Server with lots of Raid HDDs vs. dedicated NAS boxes

[driver]

Greetings.

I'm looking for a storage ideas for semi-offsite* backup solution, in the range of ~8-10TB.

Standalone NAS boxes, don't reallly seem any cheaper than buying a normal server and running the likes of FreeNAS, when it comes to these sizes.

Am I missing something? Pros / Cons?


(*in a different building on the other side of the property)

[noobmastery]

A pre-made NAS box has the advantage of being relatively compact and simple compared to a full server.
A full server will offer you more expansion capabilities and speed.

[Aetherone]

Originally Posted by noobmastery

A pre-made NAS box has the advantage of being relatively compact and simple compared to a full server.
A full server will offer you more expansion capabilities and speed.

Pretty much my thoughts, with the added - NAS is likely to be much lower power per TB and server far more versatile.

[noobmastery]

Originally Posted by Aetherone

Pretty much my thoughts, with the added - NAS is likely to be much lower power per TB and server far more versatile.

Typically that's probably true
Though if power is a bigger issue than speed you could get an atom setup with gigabit LAN and 4 SATA ports then add a SATA card in the PCI slot.
This could easily give you a total of 8 SATA ports (more if you use a PCI-X card or find a PCIe board) and the main factor in power consumption is the efficiency of your PSU

[192.168.0.1]

I believe this is quite good value

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?...ducts_id=11854

The feature list is quite extensive

[rowan194]

Originally Posted by 192.168.0.1

I believe this is quite good value

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?...ducts_id=11854

The feature list is quite extensive

Check out some reviews - it's so slow that having a gigabit port is almost a useless feature...

[mitsimonsta]

Originally Posted by 192.168.0.1

I believe this is quite good value

Fail. $1700+ for a 4-bay NAS? Ouch.

Try http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?...ducts_id=11954

1) Cheaper

2) Another two drive bays

3) Does RAID6

4) Full AD support

5) Online RAID Migration

6) iSCSI targets

I will also give you the heads up that QNAP units tend to have the fastest read-write speeds of any other NAS brand on the market. Synology is a close second.

Most NAS units have some sort of RSync capability too - perfect for running either a batched backup or running a near-realtime slave array. I use it all the time and works a treat.

You can get a Thecus N7700 for similar money as the QNAP TS-639 which is 7 bays. After that you are looking at $2500+ for a TS-809.

Most vendors have a rackmount version too - Thecus has the N8800 (8 bay, 2RU), and then QNAP has their TS-8089-RU which is 8 bays, 2RU also.

[192.168.0.1]

Originally Posted by mitsimonsta

Fail. $1700+ for a 4-bay NAS? Ouch.

This has 8TB worth of HDDs in it.. The one you linked was empty yeh?

[mitsimonsta]

Oh, it was loaded? Makes a slight difference then.

You will often find that the loaded NASes have some pretty expensive hard disks in them - better value can be had.

[192.168.0.1]

Originally Posted by mitsimonsta

Oh, it was loaded? Makes a slight difference then.

You will often find that the loaded NASes have some pretty expensive hard disks in them - better value can be had.

Well at first glance i was like oh 8TB (wanking motion) of capacity but then i checked the WD website and it seems that this is loaded with 4 x 2TB drives. For $1700 i think this is quite good value.

[noobmastery]

Originally Posted by 192.168.0.1

Well at first glance i was like oh 8TB (wanking motion) of capacity but then i checked the WD website and it seems that this is loaded with 4 x 2TB drives. For $1700 i think this is quite good value.

True you've got just shy of a grand worth of drives there
Better value could be had building a small server though

[192.168.0.1]

Originally Posted by noobmastery

True you've got just shy of a grand worth of drives there
Better value could be had building a small server though

This is true, but for pretty much everyone else apart from adapet users. This is pretty well priced compared to what you could build. I know there is alot out their to be had for $1700. But if you just wanted something that worked out of the box, i think this is pretty good. No way would i get it, ZFS and 10TB all the way

[Aetherone]

Originally Posted by 192.168.0.1

For $1700 i think this is quite good value.

Given the typically abysmal performance of this unit, value might be too strong a word.

[MetalPhreak]

SATA connectors
http://www.techbuy.com.au/p/125962/C...o/RPC-2008.asp
http://www.techbuy.com.au/p/125968/C...o/RPC-3116.asp

SFF SAS connectors
http://www.techbuy.com.au/p/125963/C...o/RPC-2208.asp
http://www.techbuy.com.au/p/125969/C...o/RPC-3216.asp

Any one of those plus some basic cpu/mobo/ram/raid controller would give you heaps of room for drives (for now and the future).

[phreeky82]

Is this actually a backup solution? 8TB of backup capacity, that's crazy. Or would I be right in guessing that it's not actually a backup solution, but a central storage solution?

If it's backup, I don't see why you would use RAID.