Raid 5 / NAS Setup Questions

Associate
Joined
15 Jan 2003
Posts
662
Im in the process of speccing up a NAS setup, just thinking of my options at the moment and needed to clarify a few points.

I have some 4 drive NAS systems at the moment, setup with RAID 5, this seems like the best compromise for NAS drives, the data being stored isnt critical but at the same time it would be a major pita if it was to be lost. Seem about right?

I want the ability to add drives to the existing raid 5 array as and when required, am i able to do this?

Dedicated raid card or onboard raid?

Finally any recommendations for NAS software?

Cheers
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Dec 2004
Posts
6,568
Location
London/Kent
Dedicated almost certainly. You would be looking for a feature called online capacity expansion or similar to add to the RAID when it has already been setup. This is a feature usually found on some of the better cards out there. I would be thinking something of the order of £400 for something like a 3ware or Areca card would be your best bet.

NAS software - well really the best thing is running a linux distro and setting up a Samba share. If you wanted something more customised, then Openfiler is a very good distro and able to integrate into active directory. FreeNAS is another (BSD based if I remember correctly). The best type of fileserver at the moment are those running ZFS i.e. opensolaris, solaris 10 and the BSD derivatives. ZFS is an excellent and easy to use filesystem which is receiving a LOT of praise. I too have gone this way and am testing out opensolaris.

I recommend against a Windows based product due to the spiralling cost.
 
Associate
OP
Joined
15 Jan 2003
Posts
662
Sounds like some good advice, thanks.

Thinking about 3Ware's 9650SE, sound like a reasonable choice?
An 8 or 12 port version most likely.
 
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