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Building a home server. Please help, DC!
superboyac:
4wd has inspired me to create a similar list of things to do before my project can be ready for purchasing. I'm now thinking more clearly about these things, thanks to everyone's help here. So my list is posted below, and I'll continue to update it as I progress. I'm not going to tally any price totals right now because too many things are up in the air. My first task is to figure out what my "x" and "y" numbers are so I know how much space I need to get. But anything with a question mark needs to be resolved before I'm done with this.
DAS
Storage estimate:
2TB currently
x TB stored on discs
y TB stored on spare drives
Total space CURRENT = 2+x+y
Future space needed = (current total x 2)
Backup --> two backup copies
total space to build for = [(2+x+y)x2]x3 (yikes!, I know)
<<Equipment to purchase>>
Storage Unit:
istarUSA storage tower
http://www.istarusa.com/raidage/products.php?series=CUSTOM%20STORAGE%20TOWER&model=DAGE840-ES
8-bay
2TB x 8 = 16TB
additional internal cables?
additional external cables?
additional controllers or cards for current desktop?
Hard drives:
SATA III
5-year warranty desired
model = ?
capacity = 2TB (will consider 3TB depending on price)
store = ? (wherever a good deal for bulk orders can be found)
--- End quote ---
4wd:
<<Equipment to purchase>>
Storage Unit:
istarUSA storage tower
http://www.istarusa.com/raidage/products.php?series=CUSTOM%20STORAGE%20TOWER&model=DAGE840-ES
8-bay
2TB x 8 = 16TB
additional internal cables?
additional external cables?
--- End quote ---
-superboyac (September 12, 2011, 12:06 PM)
--- End quote ---
Well, it doesn't get much simpler:
Internal cables: 8 x SATA to SATA HDD cables, ie. normal SATA cables.
External cables: 8 x eSATA to eSATA cables.
You require 8 eSATA ports on the computer, one for each drive - in this type of wiring situation I'd forget about RAID if you were thinking of it, too many chances for a cable to be dislodged.
It's the same as stacking 8 separate external eSATA enclosures one on top of the other.
I don't know whether you've noticed or not but:
DAGE840DE-ES - Trayless
DAGE840-ES - The one you selected, doesn't say trayless.
Alternative using their products:
Storage end:
1x DAGE840DE-2MS - 8 bay trayless storage tower using the following as inputs, (not the ones it comes with.)
2x ZAGE-D-4SA70 - These as a replacement for whatever comes with the box.
PC end:
2x ZAGE-H-4SA70 - Adapts 4 SATA ports to one Infiniband/Multilane connector.
2x CAGE-AAMM05 - Infiniband cables: RaidAge, Addonics, etc.
You'll also need 8 spare SATA ports in your computer but you would have needed them anyway for the box you selected, so a good quality multi-port SATA controller, (there are alternatives to this, eg. SAS controller with Infiniband output or SAS to SATA adapter).
The above only requires 2 external cables.
superboyac:
I'm liking this. Here's a question about the cabling:
1) If I do a SATA to SAS thing, can I get away with just one cable connecting the storage tower to the desktop?
2) Let's say I want to put the DAS in another room. How would I connect the DAS to my desktop? The SAS or SATA or eSATA cables are only a few feet maximum. So would I have to connect the tower to my router, which would bring it to my desktop? Or does that change the whole setup into a NAS and now I need to have a motherboard, OS, etc. on the tower?
4wd:
I'm liking this. Here's a question about the cabling:
1) If I do a SATA to SAS thing, can I get away with just one cable connecting the storage tower to the desktop?-superboyac (September 13, 2011, 03:01 PM)
--- End quote ---
Infiniband connectors support a maximum of 4 devices, see Wikiw - under Architecture (SFF 8470).
I'm not saying you can't do it, just you probably can't using the normal Infiniband cables. Addendum: Unless you use 2 port multipliers - then you only need 1 cable.
2) Let's say I want to put the DAS in another room. How would I connect the DAS to my desktop? The SAS or SATA or eSATA cables are only a few feet maximum. So would I have to connect the tower to my router, which would bring it to my desktop? Or does that change the whole setup into a NAS and now I need to have a motherboard, OS, etc. on the tower?
--- End quote ---
Maximum length of eSATA is indeed a few feet, 6.6 feet or 2 metres. SAS is a little longer. From Wiki again:
Because of its higher signaling voltages, SAS can use cables up to 10 m (33 ft) long, SATA has a cable-length limit of 1 m (3 ft) or 2 m (6.6 ft) for eSATA.
--- End quote ---
However, remember you're trying to work with SATA HDDs, not SAS HDDs which use a higher signaling voltage. So I'm guessing that you might have trouble trying to push it past 3 metres unless there is an active SAS host/client on the ends of the cable.
To get 10 metres from it you might have to go:
PC---SAS Host Controller---10 metre Infiniband cables---SAS Client---SATA HDDs
(SAS Client is probably not the correct terminology but it illustrates the idea of an active component rather than a simple passive adapter.)
What I suggested is:
PC---SATA/SAS Adapter---3 metre Infiniband cables---SAS/SATA Adapter---SATA HDDs
JavaJones:
...connect the tower to my router, which would bring it to my desktop? Or does that change the whole setup into a NAS...
-superboyac (September 13, 2011, 03:01 PM)
--- End quote ---
If the answer to this is not obvious by now, you need to do more research. If the storage unit is attaching to your network, it is a...
- Oshyan
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