LTT Storage Rankings

[2sysel2]

Hi, I'd like to ask a question - I'm thinking of buying this controller http://www.lsi.com/products/raid-controllers/pages/megaraid-sas-9240-8i.aspx#tab/tab2 and I'm wondering if i can run some drives in JBOD and other in RAID1 at the same time. I'd like to use it in combination with http://www.icydock.com/goods.php?id=142 and I'm not sure if I can do that

[jscho]

Hi, I'd like to ask a question - I'm thinking of buying this controller http://www.lsi.com/products/raid-controllers/pages/megaraid-sas-9240-8i.aspx#tab/tab2 and I'm wondering if i can run some drives in JBOD and other in RAID1 at the same time. I'd like to use it in combination with http://www.icydock.com/goods.php?id=142 and I'm not sure if I can do that

 

You should be able to I'm certain that you can run multiple RAID arrays on one controller.

[Graveworm]

Hi, I'd like to ask a question - I'm thinking of buying this controller http://www.lsi.com/products/raid-controllers/pages/megaraid-sas-9240-8i.aspx#tab/tab2 and I'm wondering if i can run some drives in JBOD and other in RAID1 at the same time. I'd like to use it in combination with http://www.icydock.com/goods.php?id=142 and I'm not sure if I can do that

 

WARNING: YES, you can but PLS dont buy this controller, invest a little more and buy the one I have, its bigger brother LSI MegaRAID SAS 9260-4i or 8i

I had the one you were mentioning and there is no write back/through/cache option and ur raid is gonna be awful slow, especially when u use more then one array.

 

You can find my hardware a bit further back in this topic or click on my Gallery.

[yansenharyanto]

i want to ask... is there any good cheap raid card?
i'm only use 8 hdd in raid 6.. i found a $70 raid card.. i forget baout the type.. but is there any suggestion for cheap raid card but good peformance?

my home server is sued for game server, data backup, media sharing (WHS 2011), cloud storage

[Alexdaman]

i want to ask... is there any good cheap raid card?

i'm only use 8 hdd in raid 6.. i found a $70 raid card.. i forget baout the type.. but is there any suggestion for cheap raid card but good peformance?

my home server is sued for game server, data backup, media sharing (WHS 2011), cloud storage

 

PERC5i is a solid choice , and cheap.

[kev507]

32TB FunTime Server

 

 

Hardware
CASE: Corsair 750D
PSU: Corsair AX760i
MB: Asus Z97-WS
CPU: Intel i7-4790K
HS: Noctua NH-D15
RAM: 32GB 1600 DDR3
RAID CARD 1: Intel RT3WB080

SSD: Corsair Neutron GTX 240GB
HDD 1: 8x Hitachi HGST 4TB Deskstar NAS H3IKNAS40003272SN

Software and Configuration:
Windows 7 Pro, Raid 6

Usage:
Backup for the rest of computers in my home, plus movie collection for streaming to other devices

Backup:
The is arrays backed up to Crashplan Unlimited backup, I have 75/50 internet speed

Additional info:
It was fun picking out parts based on being ultra reliable and also top of the line

 

Pics:

[Danny91]

Hardware
CASE: Logic Case SC-4324
PSU: Corsair CX500w (Would be upgraded before too many hard drives are added)
MB: ASROCK Z77 EXTREME4
CPU: Intel I3 - 3225 @ Stock
HS: Stock Intel Heat sink
RAM: 16GB DDR3 1600 Samsung Green RAM
RAID CARD 1:  Supermicro 8-Port SAS/SATA Card (AOC-SAS2LP-MV8) This is a JBOD card.

Expander Card:  Chenbro CK23601 - 36 Port Expander
SSD 1: Crucial M4 120GB

SSD2: Crucial M500 120GB
HDD 1: 3x 3TB Toshiba (One of which is Parity)
HDD 2: 3x 3TB WD Green
HDD 3: 1 x Segate Baracuda 2TB
HDD 4: 1 x WD Green 2TB (Scratch / Temp drive)

 

Power Usage

Normal 60-70 Watts

All drives spun up and computing parity 110W max

Software and Configuration:
My server is running windows 7 and im using FlexRAID to make my array.
My main array consists of 7 drives in RAID 5 which is 20TB (18TB formated) with 15 TB usable due to 3TB going to parity
One SSD is the boot drive and the other contains some Virtual Machines.
The 2TB green drive is used as a temp drive before things are moved to the array.

 

This equals 22TB of total drives

Usage:
Mainly used to backup computers in the house and to store movies / TV shows

Photo's:

The Day it all arrived Motherboard, RAM and Processor and some drives are missing as they come from an already excisting server. I realise carpet is a NONO however they were kept in the static bags for the pic and while builidng i ensured i was grounded. It was the only space big enough i had to build the server as its quite big and heavy .

 

The empty case As anyone who has ever been near one of these sort of cases know the fans are VERY loud. This had to be sorted as the server will be living in the spare bed room. Because of this i also ordered a central devider that hold's 120MM fans rather than the default ones. I also replaced the rear fans with noctua's as you can see in the next image

 

Main bits in now just the SAS and expander card to go in. Lots of SAS cables. Motherboard screwed in and power cables run

 

All done, cable management could be better and will most likely be looked at in the future however airflow is good and the drives dont go over 32 deg even with all of them being stressed (computing parity).

 

I got sick of the server having to lie down on its side so made a piece of wood with wheels on it to allow the case to stand on its side. The case is screwed down onto the wood from the inside.

 

I have also stuck labels on the drive bays that have drives in so i can easily identify a problem drive. As you can see i have lots of room for future drive expansion which was the main aim of moving case

 

 

Drive space

 

 

 

Thats it. Thanks for looking and sorry it turned into a bit of a build log.

[IdeaStormer]

I got sick of the server having to lie down on its side so made a piece of wood with wheels on it to allow the case to stand on its side. The case is screwed down onto the wood from the inside.

 

 

I like your setup, what made you put it on that side vs the other? Considering the PS ended up instead of at the bottom? Not that I prefer either just looking for a reason you did it that way. Also, did you have to buy extra min-SAS cables or did you get enough included in the case/cards? How much better is the noise (less) than with the original fans?

[Danny91]

I felt more comfortable having the power supply at the top than the motherboard up side down. Although really i suppose it doesnt matter eaither way just personal preference . Yeh i had to buy most of the SAS connectors only 1 came with the SAS card. Its alot quieter than the original fans. The original fans sound like a plane taking off when now it sounds like an average computer with a couple of fans in

[IdeaStormer]

I felt more comfortable having the power supply at the top than the motherboard up side down. Although really i suppose it doesnt matter eaither way just personal preference . Yeh i had to buy most of the SAS connectors only 1 came with the SAS card. Its alot quieter than the original fans. The original fans sound like a plane taking off when now it sounds like an average computer with a couple of fans in

 

OK on the PS being up, just wondered why no real reason to poke at it than curiosity

 

The case fans that come with the case are really dependent on the mobo's fan settings, most of the servers we have ramp up on initial boot up like you say as if its a plane getting ready to take off but soon after mellow out to their low operating speed/sounds, only on super high loads do the fans ramp up back to take off speeds, I'm left wondering if the Noctua fans can ramp up as high as the original fans when you do get to such a high load? I was hoping that case would include at least a couple SAS cables since it has the backplane, guess not.

[Danny91]

Unfortunately the 4 fans at the front (the old ones) where molex connectors so if i left them connected they would have just ran flat out (at plane levels) all the time which i couldn't cope with. The corsair ones are running flat out all the time now but they are alot quieter and so are the noctuas

 

Yeh i was dissapointed that i didnt get any SAS connectors considering it has a back plane but then i didnt really pay that much for the case so you cant expect loads

[Ramaddil]

Update to Server added second raid card and 10TB more updated to 45TB Total Storage space Link below

 

http://linustechtips.com/main/index.php?act=findpost&pid=414401

[alpenwasser]

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- snip -

 

Apologies for the delay everyone, I am currently not online very

frequently due to health troubles. Added both your systems, welcome

to the list!

 

Update to Server added second raid card and 10TB more updated to 45TB Total Storage space Link below

 

http://linustechtips.com/main/index.php?act=findpost&pid=414401

Updated.

[Alexdaman]

 

 

 

Apologies for the delay everyone, I am currently not online very

frequently due to health troubles. Added both your systems, welcome

to the list!

 

Updated.

 

Get better soon! 

[wpirobotbuilder]

 I also replaced the rear fans with noctua's as you can see in the next image

Good man, I love Noctua's sub-120mm fans. They don't move nearly as much airflow, though.

 

Was there no option to speed control the existing fans? It can be useful to have them if you end up needing their airflow. They are loud, but those things move a wackload of air.

[Danny91]

Good man, I love Noctua's sub-120mm fans. They don't move nearly as much airflow, though.

 

Was there no option to speed control the existing fans? It can be useful to have them if you end up needing their airflow. They are loud, but those things move a wackload of air.

 

 

Apologies for the delay everyone, I am currently not online very

frequently due to health troubles. Added both your systems, welcome

to the list!

Updated.

 

Hey thanks for adding me to the list

 

Good man, I love Noctua's sub-120mm fans. They don't move nearly as much airflow, though.

 

Was there no option to speed control the existing fans? It can be useful to have them if you end up needing their airflow. They are loud, but those things move a wackload of air.

 

No their was no way to control the front 4 fans they were 3 pin to molex and the 3 pin connectors used a quick release system to connect to the molex so i could not unplug them. The rear two fans  were just 3 pin so i could have plugged them into the motherboard to conrol them i guess? However i decided to just go with the noctua insted

[2sysel2]

Well today is a sad day - my mini project is now officially on hold (only 1TB from making it to the list) because my main rig peripherals decided to die in the span of pongee month and so did my car well maybe after summer vacation.

[Patrick3D]

Update: (http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/21948-ltt-10tb-storage-show-off-topic/page-28#entry1404053)

 

Finally got around to rebuilding my server, swapped out the motherboard with an ASRock A88X board for future upgrades, pulled all the drives and cleaned everything out. I also had a watercooler lying around that I wasn't using so I tossed it in there for the fun of it (watercooled AMD A4-5300, lol). I also bought a HighPoint Rocket 2720SGL 8x SATA non-raid controller that is working beautifully. Lastly, I did a clean install with Ubuntu 14.04 LTS.

 

Current total capacity = 25TB

 

Screens:

 

Other thoughts: I removed a Seagate NAS drive I had before, it was just too loud (high-pitched whine). Going with all WD Reds. Still have 2x Seagate Barracudas in the mix that are next to be upgraded (the 2TB drives).

[Woodypc]

Kiwi "Frankenserver" Where No Money Was Hurt

 

 

Hardware
CASE:  Antec One Hundred
PSU: Cooler Master eXtreme Power 430W
MB: Gigabyte GA-870A-UD3
CPU: AMD Phenom II X2 555 @  3.6Ghz
HS: Ultra-120 eXtreme Rev.C
RAM: Strontium 2x 4GB DDR3 1333Mhz DIMM

GPU: AMD Radeon HD 6570

FAN: Deepcool XFan 120 Case Fan 120mm Blue LED x4(Cheap and do the job for now)
HDD 1: 1x 500GB Seagate Barracuda (OS)
HDD 2: 1x 1TB WD Green
HDD 3: 1x 2TB WD Green
HDD 4: 2x 2TB Seagate Barracuda

HDD 5: 1x 3TB Seagate Barracuda (Parity drive)

Software and Configuration:

My server is running Windows 7 and I am using StableBit DrivePool(Paid for it because it is awesome) to make my one big Pool that is shared for all on network to access. Parity is done using SnapRAID with the Elucidate GUI for ease of use, I hate command line lol, on the 3TB drive.
My main array consists of 5 drives which is 10TB of which 4 are in the Pool making 7TB and 3TB used for parity.
One 500GB drive is the boot drive and contains other software. This equals 10.5TB of total drives

Has software on it for many different things, it is connected to lounge TV, but is not used to watch media on it much, mainly used only to config when unable to use remote connection.

Has Plex media server, for serving media to devices, often is not used when on pcs though.

 

Usage
Mainly used to backup everything, then used to distribute to all devices in the house/ on network.

 

Additional info:

I made this using many old parts, the newest part is the 3TB drive so I could use parity. I have learnt a hell of a lot of stuff. I did everything as cheap as possible, I have little money atm, so most software is free and opensource, which I love. Took me ages to sort out file and get the server to where it is now, lots of little thing I do to it when I see something that could be improved. I am quite pleased with what I have done with what I have. 

 

Photo's:

It is a little messy but for now it works good. Will be updated and tidied up in the near future when I have some more money to trow at it. The fan on the CPU HS does not normally go( is on because of start up) when in use as the HS is big enough to just have the air flow in the case.

[stevv]

Got a 4TB RED down!  I revived it, but lasted another month then crapped out. 

RIP lil guy... 

 

 

They replaced with this... a bit disappointing!  They even removed any traces of the word "RED"  :rolleyes:  

 

some notes:

-did an advanced shipment with a debit card(hold without charge) and bought return label with WD's service (cheaper!).  Get drive faster, test, and save time and $ for box and return shipping.

[lekro]

I haven't completed the software setup, but the build is complete. A build log can be found here.

 

Hardware
CASE: Fractal Design Arc Midi R2
PSU: Seasonic SSR-450RM
MB: Supermicro X10-SLL-F
CPU: Intel Core i3-4130T
HS: Stock Intel
RAM: 16GB Unbuffered ECC DDR3 1600

BOOT: HP v100w 8GB
HDD 1: 4x 4TB Seagate ST4000VN000

Software and Configuration:

I'm running FreeNAS on this machine from an old 8GB USB stick and am planning on using RAID-Z2 (ZFS) to create my array. This gives me 8TB of space and half my drives can die and I'll still have my data.

Usage:
I will use the machine for sharing files, streaming / serving media, and backup / keep tons of versions of various kinds of project files

Backup:
None, unfortunately.

Additional info:
Not much really. 

Photos:

 

More images can be found in the build log.

[PhantomWarz]

Hardware
CASE: Acer R380F2 (2x 8 Bay 2.5" Drive Cages) 

CASE2 (SubChassis): Chembro 24 Bay Rack Mount with an additional 1x 750W Power Supply 
PSU: 1x 750W Platinum (Stock with Acer R380F2)
MB: Intel 2600GZ
CPU:1x Intel Xeon E5-2609 @ 2.4GHz
HS: Stock Intel Passive Heatsink
RAM: 48GB DDR3 1333 (ECC)
RAID CARD 1: LSI Logic 9201-16i SAS HBA

RAID CARD 2: LSI MegaRAID SAS 8208 HBA (I think? I havent looked inside the NAS for a long time)

L2ARC & LOG SSD: Intel 180GB 250 Series SSD
HDD 1: 2x Hitachi UltraStar A2K2000 3.5" 2TB
HDD 2: 1x Seagate Barracuda Green 3.5" 2TB

HDD 3: 3x WD Caviar Green 3.5" 2TB

HDD 4: 7x WD Blue 2.5" 1TB
HDD 5: 6x Seagate Constellation ES 2.5" 1TB

HDD 6: 3x WD Caviar Blue 3.5" 1TB

 

Software and Configuration:
Operating System: NAS4Free 9.2.0.1 Stable Release.

Total RAW storage is 28TB of HDDs (Unformatted and before RAID)

The ZFS Pool consists of 4 VDevs comprised of 6 drives per VDev in a Dual Parity (RaidZ2) Overal Capacity at the time of post 17.87TB after redudancy is factored in.
All shares are datasets of the above array.

The SSD is configured as the L2ARC (Read Write Cache) and also the SIL (Log information)

48GB Ram provides ample L1ARC cache.

Usage:
This array stores all my Movies and TV Shows for myself and family.

Backup:
I wish there was an easy way to backup +17TB of data reliably. Plenty of the data however is shared between my friends with similar setups at home.

Additional info:
The whole setup is powered by an APC 1000VA UPS with 1 extended battery module.

The hardware is retired hardware from my workplace.

The server itself however was a "gift" from acer so to speak, perks of buying so many netbooks in education.

Photo's:

[alpenwasser]

- snip -

Added.

- snip -

  

- snip -

Added, welcome to the list!

You two wouldn't happen to be able to upload some pics of the

actual hardware. You know... for research purposes.

[Raboo]

Hardware

CASE: Acer R380F2 (2x 8 Bay 2.5" Drive Cages) 

CASE2 (SubChassis): Chembro 24 Bay Rack Mount with an additional 1x 750W Power Supply 

PSU: 1x 750W Platinum (Stock with Acer R380F2)

MB: Intel 2600GZ

CPU:1x Intel Xeon E5-2609 @ 2.4GHz

HS: Stock Intel Passive Heatsink

RAM: 48GB DDR3 1333 (ECC)

RAID CARD 1: LSI Logic 9201-16i SAS HBA

RAID CARD 2: LSI MegaRAID SAS 8208 HBA (I think? I havent looked inside the NAS for a long time)

L2ARC & LOG SSD: Intel 180GB 250 Series SSD

HDD 1: 2x Hitachi UltraStar A2K2000 3.5" 2TB

HDD 2: 1x Seagate Barracuda Green 3.5" 2TB

HDD 3: 3x WD Caviar Green 3.5" 2TB

HDD 4: 7x WD Blue 2.5" 1TB

HDD 5: 6x Seagate Constellation ES 2.5" 1TB

HDD 6: 3x WD Caviar Blue 3.5" 1TB

That looks really cool.

[looney]

Update:

I have added 3 new 4TB drives and removed a 1TB drive.

Total storage is now 48TB.

I also updated my original post a bit with a more recent picture of my rack.
http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/21948-ltt-10tb-storage-show-off-topic/?p=273427