PC Server up to 2 terabytes storage?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Rich
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Rich

I need a drive array.. and I need to use cheap 120gb 7200 rpm HDs.
How do I go about doing this? I would be using Windows 2000 Server on a PC.
 
Why such small drives? Even with 300GB, you need 7+1 drives in RAID 5, using 4
ATA channels or 8 sATA. Use Windows RAID 5 unless you can spend hundreds on
reputable HW RAID.
 
Rich said:
I need a drive array.. and I need to use cheap 120gb 7200 rpm HDs.
How do I go about doing this? I would be using Windows 2000 Server on a
PC.
Click to expand...

That means at least 17 drives, more if you want parity or hot-sparing.

A couple of 3ware 7506-12s should do the job, assuming you can find a big
enough case that has all the drive bays within 18" of the location of the
host adapter.
 
I need a drive array.. and I need to use cheap 120gb 7200 rpm HDs.
How do I go about doing this? I would be using Windows 2000 Server on a PC.
Click to expand...

3Ware RAID cards. They make a 2/4/8/12 port PATA PCI
card. Array limit is 2Tb. Make sure your motherboard
has 64bit PCI (or whatever matches the card specs)
slots. (Use a server-class motherboard.)

However, don't do it with PATA if at all possible unless
you get a case with the drives only a short distance
from the PCI slots. e.g. a full-height tower (such as
the SuperMicro 750A) where the drive bays are in the
upper half of the case is bad. The 18" cables won't
reach the upper 2 5.25" bays. Double-wide server cases
where the drives are directly in front of the
motherboard make cabling easier.

SATA cables can be much longer (1 meter?), thinner as
well, making it really easy to do the cable runs.

Make sure you have a hefty power supply to drive all of
those 7200rpm drives. Go brand-name here, don't screw
around with cheap no-name power, or expect to be
rebuilding your array weekly. Same with the cabling,
treat it gently and use what comes with the RAID card.

Set aside 1 drive as a hot-spare so your net capacity is
(N-2) x drive size. Get external firewire/USB drives
and mirror your data daily... you *will* lose the array
at some point or you'll encounter corrupt data.
 
If this is for business use, seriously consider duplicating the server:
o Use of SATA-drives + 3ware-RAID = cheap
o Data loss is not cheap re *rebuild time*

Rebuild time:
o Tape is good to backup 2TB, but useless re restore time
---- also, consider drive + 20x 100GB tape cost at minimum
o Disk is good to backup 2TB
---- but only if it is online available

You have 2,000GB
o Disk restoring 2TB @ 50MB/sec over Gig-E = 11hrs
o Disk array restoring 2TB @ 100MB/sec over Gig-E= 5.5hrs

Re PSU, if business use - use a redundant PSU re quality/uptime.
 
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