October 7, 201213 yr Hi Not sure whether I should post here on in server building... Currently have a HP N36L server that I'm very happy with - with 5 x 2tb drives and a 320gb cache drive. Runs the usual assortment of CP/SAB/SB. However I'm rapidly finding myself running out of space so wondered hat the best way forward was. As I see it I could 1. Replace the 2tb drive with 3tb, end up with an extra 4tb of space and lots of unused 2tb drives. 2. Move all the drives to a bigger case and just add 2/3 tb drives 3. Build a second unraid system and move some of the data between the two to even out the usage. 3 seems the easiest as I have a pair of 2tb drives I could use to start with and I do like the HPs but I can foresee problems with SB and cp and moving the data between the systems. 1 seems not as efficient long term 2 seems reasonable but I've got to buy another server and I've no idea which case/mobo to buy in the uk. I'd welcome any thoughts, suggestions or even snorts of derision Chris
October 7, 201213 yr How about building a second box, but with a full tower instead of a mini? I find my usage patterns tend to be divided into 2 categories, new stuff with fairly heavy usage but not a huge amount of data, archive stuff with fairly light access and obsessively compulsive amounts of data, but I still want it online. You could build a massive server that only gets fired up on movie nights or other special occasions, and keep your current server for new everyday stuff. Archive off little used or stuff to watch later onto the big box.
October 7, 201213 yr I don't know if the MB is a standard size. The mother board may be a standard size and easily moved to a new case. If it isn't a standard size you may be able modify the case. The cheapest solution may be just get a new case and if you need more sata ports add on a compatible sata/sas card.
October 7, 201213 yr You can use eSATA. The Microserver will take 2 pci-e cards. The built in e-SATA port will support a single drive and the PCI-e e-sata cards will support 2 drives per port. A total of 9 additional drives can be supported with reasonable performance. e-SATA is treated as SATA and the drives can be part of the storage array. For built in port: Single drive enclosure: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153071 Additional ports: e-SATA card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816115073 Dual drive enclosure: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153112
October 8, 201213 yr Author You can use eSATA. The Microserver will take 2 pci-e cards. The built in e-SATA port will support a single drive and the PCI-e e-sata cards will support 2 drives per port. A total of 9 additional drives can be supported with reasonable performance. e-SATA is treated as SATA and the drives can be part of the storage array. Hmm, that's an interesting line of attack I'd not thought about! I'm currently using the internal E-Sata port to drive the cache drive, so the PCIe route would make sense - if I want to support more than 2 drives is that where drive expanders come into play? Guess I'll have to read up more about e-sata and how it works. Would want to find an enclosure capable of taking at least 4 drives though - will have to have a hunt for that too! Thanks! Chris
October 9, 201213 yr Use 2-drive enclosures like the one I linked to. More than 2 drives on a 3Gbps e-SATA port will cause performance issues.
October 9, 201213 yr You can try an external SAS card and SAS enclosure simular to these. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816111174 (Don't know if this card is supported, I just used it as an example) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816104032 These would give you 8 SAS lanes for data transfers so there is no bottle neck.
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