ericgcollyer Posted November 29, 2013 Posted November 29, 2013 I'm currently building a new system to be used as a media server. The issue I am running into is that I don't know what kind of solution I want to use for the storage on the machine. I currently have about 3TB worth of media, and will likely greatly expand that amount of media as soon as I can. I would like to try to future proof the machine as much as possible and am trying to get somewhere between 8-12 TB of usable space. Like I mentioned, I don't really know what kind of solution to use. I have a few ideas, but I would like to see if there is anyone here who had experience with building large storage arrays. Any advice? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigball1 Posted December 1, 2013 Posted December 1, 2013 Do you want to raid the drives? Also whats the specs of the system you are planning to build Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhenKittensATK Posted December 1, 2013 Posted December 1, 2013 (edited) If you're slightly tech savvy, you can build a file server or NAS from parts. If you're not or want hassle free, you can purchase pre-built NAS boxes that only require you to add in hard drives. Self-Built route: You get more customization in hardware and software. Usually costs cheaper for parts, minus the actual case. Doesn't include management software (unless you install one). Pre-Built route: Hassle-free. Just plug in hard drives. Small package and usually hot swappable. Normally comes with management software. Limited expandability. ========================================== RAID Options (High-Level View): RAID-1/Mirror: Requires 2 HDDs. Normal speeds. You can lose 1 HDD. 50% usable storage. EX. 2x 1TB HDDs = 931 GB usable. RAID-5: Minimum 3 HDDs. Faster than RAID-1 (fast reads / slow writes). You can lose a max of 1 HDD. Usable = N - 1 HDD. EX. 3x 1TB HDDs = 1.8TB usable. RAID-6: Minimum 4 HDDs. Slower than RAID-5 (slow writes). You can lose a max of 2 HDD. Usable = N - 2 HDDs. EX. 4x 1TB HDDs = 1.8TB usable. RAID-10: Minimum 4 HDDs. Faster than RAID-5 (fast reads/writes). You can lose a max of 2 HDD. 50% usable storage. EX 4x 1TB HDDs = 1.8TB usable. Pros: Easy to setup Provides redundancy Easy to add more storage Works on Windows/Linux (Mac? IDK) Cons: Can be expensive with hardware RAID controller cards ========================================== ZFS Options (High-Level View): Mirror (RAID-1): Same as above. RAIDZ-1 (RAID-5): Same as above. RAIDZ-2 (RAID-6): Same as above. Stripped-Mirror (RAID-10): Same as above. RAIDZ-3: Minimum 4 HDDs. Slowererer writes. You can lose a max of 3 HDD. Usable = N - 3 HDDs. EX. 4x 1TB HDDs = 931 GB usable. Pros: Easy to setup Provides redundancy Works on Linux/Mac Better data integrity, storage pools, administration, and etc. More details 1 & 2. Cons: Higher requirements (Lots of RAM and 64-bit OS) Restrictions in shrinking/expanding storage Adding more storage to a zpool requires sets of HDDs ($$$) ========================================== My Setup: Hardware Specs: Check signature OS: Ubuntu Server 64-Bit Storage Solution: ZFS I have two zpools on my file server: pool: backup <-- 1.33TB of Win 7 reported usable mirror-0 <-- 2x 1.5TB ata-ST1500DL003 ata-ST31500341AS pool: storage <-- 10.5TB of Win 7 reported usable raidz1-0 <-- 3x 3TB ata-ST3000DM001-9YN166 ata-ST3000DM001-9YN166 ata-ST3000DM001-9YN166 raidz1-1 <-- 3x 3TB scsi-SATA_TOSHIBA_DT01ACA scsi-SATA_TOSHIBA_DT01ACA scsi-SATA_TOSHIBA_DT01ACA Installed some scripts that handled automated zpool scrubs and snapshots for daily/weekly/monthly (auto delete after a certain period). I have Plex Media Server for streaming and a few other utility software. Edited December 1, 2013 by AZNguyen Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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