Raid5/6 setup

[Smokey0066]

I'm looking at setting up a machine for file storage. I'm sick of losing drives and trying to recover the data.

Anyways this is probably a basic question but I'm looking at either a raid5/6 array with maybe 4 or 5 drives. Would I install the OS on the raid array or install it on a seperate drive array?

This machine will be used to store items from my home business and photos/media. It will most likely sit in the basement and will not be used other than running over the network.

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

What's your budget?

 

[Smokey0066]

right now my shopping list consists of the following:
5 barracuda 320gb .10 drives.
areca 1110 or 1120, i like the idea of being able to expand as my needs grow with the 1120
maybe a hotswap deal like the icy dock here

as for the system i'm just gonna pick up something with 1gig ram/onboard video, nothing fancy unless there are recomendations here.

so do i need another drive for the OS?

ALSO this is my first raid setup. Just curious on how the hot swap feature works? is it automatic, where a drive can just be disconnected from the SATA connection and it'll be fine or is a drive rack required for this operation?

 

[krotchy]

i always recommend having a seperate drive for booting the computer to have the OS on it. If your OS gets corrupted to a virus, you can easily format the boot drive without losing important data and whatnot.

Just use any old drive for the boot. Areca controllers are great, and the 7200.10's are fantastic performers at a great price point.

As far as hot swap goes, once there is data on the array, hotswaping a drive in and out isnt very useful at all. Especially since removing a drive from a raid 5/6 and adding a new one means the info on the removed drive is useless and then you have to rebuild the array. Hotswapping is only useful if you can rebuild the array without any downtime, by replacing a broken drive with a working one. Check into the controller to make sure it can do that.

 

[Smokey0066]

another question, sorry been outta the scene for awhile.

1120 vs 1220. looks like the pci-X interface is not as common as the pci-express x8.

which direction should i lean towards? the 1120 looks like it has more features but pci-x isnt available on many boards.

any recomendation on boards?

 

[Qianglong]

get the PCI Express version as only server grade mobo have PCI-X slots. Are you going to be using this card in a separate file server?

For mobo, search for the ASUS K8N-LR. Its a good board with PCI-X 133 Mhz and PCI express

 

[Smokey0066]

yes this is a seperate machine that will be sitting in my basement.

I looked into the ASUS but I might go with a TYAN board because everything is built in and it sounds like TYAN boards are move server oriented aswell.

I guess the words cheap and server don't really go together.