NAS as fast as a local hdd

[tariag]

Hi all,

I want to build a server/NAS for file sharing.
This device will not be used for long term filing but just for high speed access to shared files (large uncompressed images). So security is secondary (there will be other, slower devices for long term filing). So the priority is trasfer rate in read and write operations. There can be 3-4 simultaneous operations.

Is it technically possible to have a NAS as fast as a local drive? (I mean a standard 7200 rpm sata drive so something like a 100MB/s sustained rate)
What kind of hardware do I need? SATA or SAS? RAID? which one? Special hardware controller? Has the cpu speed an influence on these applications?

Last point : as we try to be environment friendly, "green" or lower energy devices would be appreciated.

Thanks for your help!

 

[malveaux]

Heya,

You technically will be limited by your network. 10/100 will obviously never move as quickly as your SATA can do. Gigabit networking would be your goal to start (10/100/1000). To go faster, you'd have to basically use eSATA, but then you're not looking at NAS. You're then looking at an external SATA drive plugged into your computer. For it to be completely separate from your computer and accessible, the Network is going to be your ultimate limiting factor for speed. So your device that serves the harddrive's storage to the network needs gigabit, the router needs to be gigabit, and the computers accessing it needs to be gigabit. It still will not be the performance of a local drive. But it's hella faster than old 10/100 lan.

You don't need SATA, RAID, etc. Nothing. And an old clunky P4 will be more than enough CPU muscle to move files and the like. Again, all the matters is that you have a controller that can handle the types of drives you're using and gigabit or better networking on every device that is invovled.

Cheers,