storage considerations...

[VJ]

Oh, one more question about choosing the disks: does the amount of chache on the disk play a big part when it is put in a NAS?
I'm currently looking at a Hitachi from the compatibility list; it has 32 MB whereas the others have 64 MB but it is quite a big price difference... And it is a raid-optimized disk.

[degrub]

more can be better, but without performance data it is hard to say what the minimum is. i would make sure the NAS raid utilizes the key features of the drive as a minimum. At 50-80 MB/S NAS to PC the individual drive interface is not severely taxed, so i would expect it is not too critical. Look as the sustained transfer rate if you can get it. Random R/W should be much lower.

[VJ]

Thanks!
I didn't think it would matter too much, but was curious.

[VJ]

I just was thinking again of going with an internal drive setup (yes, I give these things too much thought).

Using Server 2008, how good is a software RAID5? Part of me tends to prefer a hardware RAID5, but of course it ties you to the chipset of the controller... Do you loose much performance on a software RAID?

Thanks!

[Evildead666]

iirc you lose on the CPU side of the equation, since there is no dedicated XOR chip for the parity calculations.

HW RAID 5 will also be defined before the OS, so if the OS goes, you still have the RAID5.
In the case of Software RAID5, your OS goes, so does the RAID.
You might be able to recuperate it, but its more hassle than a hardware setup.

[VJ]

I've come up with a different alternative: upgrading my current internal RAID5 (3x 400 GB) to 4x 2TB, and using the 400 GB disks as backup disks. I also have a 1 TB disk I can use as backup.

Most likely I'll get a simple external USB case or so to easily connect the backup disks.

[Evildead666]

You can get a USB cable that has a SATA and IDE connector on the other end, all you have to add is the power connector from an external PSU ( I use an old AT power supply with the On/Off switch and a Molex to SATA power connector).

[VJ]

Yes, I know... But I would try to find something more "durable": there also exist these external boxes in which you can putt hdd without using screws. I'm also looking at some cheaper multi disk storage things.

This would no doubt be the cheapest solution: more datastrorage, protected by a RAID. Currently I don't really have a full need for a full blown NAS, so it feels overkill. I can better spend the money on disks (or just save it). Getting 4x 2TB would effectively mean I'd have 6 TB from where I had 800 GB before; so quite an upgrade.