CC4 Compatible NAS solution

[talksr]

Hi guys, we are looking for a NAS box to give us more space for our CC4 network. After repeated storage problems we feel a NAS box will enable us to store the not so important images and videos or network shared software leaving important user docs and files to go on the cc4 server.

 

RM do their own nas solution, which appears to have a copy of Windows Storage Server.

There is a useful RM document for configuring the RM Nas box XL on CC3 or 4.

From what I have read, it would probably be just as easy to go out there and get an alternative make NAS with storage server and use the same instructions.

 

Can anyone recommend a good make? I am looking for at least 4gb with Storage Server 2008 and rackmountable.

I didn't want the cost to be more than £1500 but that may not be too realistic if I want something reliable. I had seen some nice Dell solutions, we have all HP network gear here, but the HPs come in a little too costly.

[sparkeh]

I have been using Buffalo Terrastations for this very purpose for a few years for CC3 then CC4.

They intergrate nicely with AD meaning you can just add the relevant groups to the permission groups.

Of course being NAS you don't get fine grained permissions as you would with a SAN.

[dhicks]

I am looking for at least 4gb with Storage Server 2008 and rackmountable.

 

Antec do a 3U rackmount case with two sets of 3 5.25" expansion slots in the front:

 

22": Antec - 3U22EPS600

26": Antec - 3U26EPS600

 

Which would take two 5-slot harddrive encousures:

 

LinITX.com - Chenbro 5 x 3.5" HDD Hot-Swap Bays - Fits in 3 x 5.25" ODD Bays

 

Then you would just need to buy 10 SATA disks (2TB are around £60 these days) and a motherboard (and probably a couple of extra SATA controllers) with enough SATA ports to plug 10 disks in. Shouldn't be much more than £1,500 and would give you 20TB or so of (raw, unformatted) disk space.

[tonyd]

I am looking for at least 4gb with Storage Server 2008 and rackmountable.

 

Storage Server is the tricky bit here, not the hardware, since as I recall Storage Server is an OEM only product... If anyone can correct me on this I'd be very happy since I'd like to go down this route too.

[dhicks]

as I recall Storage Server is an OEM only product...

 

What advantages does it offer over plain Windows Server 2008 R2 with file sharing turned on? You could use OpenFiler, etc, instead, of course.

[tonyd]

The big difference I'm aware of is that Storage Server includes Single Instance Storage, allowing for easy de-duplication of your data. The OEM issue is discussed here - Single Instance Storage (Windows Storage Server 2008 R2)

[dhicks]

The big difference I'm aware of is that Storage Server includes Single Instance Storage, allowing for easy de-duplication of your data.

 

Can't you just write your own deduplication script?

[AngryTechnician]

Can't you just write your own deduplication script?

 

To me, that sounds a lot easier said than done. How would you go about doing it?

 

The other extra you get with Windows Storage Server is iSCSI target software is included.

[dhicks]

To me, that sounds a lot easier said than done. How would you go about doing it?

 

It's actually rather easier than you might first think. For each file in your "backup" folder (or wherever you're deduplicating) you generate a checksum (probably just use whatever built-in algorythm is available, probably MD5) and see if a file with that name is in a central folder. If not, copy it there and create a hardlink (or file junction, in Windows terms) to the original's location. If that file already exists then simply delete the original and create a hardlink. This should work well for space-saving backup scripts - you can ceate a separate folder for each day's backup and only need to store the changed files (plus a bit for folder structure, of course). This has the advantage that you can then simply create a Windows share straight from the backups server - users can get at their versioned backups by simply going to a share, or even simply by clicking on a mounted drive.

 

You'll need another script to run every so often to remove some backups to make sure there's enough disk space free - after deleteing the folders you decide not to keep, the script needs to scan the central sotrage folder for files with a link count of 1, i.e. only that central file is pointing at that data and you can delete the file.

Edited February 28, 2011 by dhicks

[Chris_]

I've got an HP ProLiant DL100 G2 Storage Server. It's a 1u rackmount server supporting 4 drives and came pre-installed with Storage Server 2003. I'm not sure if they have a newer version available?

[Arthur]

It's actually rather easier than you might first think. For each file in your "backup" folder (or wherever you're deduplicating) you generate a checksum (probably just use whatever built-in algorythm is available, probably MD5) and see if a file with that name is in a central folder. If not, copy it there and create a hardlink (or file junction, in Windows terms) to the original's location. If that file already exists then simply delete the original and create a hardlink. This should work well for space-saving backup scripts - you can ceate a separate folder for each day's backup and only need to store the changed files (plus a bit for folder structure, of course).

... or just Duplicate File Hard Linker?

[Jamo]

Openfiler — Openfiler - Open Source Storage Management Appliance

FreeNAS | Download FreeNAS software for free at SourceForge.net

 

Both of these support iSCSI. Just make sure your backup is adequate and you will have no problem, use some of that old hardware that always gets used as doorstops!

[dhicks]

... or just Duplicate File Hard Linker?

 

Almost - that utility uses hashes as a quick way of comparing files, not for storing everything in a central folder and letting you do rolling backups. For backups, you need to be able to remove old, unwanted backups periodically.