BlkKnight

I'm looking to go down the home-brew PC based NAS solution.

With the ever changing data storage needs, I'm trying to find a solution which will allow you to add (or change) disks in a "raid5" like situation without having to wipe the contents.

The closest solution on the market I can think of is the Drobo which allows you to exchange (or increase) disks for one of a greater in size or add additional disks.

Does anyone know of a solution for this - be it a *nix or windows solution.

HankScorpio

Proper raid is hardware based and there is usually an option to add disks up to the capacity of the card. I also once upgraded a server by swapping disks in a R5 one by one for larger ones (allowing rebuild in between) and when the last one was part of the array, expand the volume to make use of the new space.
If you're just using an old box and aren't worried about redundancy, windows will let you create spanned volumes so you can keep adding disks and expanding the volume.

What exactly are you looking to achieve?

BlkKnight

A cheap solution to host my digital media with redundancy.

I'm currently upto about 4TB with no redundancy and I'd be rather annoyed if I lost it.

I didn't realise R5 could have different size disks, or add into the array easily.

/edit GB = TB

HankScorpio

I'd consider a cheapo (or old) pc in a big case and get a decent 8 port raid card.
If you want to re use your existing, put 3 disks of the same size in it, create R5 and then as you populate it, expand the array with the old disks.
If you want all new shiny, put at least 3 disks of the biggest and best you can get in it and migrate to it. (does leave you with your current disks tho).

Platform at this point is whatever you prefer as long as it has support for the card you got.

One of the biggest benefits for a raid 5 (or better config) is that when a disk fails, you can RTM it with less concern about the contents. (personal data obviously, not filth or dodgy media downloads )

DemonDave

iTrader: (13)

Depends what you want the NAS to do and why you would need raid 5

Would this do

Synology Disk Station DS-207+ 2-Bay NAS Enclosure

with a pair of drives ... either raided or if you want seperate sizes and backuping between the pair.

Cannot see why you would want raid 5 for just 4gb? And would you want instant redundancy or batch based backup over night for example?

BlkKnight

typo meant 4TB

Any recommendations as to the card?

The Adaptec 2810SA is cheap as chips, but I've heard that it has some problems.

Most 6 port + cards are PCIX - what are the implications or running this on a PCI slot?

DemonDave

iTrader: (13)

so what ever you get must have connections for over 8 hard drives (hence the suggestion of an 8 port raid) assumming max 1tb drives and that you are not waiting for 1.5tb+ drives

otherwise you need to look at a 12 port raid card running raid 5

like this Adaptec RAID 31205 SATA/SAS Controller 12-port - 2252600-R

and then a couple of these ?

StarTech.com 4 Drive Tray-Less SATA Hot-Swap Enclosure HSB430SATBK from Microwarehouse

4tb --- Ouch !

DemonDave

iTrader: (13)

or two sets these

Synology Disk Station CS-407e 4-Bay NAS Enclosure

with 4tb in each and you split your files between them

Otherwise go SAN

BlkKnight

LOL @ SAN costs.

I think an 8 port os probabily the way to go. There are some standard size cases on the market which readily support 10 disks + a CDRom.

If as Hank suggested I can easily remove & add disks to a raid 5 array, then upgrading them over time shouldn't be much of an issue.

The Adaptec 3805 looks like a strong contender. Over time the price will come down a bit.

kernel

If doing it the PC route have you considered MS Home Server as you can just add drives as you go, internal or external and tell it which ones are important and should be duplicated?

OOI has anyone ever lost a raid because of controller failure?

BlkKnight

MSHS has been reported to have quite a bit of data corruption issues when using it's own mirroring stuff

I have access through work licenses to proper OS's tho.

HHxx

Take a look at 3ware & Areca.

Also take a look at SAS controllers. Can run with SATA drives and can use expanders

H

kernel

I thought that had been fixed with the service pack

BlkKnight

Was thinking of a rig based around:

Akasa AK-BKINF-01 Infiniti Case - Black

and

Legit Reviews - Adaptec RAID 3805 8-port SATA and SAS Controller Review - The Adaptec 3805 RAID Controller

With a cheap Mobo CPU & RAM with gig LAN

David_Wallis

openfiler but its a bit ott

BlkKnight

Cool, but jees it's expensive!

My friends keep harping on how good the DROBO is. I'm not really sure I trust it. Has anyone here used it?

stevem2k

opensolaris + zfs ....

BlkKnight

Has anyone tried the

LSI MegaRAID SAS 8208ELP

Looks quite functional for the price.

BlkKnight

oooooo

PERC 5/i RAID Card: Tips and Benchmarks - Overclock.net - Overclocking.net

LostUser

FYI, Dabs are now selling the Seagate 1.5TB disks for £129.

dabs.com - Seagate 1.5TB Barracuda 7200RPM SATA-300 32MB (ST31500341AS)

Bearing in mind that you can pick up a 1TB disk for £69 it's not brilliant cost-wise but for limiting your number of disks they might help.

Out of interest, what kind of digital media is it? Are you ripping DVDs to disk?

BlkKnight

it's mainly (educational free to air) 1080p movies

Explanation for above post:

The dell card (perc 5i) can be picked up off ebay for about £100+/- with the battery backup.

The card when modified with a better heatsync would then be the same as an internal one of these:

39R8850 - IBM Megaraid 8480 Ext Adapter (39R8850)

It can even be flashed to the same firmware revision & have the same driver support etc

apalmer

iTrader: (8)

Wouldn't touch a perc raid array controller with anti static bag, get an adaptec.

apalmer

iTrader: (8)

lol, did i say adaptec... meant lsi.

BlkKnight

the perc 5i is a rebadged LSI, and can be flashed to become one.

apalmer

iTrader: (8)

how bizarre, the 3di was a rebranded adaptec to my knowledge, times have changed. Still, make sure you got some spare batteries for that thing...