Bulk storage setup planning

[russemerson]

Having had a beast build in mind for a few months, now it comes down to the actually planning and decision making part.

 

My general thinking, storage-wise, has been to use M.2/PCIe (though I suppose NVME is a thing now) for the boot drive, 3 or 4 SSDs in RAID5/10 for the "working" disk space, and then fairly massive bulk media storage, 6-8 3TB WD Reds in RAID... but there's where I start to lose whatever certainty I've had about how I want (or need) to go about it.

 

I guess what it boils down to is: I'm going to need a controller card [edit: for the HDDs], but whether I just need SATA expansion in JBOD mode for software RAID, or whether I should go with a full-blown RAID card... I just don't know.

 

Additional: this being my first time in the market for such a card, I don't quite "get" them, specifically, the connectivity between the card and the drives.  I see things like 2-port SAS/SATA cards out there, but I gather that the number of ports isn't actually the number of drives one can connect to/through these cards...?  Or am I looking at investing in a 8-port controller card?  I've tried reading manuals and specs online, but... MEGO.

 

Suggestions/recommendations would be most welcome.

[MrBucket101]

@russemerson

 

from the sound of it you want pure top speed performance, in which case you'll want a full-blown hardware raid card

 

I would avoid SATA cards, they're the past. SAS cards are newer and better, lets you reduce cabling among other things.

[russemerson]

@russemerson

 

from the sound of it you want pure top speed performance, in which case you'll want a full-blown hardware raid card

 

I would avoid SATA cards, they're the past. SAS cards are newer and better, lets you reduce cabling among other things.

 

Edited the OP for minor clarification -- I intend to use the mobo's onboard RAID for the SSDs, it's the HDDs about which I am currently befuddled.

 

(OK, OK, those who know me would suggest that I am in fact befuddled about a great many things, but in this instance, it's the HDDs.)

[MrBucket101]

Edited the OP for minor clarification -- I intend to use the mobo's onboard RAID for the SSDs, it's the HDDs about which I am currently befuddled.

 

(OK, OK, those who know me would suggest that I am in fact befuddled about a great many things, but in this instance, it's the HDDs.)

oh

 

then it really doesn't matter TOO much

 

depends on the OS you choose. Windows software RAID sucks big time. On the Linux side ZFS is amazing, MDADM is up there as well. 

 

software RAID is almost equivalent to hardware raid, and in most instances it will cost less. With the one exception being ZFS, cause it "recommends" 1GB ECC RAM per TB of storage, you'll spend less on the card, and just as much on the RAM.

 

I went for hardware RAID, I used MDADM for my first server, and this time I wanted to do something different, and ZFS was still in its infancy when I built my server 5yrs ago. So I went the hardware route. I'm happy with it, and if I ever need to build another server, I'll be using ZFS.

 

If you do go software RAID, I would just get a cheap HBA, the LSI 9211-8i flashed to IT mode is about as cheap as they get. $120-ish on ebay. If you go hardware RAID, then just make sure you buy a quality controller from a reputable name. LSI, 3ware, areca, etc...

 

I've got a LSI 9260-8i in my server, it's old now, but maybe you could buy a used one on ebay and save some cash.

[Captain_WD]

~snip~

 

Hey russemerson,

 

As @MrBucket101 explained it would really depends on what you are going to use. Hardware RAID controllers tend to be much more secure, stable and fast, but cost more. If you are using this for simple storage, a software RAID configuration should suffice.  

If you are using more than 8 drives and/or you are going mostly for speed, I'd recommend checking out WD Red Pro as they have greater speeds, better vibration handling, longer warranty and can perform better and safer in larger pools. Here's a link: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=pDt3Gk

 

Captain_WD.

[MrBucket101]

 

If you are using more than 8 drives and/or you are going mostly for speed, I'd recommend checking out WD Red Pro as they have greater speeds, better vibration handling, longer warranty and can perform better and safer in larger pools. Here's a link: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=pDt3Gk

 

Captain_WD.

 

How could you leave out the HGST NAS drives?

almost the same drive spec wise, just a shorter 3yr warranty, vs the 5yr on the Pro

[Captain_WD]

How could you leave out the HGST NAS drives?

almost the same drive spec wise, just a shorter 3yr warranty, vs the 5yr on the Pro

 

Well as a WD representative I can't really recommend other brands' products. I can only offer people to check out what WD has to offer.

I'd say if people want to  get a better idea of what drives are appropriate for such usage, Look for as many topics and discussions as possible and gather as many opinions and reviews as they can find to have the best idea of what's the best thing on the market.  

 

Captain_WD.

[MrBucket101]

 

Well as a WD representative I can't really recommend other brands' products.

 

Captain_WD.

 

yeah i know, that was my point lol