Building a storage server with FreeBSD?
- From: Torfinn Ingolfsen <tingo@xxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 05 Dec 2005 23:16:56 +0100
I'm thinking about building a storage server for my home network, to store all my files.
Currently, I have several boxes with a variety of disk sizes in each; it all is a bit messy.
So I would like to replace all of that with just one server. The server would run FreeBSD 6.0 (probably -security or -stable), and for obvious reasons I would like a redundant disk setup, to protect against disk failures.
Should I go for RAID 5, or is there a better / equal good way to do it?
Backup to tapes is not an option anymore, IMHO.
If I go for RAID 5, I woulsd like to have 4 to eight disks in the box.
If have read recent threads here and on the freebsd mailing lists, and I have also searched on Google a bit.
After that, I have checked with my "local" hardware shops, and these are the controllers I can get, in lowest-price-first order:
Highpoint RocketRAID 1640 (4 ports)
Promise FastTrak S150 SX4 (4 ports)
Promise FastTrak S150 SX4-M (4 ports)
Highpoint RocketRAID 1810A (4 ports)
Highpoint RocketRAID 1820A (8 ports)
Intel RAID Controller SRCS16 (6 ports)
I *can* get 3ware or Adaptec SATA RAID controllers as well, but they are much (much!) more expensive than the ones listed here. Areca controllers are rare here, and they cost even more than 3ware or Adaptec.
Since it is my budget, for my personal use, I would like to use as little money as I can. :-)
Questions: 1) can I install several 4-port RAID controllers in one machine? I can get two RocketRAID 1640's for the price of one RocketRAID 1820A. 2) Are all controllers on this list equally well supported under FreeBSD? Or are there some I should avoid. 3) Rebuilding a damaged array - are some of these controllers "better" than others? (Easier to handle, rebuilds in shorter time, ?) 4) disks - I understand the importance of using disks from different production runs. Some people have suggested to use disks of different brands as well, but there were no conclusions. Should I stick to the same brand and model, or can I use disks of differnt brands as long as they are of the same size?
As you can guess, I don't have any experience with RAID under FreeBSD. Any other hints will be well received. -- Torfinn Ingolfsen, Norway .
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