How should I best set up my microserver

Fantom · 28 Jul 2014 at 18:27

Hi,

Im looking for some help/advice on how to set up a microserver Im contemplating buying.

Firstly my current situation is I have a VIA A2000 box which runs as my nas box containing 2x 2tb WD green drives set up in the most simple way running windows 7 sharing out the data. it also uses an external 2tb usb drive so a total of 6tb at the moment. At present the data is approx as follows: Films 2tb, Music 1tb, TV Episodes 2tb and documents/photos 1tb.

Im wanting to upgrade to a HP N54L so I can get all my drives in one unit and still have a bit of space to expansion.

My Films/Music/Tv Episodes aren't that important so Im thinking I can have these stored on a stripe of some sort to boost performance, however my documents and photos I need to keep safe - I just wanted to open up a discussion on how this can be achieved?

Thanks in advance, James

Fantom · 28 Jul 2014 at 20:33

Ok, not a lot of uptake.

Can I set up the hardware raid on the n54l to use 2x2tb and 1x3tb drives as a raid 0 stripe while keeping a 2tb non raided drive in the 4th slot which I can use as a backup drive for storing a copy of any important data?

DIABLO · 28 Jul 2014 at 21:52

There is a massive thread in the server section on the Microserver.

You don't need RAID 0 as a modern HD will max out a gigabit connection so it will be waste and puts added strain on a already weak CPU, plus you would lose 1TB from the 3TB drive.

What OS are you gonna run? If you are gonna use W7 i would consider buying Stablebit Drivepool ($20) which will add file duplication of specific folders you define and join all your drive into 1 big virtual drive.

But file duplication is no replacement for a proper backup because what if your house has a power spike and fries your machines for example, i would consider backing important data to cloud storage such as Google Drive for example which offers free unlimited strorage for pictures under a certain resolution and very resonable monthly costs if 15GB is not enough for you.

Fantom · 28 Jul 2014 at 22:04

DIABLO said:
There is a massive thread in the server section on the Microserver.

You don't need RAID 0 as a modern HD will max out a gigabit connection so it will be waste and puts added strain on a already weak CPU, plus you would lose 1TB from the 3TB drive.

What OS are you gonna run?

If I use hardware raid id lose a 1tb but if I use windows storage spaces to make a pool Ill get to keep all the capacity and im thinking performance wouldnt be too bad.

Im thinking windows 8 or server 2012, any idea which would be best?

DIABLO · 28 Jul 2014 at 22:21

I'm not 100% sure on compatibility of W8 in terms of drivers so you might be better of asking in the dedicated thread as i run Windows Home Server 2011 with Stablebit Drivepool.

BTW it's very easy to fit 5 or even 6 3.5" drives in the microserver, i run 6 myself.

Fantom · 28 Jul 2014 at 22:27

DIABLO said:
I'm not 100% sure on compatibility of W8 in terms of drivers so you might be better of asking in the dedicated thread as i run Windows Home Server 2011 with Stablebit Drivepool.

I will, however how do you find drivepool as that is something I had considered, the license is definitely cheap, how do you find transfer speeds?

DIABLO · 28 Jul 2014 at 22:51

Fantom said:
I will, however how do you find drivepool as that is something I had considered, the license is definitely cheap, how do you find transfer speeds?

Just tested copying a 15GB file forward and back from my desktop to the server and i was doing 95MB/s each way which is only 5% short of maxing gigabit, that was with real time duplication off though as with it on it halves the speed as the drives involved on the server would have to read and write at the same time. Drivepool hasn't let me down. It's definatly something to consider if you already have a W7 license you can use, if not the W8 built in function does look good even though i have no personal experience of using it.