From RAID 1 to RAID 5, external box or what?

[starless]

Hi, I need to add storage space to a small server (mostly file server), but I'm pretty lost among the possibilities, as I'm rather new to this area.

The server currently is a custom built P4 in a very standard PC case, containing:
- 1 system HD (80 GB) on internal IDE channels;
- 2 data HDs (160 GB each) in RAID 1 configuration through a 3ware controller;
- 1 backup HD (160 GB) on internal IDE, mounted on a removable 5.25" bay;
- 1 floppy drive
- 1 DVD drive

Disk space for data and backup is running low for the second time in a couple of years, so instead of just replacing all drives with bigger ones again I'd like to jump over to a more flexible solution.
I was thinking about using RAID 5 for the data drives, so that I can add more drives afterwards, and maybe RAID 0 for the backup, so that I'm not limited to the capacity of a single drive (please note that, of course, also a remote - or on removable storage - backup is planned; the "internal backup" is there for availability reasons).

Both data and backup must be directly available, and data is worked on continously, so compressed backups or network drives are not a viable solution, I suppose.

So I was looking around for SATA/SCSI external enclosures and similar stuff... and then got lost. I found terribly expensive products from e.g. IBM and Promise... and I'm not even sure they can satisfy my needs!
As an example, I don't even know if they are fully supported on Linux, and this is an absolute requirement, as we use Debian Linux on the server.

I then started thinking again at the "all in the case" solution... after all, you can find tower cases with lots of drive bays for less than 200 euros; I could buy 1 or 2 new RAID controllers, and build the RAID 5 and RAID 0 arrays inside the case.
But again... which interface? ATA, SATA, SCSI? Which controller? Linux compatibility is often not advertised...

What would you suggest?
Is there an "external" solution which is comparable in price to the "internal" one?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

 

[zadak]

I bought a NORCOTEK DS-1220 12bays eSATA storage system. It is good for a near-line storage system. Support RAID 0, 1, 5, 0+1, JBOD. Includes PCI-X/PCI card, eSATA cables

 

[starless]

Thanks zadak, looks interesting.
How much did you pay for it? I can't find a price or a reseller anywhere...

Does it have to be configured necessarily as a single RAID array, or can you separate the 12 bays in two different arrays, e.g. RAID 5 and RAID 0?

Do you know how does it behave with Linux? The specs tell it's compatible, but I do not have any SATA experience on Linux...

Any other info about other solutions from anyone else is welcome, of course . Mostly because I'm not sure I'll be able to find a Norcotek reseller...
Thanks.

 

[croc]

Check out the products from ReadyNas.... Nice stuff.

 

[PCcashCow]

Thanks zadak, looks interesting.
How much did you pay for it? I can't find a price or a reseller anywhere...

Does it have to be configured necessarily as a single RAID array, or can you separate the 12 bays in two different arrays, e.g. RAID 5 and RAID 0?

Do you know how does it behave with Linux? The specs tell it's compatible, but I do not have any SATA experience on Linux...

Any other info about other solutions from anyone else is welcome, of course . Mostly because I'm not sure I'll be able to find a Norcotek reseller...
Thanks.

You can build a nice system of your own using what ever storage you want with FreeNAS. I'm using this solution with a 500 gig scsi 320 setup. But it can easly be one dirt cheap with IDE or SATA drives.

 

[starless]

Thanks PCcashCow, but the machine is already used as a file server with Samba (CIFS), and I don't think we're going to change the software configuration.
What we need is a flexible way to add more storage... and the problem is currently the hardware: even using FreeNAS, I can't put more than 4-5 HDs in the current case , so first of all I need a bigger case OR an external enclosure (that's what I asked suggestions for), and then I can think about the way to use the new hardware, i.e. decide if handle the new HDs through hardware (which I would prefer) or software.

 

[blue68f100]

You might want to look at Raidcore 4852 8 port SATA as a expansion card.

 

[starless]

Thanks Blue68F100, I didn't know those Broadcom products, they seem to have a good performance/price ratio. I need to investigate more to understand whether they are natively supported on Linux... I can't see a suitable driver download for e.g. Debian, while 3ware offers source download for their drivers.

Also thanks Croc, I missed your suggestion, but again it's a NAS solution... is it really a good alternative to direct connection for my situation? Please keep in mind that, as I wrote, the files on those HDs are continuously accessed by many users, using e.g. AutoCAD, Word, Outlook... of course they are connected to the server via a standard 100 Mbps network, but wouldn't this unique network connection from the server to the storage be a bottleneck? We also don't have any Gigabit devices around...

 

[zadak]

I did compared eSATA solution and NAS. If needing remote access or several locations to access the storage, NAS is better. But the speed of NAS access will depend on other devices in the network.. I do care the speed and need a direct access solution because . my works using that eSATA DS-1220 are not only achieving.
My OS is not Linux. DS-1220 eSATA utility is from SiliconImage I went to http://www.siliconimage.com/support/supportsearchresults.aspx?pid=27&cid=11&ctid=2&osid=4&
There is Linux drive as well on this site of the Sil3124 chip of the eSATA RAID card
You should be able to find more answers from it.

From www.newegg.com I found NORCOTEK's storage. But newegg only has DS-1210. That is a firewire solution. I bought from NORCO directly. It is $790

 

[zadak]

Found the Norco's DS-1220 on Newegg:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16816133001
It is $799