Can somebody help with a setup for a cheap RAID server? (1 Viewer)

[ThaClown]

Can someone advise me on a minimal setup for a RAID (5?) server?

I need more HD space and want some failsafe for my files.
Also I do not want to spend too much money on teh server.

What would be the minimal specs for a small inhome server with a 4 HD setup in RAID?
And what would be a realistic prictag if I buy cheap and build it myself?

 

[mzemina]

If you build it yourself and want inexpensive and have a spare older case & MB, you may want to checkout http://www.freenas.org - I am using it now with RAID 1 (mirroring) so I only need two disks the same size, plus I am using an older disk as the boot disk - but If I wanted to, I could use a flash to boot from (But I can't since this is a very old computer). Freenas allows setup of slimserver on same computer so that will be my next step.

 

[player-x]

you can use any old computer to build a file-server preferably whit on-board lan and min 512MB better 1GB memory ore more.

You can go 2 main ways if you go RAID5, and it all depends how mouths money you wane spend and how you wane maintain/do whit your array

Software
Software is cheapest and works well only you cant re-size your array, so the amount of space you have is decided when your build the array, also software Raid5 is whit bigger array's is slower (+6 disks CPU/PCI bus depended)

the trick on how to do it is explained here but there are also details explanations out there.

The Steps

1 find and copy the following files to a new dir. ware you can edit them whit a hex-editor (you can find free once on the net)

• \system32\drivers\dmboot.sys
• \system32\dmconfig.dll
• \system32\dmadmin.exe

2. open these files whit the hexeditor and change the ‘WINNT’ entries whit ‘SERVERNT’ and vice verse (so ‘SERVERNT’ change in ‘WINNT’)


Here is a segment of the dmboot.sys before and after changing:

Before:
0000F1F1 74 00 54 00 79 00 70 00 65 00 00 00 57 49 4E 4E t.T.y.p.e...WINN
0000F200 54 00 00 00 53 45 52 56 45 52 4E 54 00 00 00 00 T...SERVERNT.....
0000F210 4C 41 4E 4D 41 4E 4E 54 00 55 8B EC 51 51 6A 00 LANMANNT.Uã QQj.

After:
0000F1F1 74 00 54 00 79 00 70 00 65 00 00 00 57 49 4E 4E t.T.y.p.e...SERV
0000F200 54 00 00 00 53 45 52 56 45 52 4E 54 00 00 00 00 ERNTWINNT.......
0000F210 4C 41 4E 4D 41 4E 4E 54 00 55 8B EC 51 51 6A 00 LANMANNT.Uã QQj.


3. how to change these file's in windows?

3.1. put them on a boot floppy ore boot USB stick.
3.2. boot from XP CD-rom up in the repair console
3.3. copy and over ride from the dos prompt the 3 files to the fol owing directory's

copy a:\dmboot.sys system32\drivers
copy a:\dmboot.sys system32\dllcache
copy a:\dmconfig.dll system32
copy a:\dmconfig.dll system32\dllcache
copy a:\dmadmin.exe system32
copy a:\dmadmin.exe system32\dllcache

4 reboot, and now you should have in disk management mirror en RAID 5 set as extra options

!!!! You do this ofcourse on your one risk !!!!

But if you do it right it will work here is a screendump from my old software raid 5 array


Hardware
There are tree ways to do it the cheap, the middle and the right way.

The cheap way
Just get cheap promise ore Highpoint ore what ever controller
These are software/hardware controllers that uses the CPU to do the RAID5 calculations these are cheap 8x sata you can get for a bout 100 euro.

It works and that is it.

The middle way
Full hardware RAID5 controller these are fast controllers.
These are good controllers but unless i would find a cheap one on eBay i would spend the extra buck for the next step!

The right way
Use a controller from Tecram/Areca (same controllers) these are the Rolls Royce under the SATA raid controllers.

On these controllers you ad disk when you need them so in the beginning they cost more but get cheaper on the long run because you don't have to buy all your disks at one's and because then you save money when HD prizes drop

I high lighted the reasons why under need here

Adapter Architecture

Intel IOP331
PCI-X 64bit/133MHz (fits also standard PCI) (1*)
128MB on-board DDR333 SDRAM with ECC protection(4/8-port)
One SODIMM socket with default 256MB of DDR333 SDRAM with ECC protection,
Upgrade to 1GB. An ECC or non-ECC SDRAM module using X8 or X16 devices (12/16/24 ports)
Write-through or write-back cache support
Support up to 4/8/12/16/24 SATA II drives
Multi-adapter support for large storage requirements (2*)
BIOS boot support for greater fault tolerance

Intel RAID 6 Engine to support extreme performance RAID 6 (3*)
NVRAM for RAID event & transaction log
Redundant flash image for adapter availability
Battery Backup Module (BBM) ready (Option)
RoHS compliant


RAID Features
RAID level 0, 1, 1E, 3, 5, 6 (if RAID 6 engine supported) (3*) and JBOD
Multiple RAID selection
Array roaming
Online RAID level/stripe size migration (4*)
Online RAID capacity expansion and RAID level migration simultaneously (4*)
Instant availability and background initialization
Automatic drive insertion/removal detection and rebuilding
Greater than 2TB per volume set (5*)
Support S.M.A.R.T, NCQ and OOB Staggered Spin-up capable drives

(1*) PCI-X is the server version of a standard PCI slot and is fully backwards compatible whit standard PCI

(2*) These controllers support controller teaming, this means if on one controller all SATA connectors are used you can install a extra controller and it will look like you still have one controller.

(3*) RAID 6 is the most safe way to store your file's like raid 5 if one drive fails the aray is still safe but under raid 6 you can have 2 drives failing and you still have all your data

(4*) This and (5*) is what makes these controllers so special
You can start buying 1 controller and start whit only one disk and ad disk when you need the space and change also change the RAID level as you need

Example
So you begin whit 1 disk then you ad a extra one when you need and re-size and you have 2 disks that looks like one if that's full you can ad more and do the same but on a certain point you don't feel safe whit RAID0/stripe you can change to RAID5 true RAID level migration
But of course you can start strait whit 3 disks in RAID 5 and after the array is getting big and you want to ad extra secureti you can change to RAID 6 if you want.

(5*) Greater than 2TB per volume set: this means you can build a array that's bigger then 2TB, most controllers cant do ore only whit big pain and tricks to get it working
My self i got a 7 X 750GB 5.4TB array running and the nice thing if i am running out of space again i just ad a disk.


Tip 1: start your array whit the biggest disk you can get, YES they cost more but they will drop in price fast
My 750GB disk's are now more then 50% cheaper then when i got my first one 1~1.5 year ago and pretty soon will have cheapest price per GB

Tip 2: WebConneXXion is one of the best shops around om the EU when it comes to RAID controllers and they give great support most replacement controller gets send before old one is arrived back at them and 95% of email questions are answered whit in 24 oure's most of the time even on the same day.
Also read on the left side little lower the TECHN INFO section all about raid it will answer all questions you still have its only in Dutch's (rest of the site is in English) for others there is a good explanation about RAID 5 here

Tip 3: chain band(*) is really great to hang up HD's if you run out of space in your case, they have the perfect spacing
(*) is used for example for hanging up big PVC pipe's and air ducts, you can get it at any do it your self shop.
It looks like this only whit round holes

My little server
Got a old server case i modified to fit a standard ATX board

 

[ThaClown]

Thanks you both that looks very interresting.

I think ill try Freenas first with some old parts (no risk there right?)
The Wiki look quite good, I hope I can do this.
Any good online guides on how to do this step by step?

 

[player-x]

For hardware it doesnt mater anything above a PIII 800MHz / 512MB+ will do the job
If you go the software way, a P4 2.4GHz whit 1024MB+ is a minimum
I had whit my 11 disk array really slow write speed 2MB/sec, but reading was fine 25MB/sec

And yeah the software RAID works fine just remember that once you made your array its hard to turn it around in to hardware RAID

The way i did is was, I got this controller I got one 750GB HD then one more and one more then prices dropped quit a bit and got 2 more and made a RAID 5 array by adding them to one disk copy the other disk en merged it whit the RAID 5 array and again for the last one

I cant look in to your walled but if you wand to spend less money i would go whit this one and get one 1TB disk and go the same way i did it.

I now its a lot of money but this controller card will lest you at least 10 years 8 x 1TB RAID 5 = 7TB whit the option to put in a extra card and go up to 15TB in the long run

Don't see the controller as a CPU ore GPU but more as a monitor, it will lest you mouths longer
Got my 11 x 160GB disk's in 2000 costed me 1000 euro and it lasted me 5 years whit this new controller i think it will lest me up to 10 years.

You properly notice I prefer the hardware, its just almost 10 Years having raid0 and 5 at home has learned me that you get what you pay for and i prefer now to pay a little more then less

So good luck what ever you do properly dint make your life easier

 

[ThaClown]

Thank you for the info again.
I'll try some stuff witch spare parts first but maybe will invest in your second option at a later time....

Offtopic: Haha we have the same TV! Its great isnt it?
Do you think the projector adds alot to watching movies?

 

[mzemina]

freenas has a wiki page which includes complete PDF version in a few languages, also there is a Setup and User Guide in four languages plus other sections there.

 

[player-x]

Do you think the projector adds alot to watching movies?

YES projectors rock they give a extra dimension to a movie ore when you are playing a games.
But they suck when your watching the news ore other things then its to overwhelming/distracting.