NAS 3 drive RAID-5

Yaayuh!

Yaayuh!

Yaayuh!

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Hi there.
I have a small PC (HP Compaq) i'm using as a NAS at the moment and need to upgrade the storage as one of the drives is failing and i also need some more space.

I need at least 3Tb and here's what i was thinking

RAID Controller: Highpoint RocketRAID 640 - £100

Storage Enclosure: ICY DOCK 3x 3.5" SATA HDD - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-012-ID

Hard Drives: 3 x Western Digital Caviar Red 2TB - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-397-WD

I will set the 3 x 2TB drives up in RAID-5. Will this give me a generally good performance over a Gigabit network for movie and music streaming and backup? Or would you suggest adding another for 4 drives in RAID-5?

My alternative solution is to build a budget Haswell machine. Either way i will be looking at 3 drive RAID-5.
 
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That's a very nice system you will have there but overkill for a streaming music and movies.

Do you need RAID5? How do you intend to backup the RAID5 array? what happens if you have a HDD failure and the rebuild fails, what happens if the RAID controller fails and you lose the whole array?

I think your best bet would be 4 SATA drives in RAID 1, if a drive fails no problem just swap it out with minimal fuss no issues with RAID 5 failing the rebuild and losing everything. As for the RAID card there are cheaper options for between £30-£60 that would do the job fine. Once your running the unit over CAT5 cable you won't have stutter like which can be experienced over wireless options.
 
RHS said:
That's a very nice system you will have there but overkill for a streaming music and movies.

Do you need RAID5? How do you intend to backup the RAID5 array? what happens if you have a HDD failure and the rebuild fails, what happens if the RAID controller fails and you lose the whole array?

I think your best bet would be 4 SATA drives in RAID 1, if a drive fails no problem just swap it out with minimal fuss no issues with RAID 5 failing the rebuild and losing everything. As for the RAID card there are cheaper options for between £30-£60 that would do the job fine. Once your running the unit over CAT5 cable you won't have stutter like which can be experienced over wireless options.
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Since i will be backing up 1 desktop and 2 laptops to the array as well as the streaming, i don't think it's overkill.

As for backing up the array. An external 4Tb drive will be attached via USB/eSATA to backup the array incrementally every Sunday.
 
droyden said:
You could get an HP Microserver, I have 4x2TB in it atm with no issues.
Click to expand...

The Microserver would be more expensive and would still need to buy a RAID controller.

I've found a RAID controller (Highpoint RocketRAID 640) that is half the price and it's pretty good apparently :)

Updated OP.
 
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Depends, I use software raid (linux) so have no requirement for a full controller..

Edit: btw with current cashback the Microserver will be cheaper than your current suggested solution. <£100
 
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Software RAID suck compared to hardware RAID though right?

Does anyone know if the AMD Turion II N54l is any better than an AMD Athlon X2 5600+ (65nm Brisbane)?
 
depends what you are using your raid for imo. if its just storage with low i/o then software is fine. it just puts the raid calculations onto the cpu rather than having the dedicated raid card do it, just whatever fits your requirements.
 
Pulled the trigger on a HP Microserver N54l with WHS2011 for £208.74 inc VAT and Postage. That'll be £108.74 after the cashback :D

Going to use 2x 2Tb drives in RAID-0 with an external 4Tb backup to begin with. Then get a half decent RAID controller for 3/4x 2Tb RAID-5 :)
 
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