NAS VS server attached external RAID enclosure

[i7_Power]

I currently am using a Windows 2012 server as a home server. It is my old pre-build desktop, Dell Vostro 320, 3GB RAM, Intel Core2 Duo E7500 CPU. It is mainly a file server (and DHCP, WDS). I currently has a 2TB WD green drive and it is almost full (I has a lot of HD videos that are streamed on a couple of rasberyPIs ).

For more storage I was l looking at either a NAS or attaching an external RAID enclosure to my Win server (either way everyone on the network can access it). I was looking at a 4-5 bay with 3 3-4TB drives in RAID 5 (that way I could add a drive if I need more space). For the price the enclosures are significantly cheaper.

What would you recommend? Would Performance be better on the NAS?

Also, should I user desktop HDDs, the consumer grade NAS drives (WD red) or the enterprise ones? There seems to be a lot of debate in this area...

 

[killakallies]

You will see performance gains from a NAS as it is it's own separate system dedicated to file services. But seeing as you are using it for movies and what not an external enclosure is a perfect solution. Your connection to the external enclosure is what will matter i.e. eSATA, USB3.0. Desktop drives will perform faster but again if you are only using it to watch movies or share files and Intellipower RE drive will work perfectly. I personally like the WD RE4 enterprise class drives as they run at 7200RPM's but they tend to be expensive. The RE drives will serve you nicely as TLER will keep the RAID array error free which I would label as a must for a cheaper external enclosure packaged RAID controller.

 

[i7_Power]

You will see performance gains from a NAS as it is it's own separate system dedicated to file services. But seeing as you are using it for movies and what not an external enclosure is a perfect solution. Your connection to the external enclosure is what will matter i.e. eSATA, USB3.0. Desktop drives will perform faster but again if you are only using it to watch movies or share files and Intellipower RE drive will work perfectly. I personally like the WD RE4 enterprise class drives as they run at 7200RPM's but they tend to be expensive. The RE drives will serve you nicely as TLER will keep the RAID array error free which I would label as a must for a cheaper external enclosure packaged RAID controller.

The hardware I have in my server seems as good or better than most NAS's, so I don't see any point in paying extra for it. The performance should be about the same, right? I even have a dual nic card to configure nic teaming if necessary.

What are some quality enclosures and RAID controllers?

I don't know why the WD reds are not 7200 rpm. I like the ent. HDDs but they are really pricey and I am not sure if it is really worth it. I know they have a 5 year warrenty but how long do you think they will last?

Also, what does TLER stand for ?

 

[killakallies]

I have provided the link to a decent enclosure that will serve your needs perfectly below. NIC teaming should not be necessary, it's mainly used in business environments where the server needs to send or receive data at a rate that exceeds the bandwidth of one NIC. Mainly you will see a bottleneck in your disk read's before you will max out the bandwidth of one NIC.

Ensure that you use the USB3.0 connection if possible as you will get the most speed out of the enclosure as possible.
Link to RAID Enclosure:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817392056

If you want to go the route of installing internal hard drives and connecting them VIA a RAID card inside your system you will have to spend a bit more money in order to get a card that supports RAID 5. You want to go with RAID 5 as with 4 1TB disks you will get 3TB of storage. You could go the route of RAID 10 but then you will only be getting 2TB. Both RAID options will optimize your read speeds which will help in a file sharing environment.

Link to RAID controller card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816118133

TLER stands for Time Limited Error Recovery under the Western Digital name. It basically means that the disk is able to recover errors in the RAID process to remap around bad sectors and essentially keep itself operating optimally and error free. Again choice in hard drives is up to you, I use WD RE4's in my test bed ESX server in a RAID 5 configuration and I also use WD Blue's in a RAID 1 configuration on my desktops they all perform wonderfully. May I ask what the specs are on your home server?

 

[i7_Power]

I have provided the link to a decent enclosure that will serve your needs perfectly below. NIC teaming should not be necessary, it's mainly used in business environments where the server needs to send or receive data at a rate that exceeds the bandwidth of one NIC. Mainly you will see a bottleneck in your disk read's before you will max out the bandwidth of one NIC.

Ensure that you use the USB3.0 connection if possible as you will get the most speed out of the enclosure as possible.
Link to RAID Enclosure:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817392056

If you want to go the route of installing internal hard drives and connecting them VIA a RAID card inside your system you will have to spend a bit more money in order to get a card that supports RAID 5. You want to go with RAID 5 as with 4 1TB disks you will get 3TB of storage. You could go the route of RAID 10 but then you will only be getting 2TB. Both RAID options will optimize your read speeds which will help in a file sharing environment.

Link to RAID controller card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816118133

TLER stands for Time Limited Error Recovery under the Western Digital name. It basically means that the disk is able to recover errors in the RAID process to remap around bad sectors and essentially keep itself operating optimally and error free. Again choice in hard drives is up to you, I use WD RE4's in my test bed ESX server in a RAID 5 configuration and I also use WD Blue's in a RAID 1 configuration on my desktops they all perform wonderfully. May I ask what the specs are on your home server?

I already mentioned it in my first post. I currently am using a Windows 2012 server as a home server. It is my old pre-build desktop, Dell Vostro 320, 3GB RAM, Intel Core2 Duo E7500 CPU, OS drive + WD green 2TB drive. It is mainly a file server (and DHCP, WDS). I wish I could run esxi like you but the crappy motherboard doesn't support more than 3GBS .

I don't think an internal raid card will work well because my case only has mounting for 2 HDDs Last pre-build computer I buy .

That is an interestingly shaped case . but has pretty good reviews.

So you are recommending USB 3.0 over eSATA? There seems to be no clear answer online.

If I start with 3 HDDs and later upgrade to 4 will I have to backup my data and redo the RAID 5 array?

 

[killakallies]

I recommend USB3.0 because it operates at a higher data bandwidth than eSATA. If it comes down to it though you could use the eSATA connection as it will still provide proper performance.

If you decide to add a 4th hard drive in the future you will want to make a backup image of the array first as adding the disk will require you to format and recreate the array. Some systems do allow drives to be added but it is a process that can go occasionally fail out.

 

[popatim]

Actually TLER has the opposite effect on harddrives. In a desktop - drives do nothave this feature and can spend all day trying to recover data from a damaged sector. Doing this in a raid would cause the raid controller to see the lengthy time as a failed drive and thus drop it from the array. TLER only allows the drive to spend a fixed amount of time attempting data recovery before giving up and signaling the raid controller to go fetch the data from the redundant copy. Typical TLER timeouts are 5-7 seconds depending on the drive manufacturer

You must also set the tler timeout in the bios of the raid card accordingly. If you had a raid card set for 3 seconds and a drive with 7 seconds then the drive would get marked as failed before its internal tler had a chance to 'give up'. I mention this in case you get a real raid card.

(and by the way, the one linked to above only does raid 0,1,+10

 

[i7_Power]

Actually TLER has the opposite effect on harddrives. In a desktop - drives do nothave this feature and can spend all day trying to recover data from a damaged sector. Doing this in a raid would cause the raid controller to see the lengthy time as a failed drive and thus drop it from the array. TLER only allows the drive to spend a fixed amount of time attempting data recovery before giving up and signaling the raid controller to go fetch the data from the redundant copy. Typical TLER timeouts are 5-7 seconds depending on the drive manufacturer

You must also set the tler timeout in the bios of the raid card accordingly. If you had a raid card set for 3 seconds and a drive with 7 seconds then the drive would get marked as failed before its internal tler had a chance to 'give up'. I mention this in case you get a real raid card.

(and by the way, the one linked to above only does raid 0,1,+10

If I get a RAID enclosure, doesn't it have a RAID card built into it? What would you recommend?