I need a raid solution / NAS and this looks to be what I want... I think.

 

It needs to be flexible/expansible, and in a worst case event (motherboard crash or multiple hard drive failure), those disks that are not affected need to be readable on other systems.  I have dozens of various unused drives, and a number of enterprise drives laying around that I can use. 

 

I am confused on the user shares.  I have 2 Windows 7 machines (one using NTI Shadow), 1 windows XP machine, and the CinemaTube by brite-view on my home network.  Currently I use a Thecus for my mirrored raid/NAS, but 2 TB of (on 4TB worth of drives) is no longer enough space.  I had been using freeNas, and then WHS however neither of these solutions worked as I wanted them to... this appears like a happy middle ground between those 2 OSs.

 

This solution needs to be viewed as a single share/drive when any of my 4 devices looks at it.  The single 'Storage' share will have 12 sub folders on it.  Each of theses sub folders may have multiple levels of additional subfolders. 

I.E.

Disk1\Storage\

Disk2\Storage\

Disk3\Storage\

Disk12\Storage\

 

1) All that my devices need to be able to do is to navigate to this main 'share' as if it was a singe directory, despite if I am using 1 disk or 15...  Is this possible?

 

2) May I password protect this share, so that my 4 devices are the only things that can access my data?

 

Thank you all greatly!

 

1) Yes, that is possible and works well

2) Yes, you can do that as well..

 

Just download the free version (up to 3 drives) and play with it, I'm sure it will do what you need.. Then if all works to your liking you go go for the plus pr pro version..

Thank you much. 

 

I plan on going straight to the pro version as I'll need to buy some hardware, the only extra motherboard rigged out I have laying around is an old 939 socket n-force 4 and I replaced it because It was acting funny.

 

I plan on buying a board with all solid state capacitors too.

You should still try out the free version on your hardware to make sure everything is compatible (specifically the motherboard).  Once you have that running, you can buy a Pro license and upgrade the free version by copying just one file over to the flash drive without having to start all over.

Thanks!

I'm going to buy the Mobo based on the wiki/forums

In that case you'll probably find this useful:

 

Recommended Builds

Thanks for the link.

 

I'll likely spend more time looking through the table above the recommended builds:  while the boards selected look good (especially the supermicron), I have had far too many problems with di-elctric capacitors and have since moved towards using all solid state units, though the boards tend to cost a bit more.

You guys have been helpful, yet I have some more questions.

 

I would like to stick with all solid state capacitors if possible, though it looks like that may not be possible with what is available in addition to the issues the Gigabyte boards have.

 

The Super Micro X7SPA-HF http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/ATOM/ICH9/X7SPA.cfm?typ=H&IPMI=Y looks like it would work, but 1 PC1-E slot doesn't give me enough disk connection space.

 

The Asus M4A785T-M http://www.asus.com.au/product.aspx?P_ID=LVmksAnszmVimOOp&templete=2 is available and has some expansion room, but it doesn't use all solid state caps.  The SUPERMICRO MBD-X7SBE also fits into this category, it also looks awesome for expansion abilities but is very expensive.

 

What do you guys think of sticking to something like Asus M4A785T-M which is a recommended board, low cost, readily available... BUT doesn't contain solid state caps?

I don't know that anyone has had trouble using boards without solid state capacitors.  Both the boards you linked are fine, it just depends on what kind of server you want (big, small, etc), and how many disks you want to be able to support.

Initially I want to support 6-8 disks (as I have 1/2 dozen barely used drives laying around), though I want the ability to grow as needed, probably 20 disks or so.

 

How do you physically identify a dead drive in large array?  Through the use of drive failure lights in the hot-swap 5-in-3s?  MB455SPF-B  CSE-M35T-1B

 

I may be willing to buy a pre-configured system from lime if that looks like the route to go.

 

I live in a small house with a large crawl space, and I well own over 2,000 DVDs: the only place to put them is in the crawl space.  It is not a pleasant experience retrieving a movie when we want to watch one.  Not only does the NAS need to have redundant backup/streaming of my and my wife's work/research/school files (which are stored on the local PC and backed up to the NAS): it also needs to stream our music and DVDs to up 2 3 locations simultaneously.  All of our music is backed up to the NAS, and I am in the process of backing up all of the DVDs as ISO files.  As I backup the dvd's they go into sealed boxes for long term storage:  I never want to loose the backups as it takes far too much time to make them. 

 

I still actively purchase DVD's and now Blu-rays: all of which we have no room to store and will back-up to the server.  Note:  I NEVER sell the physical copy.

If you want to be able to go up to 20 drives, I suggest starting here:

 

Recommended Build - 20 Drive Beast

 

Note: That recommended build is not yet 100% tested, but it should at least give you a good place to start.

 

Both the 5-in-3 hot swap cages you listed are good quality and will work well for unRAID, but you'll have to find a HUGE case (I think the Antec 1200 would work), and then buy 4 of the 5-in-3 units.  Considering the 5-in-3's run nearly $100 each, the Norco 4220 as listed in the recommended build is a much better deal.  The Norco 4220 uses trays, so it is not trayless like the ones you listed, but in my opinion at least that small sacrifice is well worth the hundreds you will save.  The Norco 4220's stock fans are also quite loud, so many people replace them.

 

If instead you think you'll be OK with 15 drives, then I would recommend either buying a server from LimeTech or building your own using the drive cages you listed and a Cooler Master Centurion 590 case.  Check this Recommended Build - Budget Box for ideas (if you use all 5-in-3 cages instead of 4-in-3 cages you'll be able to get to 15 drives instead of just 12).

 

unRAID is able to handle all the backup/streaming that you need.

If you want to be able to go up to 20 drives, I suggest starting here:

 

Recommended Build - 20 Drive Beast

 

Note: That recommended build is not yet 100% tested, but it should at least give you a good place to start.

 

Both the 5-in-3 hot swap cages you listed are good quality and will work well for unRAID, but you'll have to find a HUGE case (I think the Antec 1200 would work), and then buy 4 of the 5-in-3 units.  Considering the 5-in-3's run nearly $100 each, the Norco 4220 as listed in the recommended build is a much better deal.  The Norco 4220 uses trays, so it is not trayless like the ones you listed, but in my opinion at least that small sacrifice is well worth the hundreds you will save.  The Norco 4220's stock fans are also quite loud, so many people replace them.

 

If instead you think you'll be OK with 15 drives, then I would recommend either buying a server from LimeTech or building your own using the drive cages you listed and a Cooler Master Centurion 590 case.  Check this Recommended Build - Budget Box for ideas (if you use all 5-in-3 cages instead of 4-in-3 cages you'll be able to get to 15 drives instead of just 12).

 

unRAID is able to handle all the backup/streaming that you need.

 

The Antec 1200 with the Scythe SCY-HDSX4 works well for a 16 drive build.

 

http://www.quietpc.com/gb-en-gbp/products/harddrivesolutions/hd-stabiliserx4

 

Solid-State Caps - a term invented by computer geeks that means nothing. Well maybe it was marketing geeks...

 

Any capacitor will be fine as long as it has some quality in the manufacturing and is used conservatively.

 

There were A LOT of bad electrolyic capacitors a number of years ago due to poor dielectric coming out of I believe a large manufacturer in China.

 

Peter

 

 

 

lionelhutz - That could have been my issue.  I had a few high end boards in a row that all started squealing after about a year, then the electrolyctic capacitors began to 'blow' where the ends popped out.  Very shortly after that the board manufacturers began to produce boards with 5 year and 8 year 'solid' capacitors at 50*c use.

pfp - while I have used units similar to the scyth you mention (and was very happy each time), I'd really like something that is a bit more maintenence friendly. 

I went with essentially the budget build suggestions for a unit I'm building at work to test the waters out.. and I am seriously considering the 20 build beast for my home

landS

 

The part I like is how many people believe that surface mount electrolytic capacitors are "solid-state".

 

There is another type of capacitor which looks similar to a surface mount electrolytic but uses a polymer instead of the liquid electrolytic. Otherwise, you can also get ones with a different construction, like film capacitors or tantalum caps.

 

Still, if the manufacturer uses a properly selected, quality electrolyic then it will last as long as you'll use the equipment. If they pick the wrong cap then a premature failure will likely occur. If the manufacturer can't pick the capacitors correctly then I'd also be suspect of their ability to pick other parts and their design capabilities, for example properly building the onboard power supplies.

 

I don't remember the whole story but it involved something like stealing the electrolyte formula and making cheap knock off caps with it. I think the bad electrolyte was also sold to other cap manufacturers. Basically, since it took time for the failures to occur and then for the failure troubleshooting to happen there were a lot of bad caps manufactured before it was caught. I also believe a number of the manufacturers who are known to build quality components also got dragged into the whole fiascal. Search for "Capacitor Plague" and you'll find more info.

 

Peter

 

Peter,

 

Thank you greatly for the history!  I always like learning new things: especially when it dispels my ignorance.

 

I did say something silly: 'Solid State Capacitors' when I meant 'Solid Capacitors'.  I heave been looking into using di-electric caps since your previous post and I feel much less concerned about it now.

 

It's funny how bad a few boards in a row going bad can make one feel for years afterwords, and how easily it can make one believe myths against common sense.  As I build speaker crossovers that certainly use high quality di-electric caps I should have know better.

 

Again, thank you!

There are/were many scams involving something as simple and mundane as a capacitor. An old trick was too shave them. Remove the current marking and replace them with one of a higher voltage (capacitors generally cost more the higher the voltage rating). Re-selling a 5v rated cap as a 12v cap would only make you 5c but selling a million of them makes you 50K, the large scale electronic component makers buy components by the million. This was/is done with CPU, memory chips you name it it's probably been done.

 

The bit about no longer using di-electric capacitors tickled me.

 

These new solid electrolyte capacitors, super new ultra reliable technology. Twenty years ago we just called those tantalum capacitors. 

 

 

 

 

 

Man that sucks for the mobo-manufacturers etc.  Thinking they are getting correctly spec'd parts and instead building a few generations on top of crap.  It is no wonder they marketed a different part as ultra-durable to move away from the past that soiled their reputations. 

From what I remember reading, it was industrial espionage that caused the capacitor failures.

 

The formula for the electrolyte liquid in the capacitors was stolen, but, the stolen formula was missing a critical stabilizing ingredient.  (It was not the correct/complete formula)

 

Millions and millions of capacitors were manufactured with the flawed formula... prone to early failures.  Unfortunately, the counterfeit/cloned capacitors were introduced in the marketplace to many manufacturers of electronics looking to get the best prices. 

If the manufacturer can't pick the capacitors correctly then I'd also be suspect of their ability to pick other parts and their design capabilities, for example properly building the onboard power supplies.

 

The problem was counterfeiting, not picking the caps.  Very reputable manufacturers got bit because they were sold counterfeits, in most cases by very reputable sources who were themselves unwittingly sold counterfeits.  This was a massive fraud committed against the mobo manufacturers, not the manufacturers trying to cut corners.

I saw that in reading articles about it... bummer

"How quickly I have lost the thread of this tapestry of intrigue!"

 

-Allo Allo.  If you haven't seen it, watch it.