Advise - File Server

Nerji

Nerji

Nerji

Associate
Joined
18 Jun 2006
Posts
3
Location
Swindon,Wilts
hi,

I'm looking to set up a RAID 5/6 array and i'm looking for some advice.

Currently i'm looking at getting the Areca 1220 PCI-E raid controller and 8 Seagate 7200.10 barracuda 320GB drives. Are there any alternatives i can be looking at? Any suggestions or comments would be appreciated.

thanks
 
Hi Nerji,

I've recently been doing a lot of research into this myself lately as I'm trying to convince my boss that he should fund one for me to build :D

The controller card you've picked out is one of the best, if not the best performing RAID 5/6 SATA II controller. Not long ago it used to cost around £500 in the UK which I thought was a bit too much so I decided on getting the Promise SATA-300 RAID Controller SuperTrak EX8350 PCI-Express-4x, 8xSATA300, RAID 0/1/5/6/10, 128mbCache instead, but now that the Areca is down to under £375, it has become my first choice again.

The card supports live expansion I believe so I would personally not get 8 drives right away. I will probably start with 3 x Seagate 7200.10 500GB or 750GB drives and add more as required.

The one thing I haven't really looked into much is SAS - but thats because the controller prices are scary.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the response Imy :D

The setup is for personal use and will be backend storage for media center recorded progs and whatnot.

Looking at it again you're right. I read up and it does support expansion so I'm just looking at the drives/costing at the mo i'll probably go with 3 seagate 500GB drives though.

I've delt with some SAS stuff at work but you're right its pretty pricey :eek:
 
Looks cool, but since the normal seagates come with a 5 year warranty I think that will be enough. I did a bit more searching and I'll now be getting 3 750GB drives (found a good price). I'll post an update when I've gotten all the stuff up and running.

Thanks again :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom