive, you are looking at 4.07TB formatted.
 
you know, I think you're right and unhappy image has been telling me from the start; that just shelling out the money now for a more full featured card would be the better option (the 2340). It's just damn thats expensive, but I guess the data on the drives is worth that much to me. I just REALLY wish that companies that made controller cards made cards that supported PMs

I forget who was saying it or where I read it but that it would be nice to buy a 4 port card then if you want to use PMs you pay the company for a firmware upgrade to support 8 drives when you want to expand and then you can pay more for 16 drives instead of buying a new card...

Well, if anyone knows of a 2340 for sale lemme know!
 
vsboxerboy said:
I forget who was saying it or where I read it but that it would be nice to buy a 4 port card then if you want to use PMs you pay the company for a firmware upgrade to support 8 drives when you want to expand and then you can pay more for 16 drives instead of buying a new card...
Click to expand...

It doesn't make economic sense.
RR2300 = $130 shipped
1 to 4 PM = $90 shipped.
So, $220 shipped for 7 drive support.
RR2320 = $255 shipped for 8 drive support.

RR2300 + 4x PM = $470 shipped.
RR2340 = $440 shipped.

Plus, with 4xPM you now have 4 points of possible failure that, should they fail, will cause a complete data loss.

PM only makes sense when doing eSATA, even then, you are much better off with an external 4x Mini-SAS connector.
 
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