NAS vs. External Enclosure (both alongside HTPC/WHS)

[Cymera]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16816132001

???

Sorry, I don't quite get what you mean. Are you suggesting that I put one of those in an NAS/HTPC build?

 

[Cymera]

Ended up getting the 4-Bay MediaSonic enclosure and the 2TB Hitachi mfenn pointed me to. Will update with how it works out!

 

[Cymera]

So far, everything is mostly fine. The enclosure seems to be working fine, the HD is working fine, however, there is one problem. Although it can recognize more than one HD in USB mode, when set to eSATA, it can only recognize the first drive.

Apparently this has to do with the port multiplier - which my chipset (Intel ICH9) has, but, lo-and-behold, it has the wrong kind...

According to a thread I read on Tom's Hardware, someone was having the same problem I am with the same enclosure. Long story short - and according to this chart - my chipset has a CBS PM, while the device requires an FBS (FIS) PM...

Now, it does work perfectly fine in USB mode, but it is USB 2.0 and not as fast, of course, as eSATA. Do you guys think I should invest in an eSATA PCI/PCI-E card or just stick with the USB mode? I could care less about how long it takes to move files to and from the external, I just care about how it plays them. From what I understand, USB 2.0 is rated at 480mbps, which is far beyond what I would need to play 720p media (that's the format I stick with, I find its a nice compromise between quality and size).

After a few PC play tests on USB mode, it seems to play and jump forward/backward as well as it did in eSATA mode, which is good.

Anyway, I still have to test how Tversity on the 360 will react to streaming via USB, but it already has trouble just playing my 720p files...

Any thoughts? Should I invest in an eSATA card, or will USB be fine?

Thanks so much!

Cheers,

Cy

 

[Spikesoldier]

Sorry, I don't quite get what you mean. Are you suggesting that I put one of those in an NAS/HTPC build?

you can add that to your current mainboard and get more SATA ports.

its probably the easiest and most inexpensive way of adding storage in your situation out of all the options you suggested.

i personally took the route mfenn suggested and built a freenas box earlier this year out of spare parts i had lying around (a lga775 system).

in my situation, i didnt have space in my current machine for the hard disks, so i bought a case that can hold eight hard disks. since that board only has 4 SATAII ports, i'll have to add a 4port SATAII controller or two 2port cards.

note that the card linked is a SATA(I) card. SATAII cards start at around $25 for two ports.

 

[Cymera]

Thanks for your thoughts!

It appears that maybe I do care just a bit about transfer speeds... it takes over 20 min to move 40GB...

My issue now is finding a card that has an FBS PM. The only way I would overlook that is if I could find a four port SATAII card, then I would just return the external enclosure.

 

[mfenn]

Sorry to hear that you are having problems with your external enclosure box. Port multipliers can indeed be a bit like voodoo. Your best bet is probably to add a SATA card with a controller that support the port multiplier. Here's a Rosewill card that uses a Silicon Image SiI3124, which does support FBS according to the chart that you linked.

 

[Cymera]

But how would that work with the external? Would I have to run the eSATA into the case (that card seems to be internal only) or will the controller somehow work on the existing eSATA port on the mobo?

Thanks.

 

[mfenn]

But how would that work with the external? Would I have to run the eSATA into the case (that card seems to be internal only) or will the controller somehow work on the existing eSATA port on the mobo?

Thanks.

My bad, complete and utter brain fart on my part. Here's the version with the Sil3132 and eSATA.

 

[Cymera]

My bad, complete and utter brain fart on my part. Here's the version with the Sil3132 and eSATA.

No worries! Thanks, that would work perfectly (somehow I missed that entire section - I was looking at addon cards...).

However, now that I think about it, I'm questioning whether it made sense to even buy an external enclosure... I mean, if the eSATA worked out of the box, I wouldn't think about it, but as it is, it would cost me another ~$50.00 (taxes + S&H) to get it running! Just for a 4-Bay enclosure in which all the HDs would be limited by the speed of one eSATA port!

In the end, without any addons, by the time I buy a new rig and convert my current rig to an HTPC, I'll have 2 internal SATA ports in both machines = at least 8TB internal storage across the two machines. Would it make sense to invest in another 4-Bay enclosure at this point? Seems like if I needed more than 8TB, I should go with mfenn's initial suggestion and build an NAS from scratch (considering just getting a 4-Bay to work costs $100.00 + $50.00!) which could yield up to six SATA ports.

Arg. I wish I didn't jump on this. Hopefully I can get a refund

 

[mfenn]

Since you bought it at a B&M store, chances are good that they'll take it back, maybe with a 15% restocking fee.

The separate NAS is of course the most flexible solution, but I would like to point out that even 4 2TB drives reading at max would barely saturate a SATA 3Gb/s connection. The extra $100 (once you factor in Canadian prices) for the NAS does give you a lot of value though. Tough choice IMHO.

 

[Cymera]

Since you bought it at a B&M store, chances are good that they'll take it back, maybe with a 15% restocking fee.

Yea, they have been VERY good about that in the past. When I was hunting for new computer speakers last fall, I went through 3 sets in one day, all they charged was a 5% restocking fee on each when I returned the first two sets.

The separate NAS is of course the most flexible solution, but I would like to point out that even 4 2TB drives reading at max would barely saturate a SATA 3Gb/s connection. The extra $100 (once you factor in Canadian prices) for the NAS does give you a lot of value though. Tough choice IMHO.

This is why I love you (and Anandtech!) - I get this stuff sorted out! I don't know why I thought 4 drives would saturate the connection.

Both could be good options, but the NAS does give somewhat more value and flexibility in the end.

At this point it doesn't seem worth it to get an external enclosure. I mean, it took a full year to only half-fill my 2TB, and I already bought another. It is not so much an issue of money as of use-value, why invest ~$150.00 in what is at the moment a superfluous addon? I think I had forgotten that I was intending to swap out my old 320GB (old enough that it cost ~$100.00 at the time!) that is currently serving as an OS/App drive for my 640GB WD Black when I move to the new machine, thus freeing up another SATA port on the current rig. That in addition to the fact that the new machine's mobo will likely have 6 SATA ports makes buying this enclosure somewhat unnecessary.

O well, lesson learned: work out a plan on paper and don't get distracted by sale prices.

Thanks so much for all the help guys, and for bearing with me as I try to sort all of it out!

Cheers,

Cy

 

[mfenn]

No prob.