Storage Solution for Home

[More Spencer]

Hey guys,

 

I'm currently looking to fix up my storage solution for my home server. Currently this is how everything is setup

• My network shares are running on my home server (i5 7400, 16GB Ram, GTX 1080) using Samba and Ubuntu 22.04 LTS
  • One 4TB drive and one 2TB drive. These are their own drives running seperately
  • I access them through the network using a Powerline adapter and they're external drives, so I use the single front panel USB 3 port with a hub connected to it, just so I can get USB 3 (I know, it's terrible)

 

As you can tell, I'm running out of storage very quickly. I need to move everything on my D Drive and E Drive to my server so I can free up some space on my PC. I'm trying to figure out the most cost efficient and best way to do this.

 

If you guys have any ideas (networking, drives in RAID, component upgrades, etc) then let me know! No specific budget in mind, but I'm open to anything.

Cheers

[charlie-san]

id say just direct connect a 10gig lan cable to the server and make folders for the drives on the server, then drag and drop your files across.

in relation to getting new drives, if you got the money, get some green 2/4tb ironwolf drives if you need raw storage without needing too much speed

[maplepants]

Is the windows machine the home server? 

[LIGISTX]

7 hours ago, More Spencer said:

I need to move everything on my D Drive and E Drive to my server so I can free up some space on my PC. I'm trying to figure out the most cost efficient and best way to do this.

Add harddrives to your NAS..? Just buy some internal drives, plug them in via SATA, and away you go. 

[Needfuldoer]

Connecting external drives as a NAS is less than ideal, especially if they have no redundancy.

 

Install a pair of large hard drives in your home server and run them in a mirror, or install four and run a striped mirror (RAID 10).

[More Spencer]

20 hours ago, maplepants said:

Is the windows machine the home server? 

 

22 hours ago, More Spencer said:

My network shares are running on my home server (i5 7400, 16GB Ram, GTX 1080) using Samba and Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

That screenshot was taken from my host, so no

[More Spencer]

14 hours ago, Needfuldoer said:

Connecting external drives as a NAS is less than ideal, especially if they have no redundancy.

 

Install a pair of large hard drives in your home server and run them in a mirror, or install four and run a striped mirror (RAID 10).

Newbie question here, but RAID 10 doesn't work as backup.. Right?

[More Spencer]

14 hours ago, LIGISTX said:

Add harddrives to your NAS..? Just buy some internal drives, plug them in via SATA, and away you go. 

Thanks, but do you think RAID or something like that is a good idea for what is essentially just an archive server (if you don't count plex)? Genuine question by the way, not trying to sound like a smartass lol

[Mihle]

26 minutes ago, More Spencer said:

Thanks, but do you think RAID or something like that is a good idea for what is essentially just an archive server (if you don't count plex)? Genuine question by the way, not trying to sound like a smartass lol

For speed, no, but just in case a drive fails, yes.

 

If you ned lots of storage I would not go with any HDD lower than 8TB personally.

[LIGISTX]

54 minutes ago, More Spencer said:

Thanks, but do you think RAID or something like that is a good idea for what is essentially just an archive server (if you don't count plex)? Genuine question by the way, not trying to sound like a smartass lol

RAID is always a good idea, but likely not a great idea if it’ll either be software RAID in windows or hardware RAID via your mobo. 
 

Windows can be ok, but I just don’t know enough about it to tell you what makes it actually a not bad idea. I run truenas, and it uses ZFS, which is by far and away the best file system out there. A ZFS RAID array I 100% recommend, but that would entail switching to a different OS for your NAS (assuming your using windows..?. 

[Needfuldoer]

2 hours ago, More Spencer said:

Newbie question here, but RAID 10 doesn't work as backup.. Right?

Correct. RAID is not a backup, but it adds a layer of insurance against having to restore from your backups!

[maplepants]

1 hour ago, Needfuldoer said:

Correct. RAID is not a backup, but it adds a layer of insurance against having to restore from your backups!

To expand here, backups are to protect against data loss. RAID is to protect against drive failures.

[More Spencer]

On 9/20/2023 at 4:12 PM, LIGISTX said:

RAID is always a good idea, but likely not a great idea if it’ll either be software RAID in windows or hardware RAID via your mobo. 
 

Windows can be ok, but I just don’t know enough about it to tell you what makes it actually a not bad idea. I run truenas, and it uses ZFS, which is by far and away the best file system out there. A ZFS RAID array I 100% recommend, but that would entail switching to a different OS for your NAS (assuming your using windows..?. 

I'm using Ubuntu Server. It's running a multitude of stuff under docker so AFAIK I can't just install truenas or unraid or something? Unless I used a VM. Very new to storage server stuff, so apologies if I sound really stupid here haha

[digitalscream]

1 hour ago, More Spencer said:

I'm using Ubuntu Server. It's running a multitude of stuff under docker so AFAIK I can't just install truenas or unraid or something? Unless I used a VM. Very new to storage server stuff, so apologies if I sound really stupid here haha

ZFS can trivially be installed and set up on Ubuntu - it's actually easier than running mdadm. Just Google for it and find a tutorial you like the look of

[LIGISTX]

2 hours ago, digitalscream said:

ZFS can trivially be installed and set up on Ubuntu - it's actually easier than running mdadm. Just Google for it and find a tutorial you like the look of

This. Run ZFS, just look into its limitations (can’t easily add more drives), but it’s the best option by far imo. 

[More Spencer]

Cheers for the help guys, much appreciated