Server upgrade

[tonysathre]

I just ordered an HD300 last night. Since I'm upgrading from an HD100, I figured I would upgrade my server as well. Here are the current specs of my server.

BIOSTAR TFORCE TF520-A2 AM2 (Junk, I know)
AMD 64 X2 6400+
4 GB Crucial Ballistix
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB (System)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 750GBx3 in RAID 0

I would like to upgrade to at least double my current storage capacity, which is only 2.14TB, which is full as of now. I would also like to do RAID 5 because if I ever lost a disk in my RAID 0 array, I would lose all my data. What would be the most cost effective way to upgrade to a RAID 5 array? Newegg links would be nice so I can get an idea of how much I need to spend. Would building or buying a NAS be cheaper? What are my options here?

Thanks,

Tony

[cullen]

You can add RAID 5 in either hardware or software. Software is generally cheaper but requires more processor time. Hardware is more expensive but is usually faster and generally transparent to the OS.

A friend has had good results with the SANS Digital TowerRAID TR4UT-B http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-107-_-Product.

[tonysathre]

After reading the thread about ESXi and unRaid, I think I'm gonna go that route.

[RocKKer]

Software RAID (AFAIK) requires a Linux OS, it's not that difficult to learn but some don't want to tread there. While Linux software RAID requires CPU power I don't notice much CPU use with my setup, media serving is generally light duty (commercial skip processing will peg both my CPU's 100% though).

When I am writing at full speed I'm using about 33% CPU, however there is no way under normal media serving I come close to loading my system.

I just tested with 4 HDHR streams in, 3 HD200 streams out, ~50Mbps in and ~65-70Mbps out, I'm using <10 % CPU, (there is occasional spikes to ~40%) All HD200's play smooth.

Just for fun, I copied a ripped BR from my windows box to this server (using SMB -aka Windows share) while all streams were running. Nothing exciting happened, all HD200's were smooth, CPU's were ~30%, my total xfer rate in went up to ~550Mbps.

This last test is not normal, well for that matter, neither was all the streaming!

You can run STV on Linux, it can double as your storage array as well (like mine) there is a bit of a Linux learning curve and you miss out on a few of the Windows dependent things, but I am happy with it.

If you have Windows STV license and want to try a Linux NAS, one option may be to run a Linux server with software RAID 5 on your old hardware for your storage server and share out the storage - this server now becomes your NAS. Build another new W7/XP/WHS based STV server, which is set up to utilize the NAS created above, maybe using one of the Intel Atom CPU barebones, add a couple GB of memory (all you need), an OS drive (an SSD might be fun), and your good to go.

Looks like your Biostar TForce has 4 SATA3 connectors? If I am right would be enough for RAID 5 Array (need 3 drives minimum). You may want a different case to hold all those shiny new drives, it's very quiet too!

Don't forget to upgrade your network to Gig, use a real switch not your router's switch.

[tonysathre]

I do know Linux but I'd rather use something else. Unraid sounded nice so I'm gonna try it. My case is the XCLIO A380. I need to buy a sata card as well as maybe a new psu. Will a 500w psu be enough for all these drives? If not, could you recommend a good budget psu and sata card that is compatible with ESXi? I don't use any tuners as I don't watch tv, strictly movies. Also, I was hoping to keep sagetv and my storage in one box. That's why I was interested in ESXi.

EDIT:

I'm looking at this for a cheap sata card. Will this work with ESXi? I didn't see it on their HCL.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...scrollFullInfo

I'm also looking at buying two of these. For the price they seem pretty good, but will the 5400 rpm hurt performance at all?
http://newegg.com/Product/Product.as...82E16822152245

[RocKKer]

You could use a power supply calculator to determine what size you need.

Once you figure that out go here. I'm sure you can find a good one.

Don't know about SATA and ESXi HCL.

As far as the 5400 vs faster, they are slower, doubtful it will make any difference when it comes to serving media to your household.

You might want to check here and see what the reviews are for that drive (if there are any), that sight also has a forums you may want to search too.

[tonysathre]

According to that calculator, my PSU should be fine. I got everything figured out now except for which SATA card to buy. Can anyone recommend a good, cheap one?

Tony