RAID 1 Server Config

[owensdj]

I need to built a non-dedicated file server for a small workgroup. I'd like to have SATA RAID 1(mirroring). Here's my configuration right now:
Intel P4 2.6cGHz 512K Socket 478 HT 800MHz FSB Retail $208
Asus P4C800-E Deluxe Mainboard $191.99
Western Digital 120GB SATA WD1200JD 7200PRM 8MB Drive * 2 $236
Kingston 512MB 400MHz DDR PC3200 ECC DIMM 3-3-3 * 2 $262
Asus CRW-5224A 52x24x53 CD-RW Drive $37.99
Teac 1.44 3.5" Floppy Drive $7.75
Saphire Tech Radeon 9000 Atlantic 64MB DDR DVI/CRT/out $58
Antec Performance Plus PLUS660AMG 330W Power Supply $81
Microsoft Windows XP Pro SP1a $143

All of the prices are from www.newegg.com except for the memory from www.kingston.com. Any suggestions on how I could improve the configuration?

 

[aka1nas]

If this is a non-dedicated server, what other tasks will this machine need to perform? I ask because, for a general purpose gaming,etc machine, the config looks fine. If this will definately not be a gaming system at any time, then I'd skimp a little bit more on the video(the radeon 9000 is a pretty decent card, and probably fine for anything but very heavy gaming).

 

[Lyfer]

If its a server, I would ditch the Radeon 9000 (unless you wanna do some light gaming) and get a Radeon 7000 for $30-$35. You can get an Abit IS7 which has SATA RAID 1/0 for $106 (alot cheaper than the $192 asus). Everything else looks good.

 

[owensdj]

aka1nas, the local user on this machine will run the accounting software whose database it will share with the other machines in the workgroup. It may also run Microsoft Office XP or OpenOffice 1.1, but I'm not sure yet if the users want an office suite on it or not.

 

[mechBgon]

If it were me, I'd go with SCSI for its longer warranty and higher reliability. SCSI drives are purpose-built for running 24/7 for 5 years and beyond, and if this system's reliability is important to someone's job, then... yeah. Dual Maxtor Atlas 10k IV's or Seagate Cheetah 10k.6's on an Adaptec 29320-R or LSI Logic 22320-R would allow RAID1 without getting too carried away.

I also lean toward a separate controller so that if/when the motherboard fails, you can transplant the drives and their controller into another system with the RAID1 intact. Modularity is your friend, IMHO.

Also, for a file server, you're rather top-heavy on the CPU. A $50 AthlonXP 1700+ would have no trouble keeping up with a 100Mbit network connection. In fact, you might consider an Asus A7N266-VM/AA, which I've seen used in commercial 2U rackmount servers before. Their PCI performance is excellent, they are quite reliable, and they cost about $65.

 

[aka1nas]

Previous poster has some good advice. Whether or not to go SCSI depends on your budget of course. As performance isn't really a huge issue, I would say that you can go with either IDE or SCSI drives as long as you do a RAID 1 configuration so you will have some fault tolerance for your database. Of course, you will want a good backup policy as this sounds like it's business stuff.

good luck with whatever you decide,
aka1nas

 

[StraightPipe]

you might look into RAID 1.5 (I've never used this)

the way I understand it it writes just like RAID1 (mirrored)
but on reads it works like RAID0 (reading everyother bit)

if it works as advertised it would be a nice performance boost to go with your RAID1 setup.

I'm not sure if it's sold on any cards, but usually integrated on mobo.

Edit: like I saidbefore, I've never used 1.5, (i like RAID0), but if your going to have 2 drives sitting arround with the same info you might as well try and get a speed bonus from it.

you could probly ask around here to see if anybody has benched it.

 

[PlatinumGold]

Originally posted by: StraightPipe
you might look into RAID 1.5 (I've never used this)

the way I understand it it writes just like RAID1 (mirrored)
but on reads it works like RAID0 (reading everyother bit)

if it works as advertised it would be a nice performance boost to go with your RAID1 setup.

I'm not sure if it's sold on any cards, but usually integrated on mobo.

that's actually a very cool idea. wow. it writes everything twice and then on read backs it reads stripes from 1, 2, 1, 2, etc.

 

[StraightPipe]

I cant stress it enough that I've never used this type of RAID, and can t be held responsible for your data, do some research and see if you cant get some feedback from some people who have used it.

 

[aka1nas]

I that this is actually a "feature" of RAID 1 if I remember my Comp. Architectures class from last year, but not all implementations actually support it. As mentioned above, do a little research on the controller before you buy. I would guess that the onboard ones would be less likely to do this then a dedicated card, but I could easily be mistaken.