9x3TB hardrive storage unit

[Tsunamijhoe]

Hello

I was wondering if anyone could enlighten me as to how i go about connecting 9x3TB SATA hdd´s in a harddrive enclosure using the antec twelve hundred cabinet?
I have ever only built pc´s that use the amount of sata connectors on the motherboard,but this time i would like to build a system that runs 9x3TB drives in a RAID5. I will be using only WD 3TB Caviar Green SATA 3.0

So i need to know what hardware i need as well as how to connect it to accomplish RAID5.

As unit is ONLY intended to run, as a storage unit for movies to feed my pocorn hour A-210 over gigabit lan, do i need a seperate gfx card,or would a motherboard with gfx built in suffice? What motherboard would you suggest,cheap but reliable, how large a PSU should i use? How much ram is needed? Do i need a specific RAID Controller,if so which one?

I am sure there will be more questions later, but for now these will do. I hope you can help me

Thank you

 

[GhislainG]

Will you configure 9 x 3TB drives in a single RAID 5 for a total of 24 GB of storage? What OS will you use? Will the Popcorn Hour A-210 only read files from the NAS or does the NAS have to convert them to a different format?

 

[Tsunamijhoe]

I will be using a single RAID 5 total 24TB storage. I will be using windows 7,and there will be absolutly NO conversion going on, ALL that is needed is bandwidth to stream full blu-rays to my pch a210 which will do the playing of the files

 

[suteck]

One way I can think of is a NAS storage system. Something like this Synology DS1511+ Diskless System DiskStation Scaleable Network Storage for SMB Users. But it only holds 5 drives and is $900. Or this NETGEAR RNDU6000-100NAS Diskless ReadyNAS Ultra 6 Multimedia D with 6 drive capacity for only $800. These are only examples, please check hdd compatibility before purchase. That's why you didn't get links.
The other possibility is an Intel RAID SAS/SATA 8 internal port w/ 512MB cache memory PCI-E 2.0 x8 Controller Card (RS2BL080) You can connect up to 8 devices to it but you will need a storage box for the drives and a way to power them. This is only an interface between them and the board. Maybe with something like this External 8 drive SATA Enclosure w/4X connectors for $225. Hope you got some money

 

[Tsunamijhoe]

I am not sure you understood me. I am using the antec twelve hundred with 9 INTERNAL hdd bays for this build. So i wouldnt be needing any kind of NAS or anything. I need to know what motherboard to buy,how large a psu is needed, how exactly do i connect 9 hdd´s to a motherboard that only has 4 connectors for example. do i need to buy a raid controller,if so,how many ports,and how exactly does these cards allow connection of these many hdds?

I think you get where i am heading

 

[suteck]

Gotcha, I should have looked it up when I saw you listed it. Then one way is to use the Intel RAID SAS/SATA 8 internal port w/ 512MB cache memory PCI-E 2.0 x8 Controller Card (RS2BL080) for $490 I suggested earlier.

If you would rather go with just the motherboard - probably cheaper too cause the $500 is just the raid controller - then this ASUS Maximus III Formula LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard has 10 connectors that you can use 8 in raid5 and the other(s) you can use for the operating system hdd and cd/dvd. If you want something a little more modern then this GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard for only $190. 8 sata 3.0 in sata raid will give you the most available and again, you can use the other 2 like before.

The PSU is always the easy part. This CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V v2.2 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply for only $130 should be plenty. You didn't mention any giant power sucking video card(s) for gaming so it should give you some to spare. If you want to go with a sapphire 6990, like me, to run multiple monitors on then you will probably want a little more, but lets get the simple things first. You mentioned video, onboard video is usually not the best to go with. The on die sandybridge is pretty good but I didn't see any compatible motherboards with that many sata connections. So a good, inexpensive quality video card would be something like this SAPPHIRE Ultimate 100326UL Radeon HD 6670 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card for less than $100. It will give you the HD signal for watching your HD and Bluray movies with no problem. Or this SAPPHIRE 100328L Radeon HD 6770 1GB GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card which I like better, it's newer lol and has active cooling, and only about $7 more.

Are we on the right page now.

 

[Tsunamijhoe]

Hehe,yes now we seem to be gettng somewhere. Although,i was reading about NOT using the onboard RAID controllers as they tend to not have the cache to be fast enough with the parity writes in RAID 5,so i was looking at something like HighPoint RocketRAID 620 to handle the traffic,although it states it can handle 10 units,i am unclear as how you would physically connect them to a card that has only 2 connectors?

I need to be able to stream a full blu-ray without any hiccups when the array is writing parity data.

Is 750w psu really necessary? the WD caviar greens use almost no power,and since i won´t be running any gfx cards or any kind of really power hungry stuff,i think it might be a bit overkill,wouldn´t it? I mean i only have a 550w in my current gamer pc,and that holds both firewire cards,ati gfx card (hd5750) as well as 3 optical drives and sb soundcard and so on.

This should be inexpensive and power use should be minimal,so i also think since no encoding/decoding will take place in this array,an intel core i5 or less should be able to run it,as well as 2-4GB of ram,no more,would i be correct in my asumption?

Also, this unit is STRICTLY a file server,nothing else, ALL playback will be performed by my Popcorn hour A-210 over gigabit lan, so i have no need for anykind of gfx card,except for when installing OS and the likes,hence why an onboard would do the work

 

[GhislainG]

Are fast writes really important? If not, then I would suggest a software RAID 5 solution. If write speed is important, then use a RAID controller like the Areca ARC-1231ML 12 port SATA RAID Controller with BBM. I presume that you'll also install a separate boot drive.

 

[suteck]

You're correct about the onboard raid controllers. I believe it's better to use the cards. As for the 10 drives for only 2 connectors?? That's because the 2 plugs you see are for the included connectors - each one having 5 sata connectors on the other end. If you check the last picture on newegg you can see the connectors.

Why is the system writing parity data while you are watching movies? And a decent video card should allow you to be able to watch blueray movies and write data since one used the graphics processor and memory (mostly) and the other uses the cpu and hdd.

Yeah, the 750 is more than you will most likely need but I wasn't sure which way this build is heading. I tend to build workhorses when not contained (ADHA and all)

As for the rest of the build, We can start over since you have chosen the raid controller.

Lets start with Recommended, then Cheapest.
Mobo Intel Core i5-2400S Sandy Bridge 2.5GHz (3.3GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 65W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2000 BX80623I52400S for $200.
Motherboard GIGABYTE GA-Z68P-DS3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s ATX Intel Motherboard for $102.
Memory G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-8GBRL - - $42
PSU Antec EarthWatts EA-650 GREEN 650W ATX12V for $75
GPU SAPPHIRE 100338L Radeon HD 6770 1GB for $95
Case and HDD you have correct? Do you need the bluray player?

Cheaper - should work
CPU Intel Pentium G840 Sandy Bridge 2.8GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2000 BX80623G840 for $85
Mobo GIGABYTE GA-H61M-DS2 LGA 1155 Intel H61 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard for $60
Memory same G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) for $42
PSU Antec EarthWatts Green EA-430D Green 430W Continuous power ATX12V v2.3 / EPS 12V 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply for $63 - will need adapters for the molex to sata with the lesser wattage psu's
GPU SAPPHIRE Ultimate 100326UL Radeon HD 6670 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card for $97 - can't really go too cheap.


So, we got an estimated total of $514
Or the cheaper version's estimated at $347
What cha like and what revisions do you have in mind?

 

[Tsunamijhoe]

You're correct about the onboard raid controllers. I believe it's better to use the cards. As for the 10 drives for only 2 connectors?? That's because the 2 plugs you see are for the included connectors - each one having 5 sata connectors on the other end. If you check the last picture on newegg you can see the connectors.

Why is the system writing parity data while you are watching movies? And a decent video card should allow you to be able to watch blueray movies and write data since one used the graphics processor and memory (mostly) and the other uses the cpu and hdd.

Yeah, the 750 is more than you will most likely need but I wasn't sure which way this build is heading. I tend to build workhorses when not contained (ADHA and all)

As for the rest of the build, We can start over since you have chosen the raid controller.

Lets start with Recommended, then Cheapest.
Mobo Intel Core i5-2400S Sandy Bridge 2.5GHz (3.3GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 65W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2000 BX80623I52400S for $200.
Motherboard GIGABYTE GA-Z68P-DS3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s ATX Intel Motherboard for $102.
Memory G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-8GBRL - - $42
PSU Antec EarthWatts EA-650 GREEN 650W ATX12V for $75
GPU SAPPHIRE 100338L Radeon HD 6770 1GB for $95
Case and HDD you have correct? Do you need the bluray player?

Cheaper - should work
CPU Intel Pentium G840 Sandy Bridge 2.8GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2000 BX80623G840 for $85
Mobo GIGABYTE GA-H61M-DS2 LGA 1155 Intel H61 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard for $60
Memory same G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) for $42
PSU Antec EarthWatts Green EA-430D Green 430W Continuous power ATX12V v2.3 / EPS 12V 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply for $63 - will need adapters for the molex to sata with the lesser wattage psu's
GPU SAPPHIRE Ultimate 100326UL Radeon HD 6670 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card for $97 - can't really go too cheap.


So, we got an estimated total of $514
Or the cheaper version's estimated at $347
What cha like and what revisions do you have in mind?

Hmm, well i would think the 514$ sounds about right, however,i would like a mobo with built in gfx,as i have no use for a seperate gfx card. This pc is NOT intended to play anything,only stream via gigabit lan to my media player,so it will serve as a file storage unit only where my ripped blu-ray and dvd/cd would get stored,and then i play the files from my living room on my popcorn hour A-210. Since absolutly NO playing/encoding/decoding will take place on this pc, is 8GB ram necessary? Would i be able to run this system on a intel core I3?

Are fast writes really important? If not, then I would suggest a software RAID 5 solution. If write speed is important, then use a RAID controller like the Areca ARC-1231ML 12 port SATA RAID Controller with BBM. I presume that you'll also install a separate boot drive.

Since i have no idea how RAID works, i was asuming there would be writing on the drives? I will add new content to them on a daily basis, and the parity has to be written sometimes,right? That said,i am not even sure RAID 5 is good on this array size, someone else would as minimum suggest RAID 6 (RAID 5 with extra disk added for parity)

 

[kamel5547]

You may want to look into the limits of RAID 5 recoverbility. I think you may find that you have to do RAID 6. http://www.tomshardware.com/news/RAID-5-Doomed-2009,6525.html

 

[GhislainG]

Since i have no idea how RAID works, i was asuming there would be writing on the drives? I will add new content to them on a daily basis, and the parity has to be written sometimes,right? That said,i am not even sure RAID 5 is good on this array size, someone else would as minimum suggest RAID 6 (RAID 5 with extra disk added for parity)

You'll write the files once and probably read them several times. That's why I asked if write speed is important. Calculating parity requires a bit of CPU power, but it's writing it that slows the system down unless you use a caching controller. How will you transfer movies and other files to the NAS?

You may not know a lot about RAID, but do you at least realize that no motherboard meets your requirements? Even if you configure a software RAID 5, you need one SATA port for the boot drive, one for the optional DVD Drive and 9 ports for your RAID. At a minimum you need a PCIe x4 SATA controller with 4 additional ports (more with the proposed motherboards that only have 4 or 6 ports). You can implement RAID 6 on the RAID controller that I suggested.

 

[GhislainG]

You may want to look into the limits of RAID 5 recoverbility. I think you may find that you have to do RAID 6. http://www.tomshardware.com/news/RAID-5-Doomed-2009,6525.html

Here's an interesting article about a software RAID 6 implementation: http://www.backblaze.com/petabytes-on-a-budget-how-to-build-cheap-cloud-storage.html

 

[Tsunamijhoe]

Since i have no idea how RAID works, i was asuming there would be writing on the drives? I will add new content to them on a daily basis, and the parity has to be written sometimes,right? That said,i am not even sure RAID 5 is good on this array size, someone else would as minimum suggest RAID 6 (RAID 5 with extra disk added for parity)

You'll write the files once and probably read them several times. That's why I asked if write speed is important. Calculating parity requires a bit of CPU power, but it's writing it that slows the system down unless you use a caching controller. How will you transfer movies and other files to the NAS?

You may not know a lot about RAID, but do you at least realize that no motherboard meets your requirements? Even if you configure a software RAID 5, you need one SATA port for the boot drive, one for the optional DVD Drive and 9 ports for your RAID. At a minimum you need a PCIe x4 SATA controller with 4 additional ports (more with the proposed motherboards that only have 4 or 6 ports). You can implement RAID 6 on the RAID controller that I suggested.

I think i am gonna go with the highpoint RocketRAID 620 or equivalent as raid controller since it can accomodate 10 drives,that leaves the onboard connectors for the boot drive and optical dvd drive. Does RAID 5 supported controllers also support RAID 6,or is this a standard that has to be supported on top of RAID 5?

 

[suteck]

I don't know much about the raid setups so I'll leave that to people who have some experience. Except to say that while motherboards are not equipped to handle that many drives in a raid configuration I believe the raid controller is built and used for just that purpose. So make sure you spend some money on a great raid controller card. And you will need to check the manufacturer's website to see which raid specification is support by which raid controller card. I see this for the highpoint rocketraid 620 - RAID Support The HighPoint RocketRAID 620 multi-level RAID configuration including RAID 0, 1, 5, 10, and JBOD for better performance, enhanced data security and flexible capacity upgrades. No mention of raid 6.

But as for the builds I recommended. If ALL you want it to do is store and transmit movies to your popcorn via Ethernet connection then the cheaper unit will work. Motherboards don't have video chipsets on them anymore. (is that what you mean by gfx, short for graphics) The gpu is built into the processor and the motherboard has the monitor connection. So both of my recommendations have the cpu/gpu combination along with the video output on the motherboard. I wouldn't use them to watch blurays through but if i'm interpreting it right then that's not what you need. The major difference in the 2 mobo's is the connection type. The cheaper build has a vga plug and the other one has an HDMI which will give you a better picture and send sound across the same cable. If you don't need that then go with the second build, leave out the graphics card and go with this Antec EarthWatts Green EA-380D Green 380W Continuous power ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply for only $50. Again with the power connectors though. You can probably use sata power connector splitters like these for $6. That will save you $110 from the cheaper $347 build bringing your total down to $237
As for the memory, 4 gigs, like these G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-4GBRL for $25 instead will work, but if your system is using the memory as a buffer for transmission then the extra $17 for twice the memory I think is well spent as an insurance.

 

[GhislainG]

I think i am gonna go with the highpoint RocketRAID 620 or equivalent as raid controller since it can accomodate 10 drives,that leaves the onboard connectors for the boot drive and optical dvd drive. Does RAID 5 supported controllers also support RAID 6,or is this a standard that has to be supported on top of RAID 5?

The controller has to support RAID 6. RAID 5 with a hot spare is not the same as RAID 6.

If you select that controller, then write performance probably isn't that important. Your controller selection also indicates that you decided to go with a software RAID 5. Did you read the reviews on Newegg? Are you absolutely sure you want to use that software RAID controller with WD Green drives?

 

[Tsunamijhoe]

I don't know much about the raid setups so I'll leave that to people who have some experience. Except to say that while motherboards are not equipped to handle that many drives in a raid configuration I believe the raid controller is built and used for just that purpose. So make sure you spend some money on a great raid controller card. And you will need to check the manufacturer's website to see which raid specification is support by which raid controller card. I see this for the highpoint rocketraid 620 - RAID Support The HighPoint RocketRAID 620 multi-level RAID configuration including RAID 0, 1, 5, 10, and JBOD for better performance, enhanced data security and flexible capacity upgrades. No mention of raid 6.

But as for the builds I recommended. If ALL you want it to do is store and transmit movies to your popcorn via Ethernet connection then the cheaper unit will work. Motherboards don't have video chipsets on them anymore. (is that what you mean by gfx, short for graphics) The gpu is built into the processor and the motherboard has the monitor connection. So both of my recommendations have the cpu/gpu combination along with the video output on the motherboard. I wouldn't use them to watch blurays through but if i'm interpreting it right then that's not what you need. The major difference in the 2 mobo's is the connection type. The cheaper build has a vga plug and the other one has an HDMI which will give you a better picture and send sound across the same cable. If you don't need that then go with the second build, leave out the graphics card and go with this Antec EarthWatts Green EA-380D Green 380W Continuous power ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply for only $50. Again with the power connectors though. You can probably use sata power connector splitters like these for $6. That will save you $110 from the cheaper $347 build bringing your total down to $237
As for the memory, 4 gigs, like these G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-4GBRL for $25 instead will work, but if your system is using the memory as a buffer for transmission then the extra $17 for twice the memory I think is well spent as an insurance.

Yes,ALL i want to do is store the movies on this rig,nothing else,a monitor will only be connected on intial setup or when something needs to be done. I didn´t know they didn´t have GFX chipsets on the mobo anymore, but yes the option GPU in CPU with mobo connector is then what i need.

The controller has to support RAID 6. RAID 5 with a hot spare is not the same as RAID 6.

If you select that controller, then write performance probably isn't that important. Your controller selection also indicates that you decided to go with a software RAID 5. Did you read the reviews on Newegg? Are you absolutely sure you want to use that software RAID controller with WD Green drives?

The highpoint 620 was just an example, i would ofcourse find equivalent (price segment) that has same specs and support RAID 6.. RAID 6 seems to be the best option for my use

 

[GhislainG]

The highpoint 620 was just an example, i would ofcourse find equivalent (price segment) that has same specs and support RAID 6.. RAID 6 seems to be the best option for my use

AFAIK that doesn't exist. The HighPoint RocketRAID 2720SGL supports RAID 6, but only 8 drives and you need 10. You could build a RAID 60 across 2 controllers, but then you'll need 12 hard disks.

 

[Tsunamijhoe]

The highpoint 620 was just an example, i would ofcourse find equivalent (price segment) that has same specs and support RAID 6.. RAID 6 seems to be the best option for my use

AFAIK that doesn't exist. The HighPoint RocketRAID 2720SGL supports RAID 6, but only 8 drives and you need 10. You could build a RAID 60 across 2 controllers, but then you'll need 12 hard disks.

Hmm, what about unRAID and a SATA controller instead?

 

[GhislainG]

You need unRAID Pro to support more than 6 hard disks. You should also make sure that your hardware is compatible (RAID card in partilcular - they use Adaptec 1430SA controllers in their servers). As mentioned in their documentation, you want PCI-e x4 controllers for best performance. Spend a few hours reading their blogs.

 

[FireWire2]

Hello

I was wondering if anyone could enlighten me as to how i go about connecting 9x3TB SATA hdd´s in a harddrive enclosure using the antec twelve hundred cabinet?
I have ever only built pc´s that use the amount of sata connectors on the motherboard,but this time i would like to build a system that runs 9x3TB drives in a RAID5. I will be using only WD 3TB Caviar Green SATA 3.0

So i need to know what hardware i need as well as how to connect it to accomplish RAID5.

As unit is ONLY intended to run, as a storage unit for movies to feed my pocorn hour A-210 over gigabit lan, do i need a seperate gfx card,or would a motherboard with gfx built in suffice? What motherboard would you suggest,cheap but reliable, how large a PSU should i use? How much ram is needed? Do i need a specific RAID Controller,if so which one?

I am sure there will be more questions later, but for now these will do. I hope you can help me

Thank you

Popcorn, DUNE, TVIX... all the popular HD players play VERY nice with NFS protocol, instead of SAMBA...

To built a Media Server System I would suggested you to consider these:
1) Expandable
With BD, MKV, M2TS.., it fill up pretty quick so an option to add more space is really nice
2) Low power
365/24/7 It will eat up the electrical bill, beside you transfer via 1000Mb/s therefore you don't need all high performance stuff that reach 400~500MB/sec
3) Hot swap drives
High density HDD failure rate is higher than the less then 1TB.. so it's nice to have ability to just replace it hot without open-up anything

I built a 40TB base on $180.00 mother board (Super Micro) when runs it consume 180W
Now u can use ẠT-NM10T-I that is $89.00 with 400W PSU are more than enough

Use whether FreeNAS or Openfiler (both are free)

These TWO OS offers lots more in NAS than Win7 ever will

Look at my set up
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/265641-32-40tb-server-performance-issue

DATOptic use the same raid controller for their NAS box ebox-n:
http://www.datoptic.com/home-server-nas-iscsi-with-bit-torrent-and-gigabit-ethernet.html