Question Home Media Storage separate from PC

[axe0par4]

My current specs:

CPU: AMD Ryzen 3600
Mobo: MSI X570 Gaming Edge
RAM: Corsair 300Mhz 16GB
GPU: Asus Strix GTX1070Ti
PSU: Antex Edge 750W
M.2_1: Samsung PM981 512GB
M.2_2: WD Blue 1TB
HDD1: 4TB WD 7200RPM
HDD2: 160GB Seagate
HDD3: 4TB Seagate (Mirror-A)
HDD4: 4TB Seagate (Mirror-A)
HDD5: 2TB Seagate (Mirror-B)
HDD6: 2TB Seagate (Mirror-B)
HDD7: 4TB Seagate (Mirror-C)
HDD8: 4TB Seagate (Mirror-C)
SSD: Samsung EVO 240GB
Case: NZXT H440


My issue:

1) Can connect only 6 Sata at a time out of which 4 are always busy (HDD1 for data and garbage, HDD2 for downloads and HDD5 + HDD6 for personal storage and softwares setup.)
2) Somehow got one Sata to USB kit and connected HDD2 through onboard USB (JUSB-)
3) Lost 2 x 4TB drives. All are bought at cheap rates without warranty.
4) My setup mostly consists of used parts except CPU, Mobo and PSU, build it over years.


I want to keep my storage away from my main system as the are always ON and keeps on resyncing if system formatted or unplugged and re-plugged.


I have thought of making a separate Small Case only to hold 8 x 3.5 HDD with one PSU. Need it in such a way that it can be connected through esata or USB to my PC. Searched these two parts for it:

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Need help and further idea. I am blank. Can't afford pricey parts and my data collection is from 2004 (it includes lots of games, movies, OS backup, camera backups, mobile backups of friends and several family members, etc).

Any ideas will be greatly appreciated. Need any chipset to build Separate Data PC Case with or without system (CPU/mobo). I think it will be very good if I can make it work over esata or USB to connect it to main system as and when required. HELP!

 

[dave_the_nerd]

If you're talking about building a second system w/ a CPU/mobo, just for storage, then basically you want a NAS appliance. (Synology, QNAP, etc.) That will handle resyncing and so on when the main system is off, but they tend to be a fair bit slower.

If you just want an external HDD bay that connects with, like, an eSATA cable, you want what's called a JBOD enclosure. (Startech for example.) They're just an external HDD case, though - no brains of their own. They'd require the computer to be on, and wouldn't address most of your problems, they just give you more drive bays / SATA ports.

Those are completely different solutions that address different problems/needs.

Either way, it will probably be cheaper to just buy a prebuilt one than to build your own, once you add up all the little fiddly bits. Been there, done that, not gonna do it again.

 

[axe0par4]

Thanks Dave. But anyone of these even of 2-Bay costs more than 4x4TB drives. That's why posted it here with cheap options I have. But I don't know what to do and how to do.
Last option will be setting up a Dual Core system with 8-Bay Case and PCI sata expansion.

 

[aigomorla]

1. what OS are you running on your storage?
2. what is your exact budget?
3. how quite on noise does this unit have to be?
4. I dont like Disk Self's which are ESATA.... they are horrible... If you want a disk shelf, seriously getting a retired NetAp Disk Shelf with a LSI card.

But back to one... i would build a real NAS, something independant, that you can tuck away in the closet/another room/garage, have it always on, and can access on any device on your network.

Have you considered getting a retired supermicro 3U and setting it up as a FreeNAS or NAS4FREE or paying for a UNRAID sub?
Something like this:

Supermicro X7DBI+ 16-Bay 3U Server Chassis 2x Xeon X5410 2.33Ghz 16GB 245GB HDD | eBay

1x Supermicro CSE-836 3U Rackmount Chassis. Form Factor: 3U Rackmountable Form Factor. (4) HDD Trays (16 HDD Maximum). SuperMicro Rackmount Server. 16GB ECC SDRAM. Ubuntu 18.04.2 Server. Includes 2x 1200W 80+G Redundant Power Supplies.

www.ebay.com

shop around ebay for stuff like that... they get retired out all the time, and can do NAS duty fine for a very long time, as they were intended to be pushed much harder then a simple home NAS.

But be for warned, that these are NOT Quiet, if you need Quiet, it can increase the cost substantially.
But then again, low budget cant really be picky.

 

[Fallen Kell]

I was just going to mention the same type of thing that aigomoria posted. You can find some amazing supermicro freenas/CCTV storage solutions on ebay. Depending on budget, there will be whole barebones systems from $200-600 (16-24 hotswap 3.5" bays, with 2xXeons and between 8-128GB of ECC RAM). If you look hard enough, you can find ones that have a PWS-XXX-SQ power supply, which are surprisingly quiet (or in in a 4u sized case, you can simply remove the hot-swap power supplies and use doublesided tape to mount a normal ATX power supply). Personally I like the 4u 24 bay CSE-846 chassis because you can remove the super high speed (and loud) fans behind the hard drive bay and put in 3x120mm fans with a little bit of an air dam above them (use a scrap piece of wood, or styrofoam, or even some cardboard and tape so that it seals up to the top of the case). You simply need to purchase some hard drives and you are good to go (as long as you can toss it in a closet somewhere if you don't want to swap out the fans and/or powersupply).

 

[axe0par4]

Thanks a lot for your suggestion but even for refurbished or used one it costs more than 3 times. I can simply build another PC with 8port mobo if I had such budget.

What I am thinking is of buying two of these:

Chenbro HOTSWAP HDD CAGE 3.5 inch x 4 Bay SATA/SAS with 6Gbps SATA BP 3.5 inch Hot Swap HDD Cage/Enclosure Price in India - Buy Chenbro HOTSWAP HDD CAGE 3.5 inch x 4 Bay SATA/SAS with 6Gbps SATA BP 3.5 inch Hot Swap HDD Cage/Enclosure online at Flipk

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settle it in a case with a sufficient amount of power cable and can access data as and when required over esata to main system, is it good?
or esata have any problem?

My budget is 200$. But LSI cards are very costly and can't afford NAS, Startech or Qnas. I'll share screenshots, they literally cost me three times my monthly salary. Once you check attached image and convert it into USD then you'll no my budget issue. It is costly here. What possible is:
1) 2 X Chenbro HOTSWAP HDD CAGE 3.5 inch x 4 Bay (2 x 95$)
2) Dual core system (50$)
3) Esata PCI card (30$)
4) Esata cables (15$)
5) Case fans for ventilation (10$)

Whenever I need data I can turn on the secondary system and access, backup or copy data. If my system holds any flaw then please tell me. I have recently bought a flat and its EMI consumes 90% of my salary, my wife also works and I just want my data to survive. Already spent a large sum on storage of 5 x 4TB, 2 x 2TB, 512GB NVME and 256GB NVME, out of which 2 x 4TB is dead and that's why I got scared. I have lost my complete data between 2009 - 2012 as newly bought 512GB Seagate sata died after 1st week of purchase. After 03 months hovering over internet I got no solution and that's why I am here.

I can say this forum is very responsive.

 

[VirtualLarry]

For the record, for important stuff (stuff that can't just be re-downloaded from the Internet), the cheapest storage to my knowledge, per GB, is still optical (disc) media. (Or maybe Tape, I haven't kept up.) But you can buy a DVD writer for $20-30 USD here, or a BD-RE for $40-70, and discs for $10-30 a spindle of 50 (for DVD or BD-R), and while it takes time to burn, and to separate your disc into disc-sized chunks, it is a cheap method of back-up, in case a HDD should fail. Just something to consider, at least for your "most important" data.