Best raid for file server

testeru

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Dec 12, 2011
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Hi, i was tasked to put up a new file server that contains tiff files. those tiff files are critical for our daily operations. at present, it stores about 10,000 tiff (15KB/file) files daily. saving of images are done with an application program. retention of these images is 1 year. images are accessed by 50 users approx 100 images/5 mins.

for now, i'm using HP ML110 with 1 TB of western digital external HD.

What server type would you recommend? RAID type?

I want to address performance on reading/writing and protection of these images

Thanks in advance.

Jovi
 
Solution
No matter what RAID solution is implemented, backups are required. Preferably a backup solution where a copy can be kept off-site (external disk, tape or cloud).

Yesterday I obviously failed to check the storage requirements; the 1TB external drive could store images for the next 20 years. At 150 MB per day, the storage and backup requirements are extremely low. A single RAID 1 definitely would be enough and a server like the ML110 G6 with 2 SATA hard disks exceeds the requirements. Writing 150 MB per day obviously is not a concern.

Paperdoc

Polypheme
Ambassador
RAID6 is even more secure, but more expensive. The one weakness of RAID5 is that it cannot recover from the simultaneous loss of TWO drives, whereas RAID6 can. But RAID6 can be a bit slower, especially if you are doing RAID via software and not with a dedicated RAID controller with its own processor and RAM. It also requires more HDD's to set it up.

I don't see any mention of backups. NO system is secure enough to not need a good backup system which is USED all the time.
 
For the server, you could consider the HP ProLiant ML150 G6 E5520 1P 8GB-U 460W LFF SBS 2011 Server/S-Buy (659586-S01). It includes a hardware RAID controller. I would suggest a RAID 1 for the OS and a RAID 5 for images, but if it's too exepnsive, a single RAID 5 will also meet your requirements. As Paperdoc wrote, you also need a good backup solution.
 


Since this is a real revenue generating project then go with something from Dell or HP, make sure you get the extended warranty. The exact storage solution depend on how much space you need and what kind of backup your going to do. Optimally RAID-1 for the OS, RAID-5/6 (depending on available disks) for the data volume. Use some form of external backup, either LTO tape or a another small RAID array. Depending on volume density and how confidential the data is, you might want to look at contracting a data warehouse for backups aka "cloud computing".
 
How much data ?
Personally if it is small amounts of important data I see no reason not to use raid 1.
Since you are serving files the and require redundancy since this is sensitive info. Raid 1 seems like a safe bet depending on the seriousness of your file hosting.
If you are the one hosting the data and if data is not being uploaded by other then this is the answer.

It is simple and not nearly as fast for writes. You have you data in full no recovery is needed each disk is the same. No lose here
 
No matter what RAID solution is implemented, backups are required. Preferably a backup solution where a copy can be kept off-site (external disk, tape or cloud).

Yesterday I obviously failed to check the storage requirements; the 1TB external drive could store images for the next 20 years. At 150 MB per day, the storage and backup requirements are extremely low. A single RAID 1 definitely would be enough and a server like the ML110 G6 with 2 SATA hard disks exceeds the requirements. Writing 150 MB per day obviously is not a concern.
 
Solution