Media storage advice? (2 Viewers)

[cheeseman]

Hello, I've tried searching here and at AVSforums for some answers, but can't find anything definitive.

I'm in the midst of running out of HD space after backing up a buttload of SD DVDS, and some HD/Blu-Ray DVDs. While my HTPC itself is running great, I need some advice regarding making an external media server, possibly out of some spare parts from another computer that has become dated, but should work for storing my movies and some music. Anyways, I need helping selecting and understanding what I need to make this work.

Essentially, I just want to store all my HDDs (with movies and music ripped to them) in a pc case or rack of some sort. Now I was thinking a media server pc would be my best bet, as it is fairly upgradable later on. I already have a motherboard with cpu that may work, (I believe the CPU is an Athlon X2 4xxx series, can't remember exactly, I'll look when I get home) and a 650watt psu that should be more than enough. I guess I pretty much need a case that can handle around 5 to 15 HDDs total (for later adding on HDDs) any suggestions? And I couldn't really remember, is Gigabit ethernet ok (any lag, etc?) for watching movies (HD/BR specifically is what I'm worried about) from my other pc (the htpc mentioned above) to watch movies through mediaportal?

PS I may get a new mobo/cpu combo if the old one is not very energy efficient, so if anyone has any suggestions on that, it would be very helpful...TIA!

 

[smilenkovski]

My setup:
Media Server :
Case Cooler Master 1000 s (very quiet), Intel Core2quad, 4GB ram, 6x Hitachi Deskstar HD, (6 X 1 TB), 32 mb cash. Windows XP SP3. 3 Clients are connected to the server (1GB switch, cat6 cables) and we have no problems watching HD moves simultaneously in other rooms.
These days i will assemble another server because i have many HD movies, but now I will try to make cheapest version of media server because maybe when I was making the first one i didn't have enough experience and maybe I 've spend more money than its necessary. I'm going to start with cheap mobo with six SATA and 1 GB Ethernet adapter, Dual Core Intel processor and cheap case. Pasive Cooler master cooler, onboard VGA Low noise setup...
and maybe this time I'll try Seagate Baracuda instead Hitachi Deskstar (I found it cheaper)... so keep in touch.

 

[milhouse]

Here's what I use:
https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/ongoing-htpc-projects-60/milhouse-media-server-34316/

My setup was really about looking for a great big tower case, and stuffing it full of drives. I've got 20 drive bays, all hot swap for easy adding of drives. I've got 15 drives in there currently, so still room for 5 more when I run out of space. This setup lets me add arrays as I run out of space so I can get whatever drive size gets the most GB/$.

A big case like this would let you start with the components you have (e.g. maybe only some of the drive bays would be hooked up) and upgrade with additional SATA cards / drives as needed.

 

[smilenkovski]

@ milhouse
Bravo!
What kind of case that is??? Please give me some more details about your media server setup, because I'm in the middle of decision making about my future one. Thanx
Saso

 

[milhouse]

Cooler Master Stacker STC-T01-UWK for the case. This monster has ELEVEN 5.25 bays down the front. If I remove the power/reset/ports in the top bay, I can stretch it to TWELVE.
Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER CM Stacker STC-T01-UWK Black/ Silver Aluminum / Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases

It looks like it's discontinued at NewEgg, though. It looks like the replacement is Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER Stacker 810 RC-810-KWN1-GP Black Aluminum Bezel, SECC Chassis ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases - not a bad case for $130.

All the hardware details, links, and rationale are listed in the link above - or search the forum for "milhouse media server". Current setup is 160GB system drive, 160GB timeshift/record drive, 8x500GB (RAID-5) for home movies, music, TV series, and DVD isos, 5x640GB (RAID-5) for DVD isos.

 

[cheeseman]

Thanks for the replies! That case looks very ideal for what I wanted! I think I'm going to go ahead and get a new cpu/mobo as the old one is getting outdated very fast and the new ones aren't priced that badly. Any ideas for a power efficient mobo/cpu combo that is moderately priced? And do I need a new psu? or is my current 650w one ok? (I don't know the brand off hand, but its about 3 years old)

Edit - Another question....I already have backed up some of my movies to current harddrives and they aren't in any RAID setup (risky to lose the data i know), but is it too late to set these drives that are already full in some RAID format? and if so, which would you suggest be the best RAID option ( going to use 1TB or 1.5TB drives, when i need the new ones, have a bit of space left on these few that I have left), do they all need to be uniform in size? Thanks again!

 

[milhouse]

FYI - I took a closer look at the case I linked as the replacement model for mine. The one major difference I see is that the current case has room for one power supply. Probably adequate if you put in a big one. My case will take two power supplies, so I put in two smaller ones. Was cheaper to put in two 500W supplies than one very large one. I couldn't find very good information on the size of a power supply needed for 20 HDDs, so 2x500W might be overkill.

There's another Stacker model at newegg that is about $280, but it comes with a 850W power supply.


As far as your RAID question...
They do not need to be uniform, but I find managing my drives is easier if they are. For example, if I had 4x500GB and a 640GB in an array, it would set up as 5x500GB. I'd have 140GB left over on one drive that I could put more data on, but probably wouldn't just because I try to keep all the drives on the array as equivalent as possible, including wear.

You can't put RAID on your drives you've already got until you clear them off.

Once they are in a RAID array, if you use HARDWARE RAID, you can probably add capacity (OCE - online capacity expansion). If you use Windows software RAID like I do, this isn't an option. If you use Linux software RAID, you can.

I assume you are talking RAID-5, so you've got one drive in each array that goes to parity data, so any one drive dying doesn't lose anything, but losing a second drive loses everything.

Remember, RAID is there for hardware rendundancy only. It is NOT a backup, like if you accidently delete the files. Or if more than one disk goes bad in the array. In my case this is a conscious decision that if I lose the data it is not unrecoverable. Painful, yes, but the DVD can always be re-ripped.

My recommendation: a 5-drive array of the identical drives gives a good balance of cost and redundancy. 5x1TB would give you 4TB of useable space (losing one drive to parity). 1TB WD drives are about $105 on newegg right now. My 8-drive array makes me nervous. Pure statistics makes it more likely to lose a second drive before the first is replaced and the array rebuilt. 8 drives is the max you should ever go in one array. Use the array for file storage only - have a separate system drive.

Milhouse

 

[cheeseman]

Hearing many people talk about HDD's fail makes me worried....I've never really had drives fail on me before, but I have never had a large array either. Does it occur that often?

Second question, is RAID 5 the best choice?
And, What would I need for hardware raid, do some motherboards have it already? Thanks for the help!

 

[Eeyore]

No, disk failure doesnt happen very often. Personally, for me, over the last 15 years i've had only 1 or 2 drives fail.

RAID5 is the best choice. See this wikipedia page for full info RAID - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Not many consumer boards do RAID 5, so you will need an add-on card, say $200, and at least 3 (RAID5 needs at least 3 drives), say $120 each for 1TB. so, $600.

That will give you 2TB storage. RAID 5 uses 1 drive for parity in case one drive fails.

 

[SmokeWatcher]

I use a Drobo device connected via USB for my movie storage and playback. No problems or lag using USB either. It's kind of pricy, but takes any size drive and automatically handles expansion and data layout when a drive is replaced.
Data Robotics, Inc.