2*new builds for company 20->150TB - Help needed to choose hardware+setup.

[kimmer]

Hi all.

My brothers company are in the works to get a new storage server with an offsite backup for all of their files

I'm new into Unraid, but this OS has grown a lot on me since I started to use it.

This server will store RAW photos of their projects. When a file hits the server, the file will not be manipulated, but will only be read multiple times - so this correlates fine with how Unraid works, like slower write speeds. They generate about 300 GByte daily, and the DATA will goto the server in normal hours.Either over the Internet, or dumped from a USB. Often when the people return from the field, they come with a 3TB HDD and then unload it... It would be perfect to have an VM on the server with a USb that is passthru, so that the HDD dont haft to enter the local network, but sits on top of the hardware. 

This server will start off with having 20TB usable space, with a 2 drive redundancy, and a offsite failover with exactly the same hardware and setup.

The offsite server will solely be used for backup.

They will start out with having 20 usable space with a 2 disk failure setup. When they are fully into business, they will need 120-150 TB usable space. 

 

 

1. If I don't want to use a buffer, but write directly into the protected drivespace, what kind of performance will i be able to get? Using state of the art drives (WD Gold datacenter drives)

2. Since it is RAW photos, I could save on space if the files were packaged.

   Are there a addon that will allow me this? to compress files that are on the drive for storage, and when a file is pulled on the network, the server will decompress the file. I know it would be a good idea to have a somewhat powerful XEON and ECC memory, but... keep in mind that this is production data, and a single day of downtime because a addon doesn't work could pay a few drives. I haven't seen it, but are there a build in feature into Unraid to compress the files stored? If soo, how would it be to pull off the server in the case of a total server failure?

3. How would YOU do about this with the given information above. What hardware should each server have, and how would you have it setup? What dockers would you use? Use of snapshots if you accidentally deletes anything on your main server, or gets infected by ransomware.
    

Thankyou in advance.

 

P.S An alternative would be the Synology DS2415+, but I really do like unraid, but both systems have its pros and cons.