Need a storage solution, SATA, SCSI, RAID etc

JackWilson · #1 02-08-2006, 07:00 AM

Basic requirements are fast speeds and storage expansion capabilities. Setting up a very basic fileserver and backup storage pc. Gonna start off with two 400GB drives (or thereabouts) but would like to be able to push this up to about 8 or so max. I would also like to keep all of the data on this pc backed up (via RAID or mirror-imaging onto another drive or whatever).

Been a while since I've installed any pc's so my knowledge of even SATA is a bit dodgy.

My problem is this:

1) SATA seems to be quite limited in how many drives you can put in one PC, unless there is a way to daisy-chain them or something that I'm not aware of.
2) RAID seems like the best option, but I have no idea what I need or how to install it and how to make sure that I'm gonna have some measure of backup (e.g 5 drives with one just being a parity drive).
3) SCSI seems to have fallen by the wayside, I can't even get any SCSI drives from my suppliers at the moment. Would SCSI even be practical for this type of setup? It doesn't offer any advantage over SATA other than the ability to daisy-chain them (IIRC).

Yeah, I know it's complicated but maybe someone can help me.

Thanks.

sarsen · #2 02-08-2006, 03:38 PM

1) well, it's one SATA drive per cable so your mobo limits the number of drives. however,
2) if you get a SATA raid card you should be good to go to use both SATA drives and have a raid.
3) Not sure about expanding the raid if it's already set up. Might depend on what raid format you are using. What type do you want to set up. With just two drives your're probably going to either set up RAID 0 (I know not technically a raid w/o redundancy) or RAID 1.

Rhett · #3 02-09-2006, 12:42 AM

Get one of those awesome terabyte raid servers that plugs into your home ethernet.

icepick · #4 02-09-2006, 10:50 AM

First off RAID is not a backup solution.

Yellow Machine 1TB Network Solution

jnalpak · #5 02-09-2006, 04:12 PM

[ QUOTE ]
First off RAID is not a backup solution.

Yellow Machine 1TB Network Solution

[/ QUOTE ]

do you own one?
What type of backup solution does this offer you?
is there software that you can use like a ArcServe or Veritas?

icepick · #6 02-09-2006, 04:17 PM

[ QUOTE ]
do you own one?

[/ QUOTE ]

No.

[ QUOTE ]
What type of backup solution does this offer you?

[/ QUOTE ]

It doesnt. RAID is not a backup solution.

[ QUOTE ]
is there software that you can use like a ArcServe or Veritas?

[/ QUOTE ]

I have no idea.

DeuceKicker · #7 02-09-2006, 04:33 PM

You can get 8 or 12-port SATA RAID controllers that plug into your old-fashioned 32-bit PCI slot, but they're a bit harder to find. (I think I found one at pcnation.com once)

If you haven't built the server yet and know you want a RAID solution, I'd just make sure the motherboard supports PCI-X (not the same as PCI-Excpress; basically a 'server' mobo) slots and you'll be able to find plenty of SATA RAID cards that fit.