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[benn600]

Well, I am really looking at upgrading to 16 drives and to do so I'll have to buy another $45 SATA card (then I'll have 4 of them) or I could completely replace them--and have to get a PCIe motherboard...blah blah blah.  Basically, I'll be building another server.  Obviously the biggest issue is cost!  It's $750 for the additional drives, $700 for the RAID card, and ~$500+ for the computer.  Yikes.

Although I've got to say that it would be nice not having to worry about Windows.  What do you all think of these two cards:  (the second looks to have twice the memory for a nominal fee)
http://www.buy.com/prod/promise-supertrak-ex16350-16-port-serial-ata-raid-controller-128mb-ecc/q/loc/101/202444741.html
http://www.buy.com/prod/promise-supertrak-ex16300-16-port-serial-ata-raid-controller-256mb-ecc/q/loc/101/202444854.html

Where can I get a cheap 16-drive case?  I would like a tall tower with all the drives instead of a rackmount case cause I don't have a rack (yet, I guess, lol).

[newsposter]

Make sure that you get a good, honest raid controller and not one that has a simple XOR engine which in turn depends on the software driver to keep things running.

web searches for realraid and fakeraid in terms of linux distros will get you there.  A realraid controller that runs under linux will do the same under windows.

I like 3Ware controllers myself.

[benn600]

I'd like to inform everyone that I think I'm going in for the kill on this one (lol).  I want to do it right this time and just be done with it.  Yes, my setup worked great and would probably keep running for a long time but I am just ready for more space and I really didn't like giving up the computer I'm using--it is needed as a desktop.

That said, I will be spending some time doing research.  That's a lot of money to spend (~$2,000) so I need to do a lot of research.  Luckily I already have 10 drives, all are 5-9 months old and running great so far.

Look at this amazing case!  It's so pricey though.  Is there a similar case for less?  $650 is way too high.  I would go for $400 at the absolute max.  Why can't someone make a cheap, generic 16 bay case at $89 ?

http://www.circotech.com/rm-4140-ra414-16-bay-hot-swap-sata-4u-ra414-rackmount-computer-case.html

[benn600]

Hardware Revision 1

Okay, here is what I have so far.  This is feature complete and should be everything I need to have a complete, working 16-drive array--excluding what I already have.  I contacted some other people asking for cheaper cases, but for now, this is what I will use for the case--->

CASE ~$720
http://www.circotech.com/rm-4140-ra414-16-bay-hot-swap-sata-4u-ra414-rackmount-computer-case.html

MOBO $84
http://www.buy.com/prod/msi-945p-neo3-f-core-2-duo-supported-socket-775-atx-motherboard/q/loc/101/203142847.html

PROCESSOR $135
http://www.buy.com/prod/intel-core-2-duo-e4300-1-80ghz-processor-1-80ghz-800mhz-fsb-2mb-l2/q/loc/101/203884303.html

MEMORY $50
http://www.buy.com/prod/crucial-1gb-ddr2-pc2-4200-533mhz-240-pin-memory/q/loc/101/10393187.html

RAID 5 $719
http://www.buy.com/prod/promise-supertrak-ex16300-16-port-serial-ata-raid-controller-256mb-ecc/q/loc/101/202444854.html


That is $1,708 plus 6 drives.  If I could just get the case or RAID controller prices down.  Any ideas there?  What about my other choices?  Any apparent incompatibilities there?  I will start with 1GB memory for now but the 3 main computer components are quite impressively cheap.

DRIVES $888
http://www.buy.com/prod/western-digital-caviar-se16-hard-drive-500gb-7200rpm-300mbps-serial/q/loc/101/203868982.html

[benn600]

I found this RAID card for over $200 less.  Any ideas on if it would be a good card?  The specs sound great and very similar with the Promise.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816115031

I'll probably end up buying everything on Newegg that I can because their prices seem lower than Buy.com, at least for computer parts.

Addition: is that card software raid?  I read that a $50 cheaper same brand card is software raid (config in OS) and I am not going to spend this kind of money for a software raid solution.  The Promise is most definitely hardware raid, right?

[robydago]

Benn,
you are spending 2327US$ (Case+Controller+Disks) to get 3TB. I guess you'll add your existing disks and get more space, but... if I were you I'd go for:

- a motherboard with an integrated 8 ports SATA controller
- a standard case capable of housing 6 or 8 drives.
- a single 10.000 RPM SATA to install Windows XP
- Nx1TB SATA disks (where N depends on the total TB you want and can be 6-1 or 8-1 depending on the case you buy)  that you can handle as RAID5 if the motherboard can do it or you can always join them in a single volume using XP

I'm not sure, but I think that you'll save money, especially in power consumption. Not to mention the lower noise level!

[benn600]

The only problem I see with that is that then, I'd be buying all new drives (1TB each) at around $300 so that would be 6= $1800 right there.  Plus, the higher capacity drives (those just came out) are generally known for being much less reliable.  500GB drives are even less reliable.

This would just be software RAID, which everyone laughs at me for.  And remember I'm upgrading to 16 drives so I'll have 7.5 TB when finished.  The drives are cheap, $115 each on Newegg--can you believe they're that cheap for 500GB?!

I don't need a 10K RPM drive for Windows--lol, who cares?!  If I join them as a single volume, there is no redundancy so if one fails, it's all lost.  With my future setup, I can use RAID 5 or RAID 6 so one or even two drives could fail without losing my data.

I configured the case with a power supply, etc., and it comes to: $752.90
I'm waiting for a response asking for a cheaper 16-bay case but I'm tempted to just order it.

[benn600]

I just read the case study between Intel and Promise.  It sounds like Promise is the way to go.  First of all, the two comparable cards I'm looking at from Promise and 3 ware have some big differences:

Promise card adds RAID 6 (which I may use) and it sounds like it has a really powerful Intel processor.
Promise card is ~$70 cheaper.
I have had some small level of experience with Promise cards in the past--none with 3ware.
Promise (the company name) just gives me a sense of faithfulness that they promise my data will be there.

[benn600]

Well, I made the first purchase.  I ordered the cas--my original choice:
http://www.circotech.com/rm-4140-ra414-16-bay-hot-swap-sata-4u-ra414-rackmount-computer-case.html

The total came to just under $690.  After looking around, that looks like an amazing deal.  I keep seeing cases on newegg and other random sites (including the same site I bought this from) for $1000 and much more.  Some are $4,000 and it doesn't look like they have much more -- unless they include computer components.

I will now wait until I get the case and then I can study over it to make sure everything will work together.  Some of you who recommended this method in the beginning had good reason.  I think I will really like this setup when I get it going.

Now should I use RAID 6?  The card I intend on buying supports it in hardware and it would be good peace of mind, especially with 16 drives!  I almost considered trying for 20 drives but the case skyrockets to over $1000 and then I'd need another RAID card and a better motherboard with multiple PCI-E, etc!  It would quickly double this upgrade cost.

[benn600]

While I wait for the case, I've been looking around at motherboards.  Have a few questions:

1. Why are some classified as actual Server Motherboards?  On newegg they have a special category.
2. When I looked at the Chembro web site (brand of the case) it says the case supports the Xeon, etc.  Can't I just get a Core 2 duo?  Anyone with lots of server experience: why would I get a Xeon?  They seem to be similarly priced with the Core 2.  Is there any reason why I couldn't use a Core 2 in this case?

[newsposter]

I thought that you were on the technology committee at school.......

[benn600]

This is going no where.  Let's shut down this worthless discussion.