Advice on setting up a home server or NAS with a retired PC for 3 Macs.

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goesup

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I want network attached storage for my 2 imacs and one macbook pro to access. I have a small office and need a central file storage location for everyone to access, work from and store files on.

I have a PC that I plan to put 2 HDDs or SSDs into and attach to the network. It would be nice if I could use the NAS/server for TimeMachine backups as well (maybe partitions would be needed?) to get rid of the external drives on our desks.

It would also be nice to have remote access to the server, and really cool if I could somehow send links to clients to transfer large files. Am I dreaming?

How should I RAID the 2 drives for best performance and redundancy? Should I go with Ubuntu Server or FreeNAS? Rather than seeking redundancy from the 2 internal drives, should I rather have a (3rd) external back up attached to the PC?

 
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If you are limited to just the 2 drives, your most secure option is just use 1 for storage and the second should be an external backup. Some people will recommend RAID1 but if your PSU blows or someone deletes something you shouldn't then you are dead in the water. With RAID 1, it makes both drives equally vulnerable to the same conditions and is poor form for data protection.


Ideally, I would find a way to set up a parity type protection with 3 drives and an external for backup. I don't know what size of drives you are considering, but instead of something like 2 x 3TB, you would be better off with 3 x 1TB in parity and a 2TB external for backup. You;d have 2TB of parity protected storage and everything backed up externally...
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smitbret

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If you are limited to just the 2 drives, your most secure option is just use 1 for storage and the second should be an external backup. Some people will recommend RAID1 but if your PSU blows or someone deletes something you shouldn't then you are dead in the water. With RAID 1, it makes both drives equally vulnerable to the same conditions and is poor form for data protection.


Ideally, I would find a way to set up a parity type protection with 3 drives and an external for backup. I don't know what size of drives you are considering, but instead of something like 2 x 3TB, you would be better off with 3 x 1TB in parity and a 2TB external for backup. You;d have 2TB of parity protected storage and everything backed up externally.

Something like this:

www.limetechnology.com
 
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goesup

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This is a great option, and if upgrade my case and power supply I will do it for sure.

Option 1
Get a new case, a new power supply, and 3-4x1TB drives (RAID5or6) with no external . Am I wrong in understanding that this setup would be pretty safe excluding a natural disaster? This might be more cost effective AND simpler.

Option 2
Keep PC as is
-2x2TB Main storage hybrid drive (with Time Machine Backup partitions)
-External back up of both drives

Option 3
Buy a stand alone NAS and do option 1 with it.

I'll be using offsite Crashplan backup any option. And I think FreeNAS sounds like a a good simple OS as well.

Thoughts?


 
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christinebcw

christinebcw

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There are 7200rpm 2Tb HDDs in the $90 range (the Seagate DM001's) that do well in RAID5s. Their greater expense is minimal compared to the same number of 1Tb's, and they're widely accepted on most motherboard RAID systems. For 3-4 drives, a Seasonic 520w power supply is more than adequate, and use the savings on a high-quality battery-backup UPS. Once I hit 5 drives, I push into the high-end 600+ PSUs.
 
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goesup

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For the same price I can get 1TB hybrid drives. I know I am getting half the space, but would the speed up be worth it?

Also, total new guy question. If I RAID-5 4x1TB or 4x2TB , what is my total capacity? I dont quite get parity yet
 
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christinebcw

christinebcw

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Yes, the 7200rpm would be speedier in data-transfers and data-access. The SSHDs are good for start-up - that initial jolt of data IF it's the same 8Gb amount of data, time after time. But other than that? No - they're 5900rpm speeds do not match a 7200s that is frequently accessed.

I use the SSHD 4tb's to replace the 'green/intellipower' 5900 drives but, after a minute in an hour long file-transfer, the speeds are comparable. And that hour-long transfer on SSHDs is half the time on the 7200s.
 
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christinebcw

christinebcw

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One other reason to advocate purchase of 2Tb drives instead of 1Tb's...

In a few years, this RAID device will be old-hat and you'll gut it and pull out the hard drives. Maybe then, the 28Tb drives will be $50 or so!

But the 2Tb HDDs will have - literally - twice the 'lifespan possibility' than a 1Tb drive. In a few years, the 1Tb SSDs will be cheap ($450 now, on occasional sales).

Those 1Tb HDDs will have virtually no useful 'life' therefore, while 2Tbs can be more useful for longer into the future. And especially 7200s in a world that seems to be accepting slower and slower HDDs.
 
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smitbret

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Making unRAID an even better choice because you can just add the new HDDs at that point and use the new HDD with all of the old ones. No swapping necessary.

 
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