Storage on a tight budget

[caffrey]

I really need to get the storage sorted out on our network as it's getting on a bit, now that I've had my budget statement I can budget in a replacement, however the catch is I don't want to spend more than 1k if I can help it.

The server doesn't need a lot of space, 4-6TB is more than enough, and ideally I'd like it in Raid 6 (with 2 drives in mirror for the OS) So this leaves me with a minimum of 4 2TB disks (ideally 6) and two SSDs for the mirror which already comes to roughly 550 on disks alone.

 

Options I have are :-

 

Synology, these seem good, but I've never used them before and I'm not sure they are fit for purpose and I prefer to use what works (e.g. mirror the setup we have now) I can't afford to get one just to try it and see, it would fit into budget though.

 

Second hand server, use ICTDirect and get a server that can take 3.5" commercial drives and SSD's (I'm not sure on this) that or a low spec SE326M1 and stuff it with 300GB hardrives

 

Self build, the last server was self build and it's done us proud for 5 years. The limitations on this are raid cards are expensive, especially more so if I want Raid 6 - so I could just jbod and use windows storage spaces on a 3 way mirror for 2 disk redundancy (Get a cheap motherboard with enough SATA ports and a pentium processor) A case with 6 hotswap bays isn't too expensive. I prefer a raid card though as it means I can move the array on the event of hardware failure and I'm unsure how good storage spaces is.

 

Any ideas would be appreciated

[Steve21]

Is this just for storage, or a server etc? Is it expanding old areas or a new shared drive etc?

 

Does any current server has options for SAS expansion etc? Server Source - Europe's Leading provider of Refurbished Dell PowerEdge and PowerVault servers (Bottom left example, 5.5TB after RAID penalties)

 

Steve

[chazzy2501]

if you build a windows 2012r2 server you could use dedupe which may reduce the need for so much storage.

[caffrey]

Thanks for the link, bit over budget though (I need to keep it low so I don't have to take it to the Governors only to be turned down again thus wasting my time)

It's just for storage, the old storage is currently located on a DC with a Raid 5 array (Not my idea) I'd prefer a NAS setup for cheapness

It's hard to find a motherboard with 8 Sata for cheap, I'd need 6 for storage spaces (3 way mirror needs a minimum of 5 disks)

 

if you build a windows 2012r2 server you could use dedupe which may reduce the need for so much storage.

 

Disks are the cheapest bit!

Edited January 19, 2016 by caffrey

[Steve21]

£899? (Bottom left) You said £1k (As I said those it is only a SAS shelf etc)

 

Steve

[SHimmer45]

there are some staggering deals on that site

[caffrey]

Oops sorry didn't scroll far enough I'm not sure on that one as I've no idea how or if it will fit in our environment.

[SHimmer45]

i would guess that it connects to an existing server via a RAID / HBA card and is controlled through the software for that card.

[caffrey]

Wonder if it would work on our refurbished servers, although I was trying to keep the server separate.

 

Came up with a build just over budget that may work, I could buy it in stages comes to about £1073

 

Case

 

2U Server Case w/ 6x 3.5" Hot-Swappable SATA/SAS Drive Bays: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

 

Board

 

Asrock C2750D4I - server/workstation motherboards (Server, Intel, DDR3-SDRAM, Mini ITX, Dual, FBGA1283): Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

 

Ram

 

Crucial 8GB Kit (4GBx2) DDR3-1600 ECC UDIMM upgrades for C2750D4I Motherboard, CT5194405 from Crucial.com

 

PSU

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-VS550-Series-Power-Supply/dp/B00TE4XSMA/ref=pd_sim_sbs_147_21?ie=UTF8&dpID=51kWIEpuyUL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&refRID=061AQJGEK0VHJET8DZJF

 

 

Drives x 6

 

WD Red 2TB for NAS 3.5-inch Desktop Hard Drive - OEM: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

 

SSDs x 2

 

Samsung 2.5-Inch 250 GB 850 EVO Solid State Drive: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

[Norphy]

One thing about RAID 6 - The write speeds are awful because of the extra parity calculations required to spread the parity over the extra disks. Bear that in mind if you are going to host user storage or VMs on this. RAID 10 would be a better choice if you're using four disks.

[mrwoberts]

£534 + VAT

Synology DS1815+ 8 Bay Desktop NAS Enclosure

 

£474 + VAT

Synology DS1515+ 5 Bay Desktop NAS Enclosure

 

Alternatively, I've used FreeNAS & Nas4Free before, when repurposing an old RM server. Worked a treat, and lots of advanced options.

You'd use the ZFS filesystem, in RAIDZ2 (similar to RAID6).

Nice thing about the FreeNAS systems was it instructed me to tear out the RAID/SAS controller cards and plug directly into the SATA sockets, so you could potentially get away with a basic server, but with at least 16GB of ECC memory.

[caffrey]

Raid 10 fault tolerance isn't that great either if you get unlucky (Yes I know Raid isn't a backup solution) But I'd like high tolerance, for the amount of users and data we have speed really isn't a huge issue.

Again with the Synology I don't have any spare cash to be able to test one and I'm a bit wary of freenas etc.

[mrwoberts]

Of course, I totally understand your apprehension about 'testing' equipment. I was actually recommending Synology, since I have two DS415+ boxes, RAID2, and I'm looking at setting up a High Availability Cluster - where the boxes are 'instantly' in sync (using a direct LAN connection as a heartbeat).

Trust me, these boxes are fantastic. And whilst I'm sure you're right in thinking that my setup isn't the same as yours, but the options with these boxes are just amazing. They support virtualisation, AD/LDAP setup, AV scanning the contents of shared folders - you name it.

 

You could always give Synology a call and see if you can wing a test unit??

 

Edit: Sorry, forgot to mention about FreeNAS. This OS is used in by some pretty high-end customers. I believe they have one of the best file systems available - ZFS (Snapshots, Data integrity protection, and de-duplication to name a few!) Worth a look, not just because of budget, but to see whether the features can achieve what you want...

Edited January 19, 2016 by mrwoberts

[caffrey]

I was looking at the RS815+ the enclosure on its own is £626 with 4x 2Tb comes to £905, but then it still feels like a risk to me, I might contact synology and see what they say

[jtoland]

Have a look on broadberry we got both of our servers from them and realy cheap

[TMODAlpha]

I used a rackmount Synology NAS as my primary storage for VMs at a budget constrained school. It did very well for what it cost. Never had any issues with it.