Got an old HP Microserver gen 7 and a few disks. How should I setup RAID?

[TwistedHelixis]

So I decided I need some backup space at home and already have a Gen 7 HP Microserver gathering dust that I have never really used.

 

Basically I would like to backup all my cloud data in my Google Drive & Gmail using CubeBackup, which does require a Windows OS.

 

I have

2x250gb HP disks that came with the unit

2x4TB disks that I could use for backups.

 

I also purchased Server2019 licence a while back, so would like to use this if possible.

 

The server has bios raid but i don't think its very reliable from reading a few reviews.

 

I would like the data drives Mirrored, but also able to plug into another windows box to read the data if possible.

 

So how would you go about setting this up so that if one of the 4TB data drives goes down, I don't lose all my data.

 

Should I use the BIOS raid in mirror mode on both the 250gb drives for the OS, and then in Disk Manager in OS assign the 2 larger drives as mirrored, or would you do something else completely different?

[mavhc]

I'd always use software raid.

 

Look into whether to use dynamic disks or ReFS

[TwistedHelixis]

I'd always use software raid.

 

Do you mean the software bios raid built into these devices, or the software OS raid built into Windows. I have read a few stories in regards to the software bios raid where the rebuild simply doesn't work after a failed disk.

 

Look into whether to use dynamic disks or ReFS

 

Will do :0)

[computer_expert]

Having recently installed server 2019 on an SSD in one of these, they are super slow now that they are ~10 years old. There's a certain bios revision that you have to install for server 2016 & later otherwise you won't be able to use the network card (something to do with NIC firmware I think). Edited November 4, 2020 by computer_expert

[mavhc]

Do you mean the software bios raid built into these devices, or the software OS raid built into Windows. I have read a few stories in regards to the software bios raid where the rebuild simply doesn't work after a failed disk.

 

OS raid, never trust software written by hardware people.

[TwistedHelixis]

Having just read up a few other websites, i think my next 2 questions are....

 

1. Dynamic disks or Storage Spaces for the data disks.

 

2. Do i just install the OS onto one 256gb disk, I cant think of any way to setup both the 256gb drives in a mirror and install the OS onto them.

 

UPDATE: i think its possible to install the OS onto one 256gb drive, then using Dynamic disks setup the other 256gb drive to mirror the OS drive. i can then setup both the 4TB drives as mirrors after.

 

Update2: So I don't think I can use Storage Spaces unless I only have one OS disk, this is because in order to replace a failed disk in storage spaces you first need to install the replacement drive. My Microserver only has 4 bays, so 2x data drives and probably 2 drives for OS.

I was rather looking forward to playing / using Storage Spaces, what are your thoughts on using a single drive for the OS rather than mirrored?

Edited November 4, 2020 by TwistedHelixis

[mavhc]

Is there an internal usb/sd etc thing you can boot from?

 

If you've automated the installation of the OS and everything else, then a single drive is fine, because if it fails you just run the script again.

[DGardiner]

So I decided I need some backup space at home and already have a Gen 7 HP Microserver gathering dust that I have never really used.

 

Basically I would like to backup all my cloud data in my Google Drive & Gmail using CubeBackup, which does require a Windows OS.

 

I have

2x250gb HP disks that came with the unit

2x4TB disks that I could use for backups.

 

I also purchased Server2019 licence a while back, so would like to use this if possible.

 

The server has bios raid but i don't think its very reliable from reading a few reviews.

 

I would like the data drives Mirrored, but also able to plug into another windows box to read the data if possible.

 

So how would you go about setting this up so that if one of the 4TB data drives goes down, I don't lose all my data.

 

Should I use the BIOS raid in mirror mode on both the 250gb drives for the OS, and then in Disk Manager in OS assign the 2 larger drives as mirrored, or would you do something else completely different?

 

id be careful with those....

 

Ive had one recently have a power supply blow up, "frankensteined" it back to life with afull atx PSU hanging out on a shelf while the replacement took 4 months to arrive from china....

 

which then blew up 2 months later... so its been frankensteined again for over a year.. to be fair ive replaced the server in the meantime just not got around to turning the olf one off