Wich hardrive set up?

cwick · Dec 24, 2006, 01:59 PM

I am close to building my family a media server for our house but am slightly confused as to how I should attack the problem of mass storage. I am aiming for about 1.5-2.0 terabytes of storage. I recently built a rig featuring 2xSeagate 320 7900.10 which are really cheap right now. Now should I buy 5 of those which will only set me back around $600 or buy 2 750g drives wich will set me back closer to $900? This seems pretty obviuous to me what I should choose but is thier any disadvantage I am not thinking of if I go with the smaller, cheaper drives?

Matth · Dec 24, 2006, 06:57 PM

The more drives you have. the more likely that one of them will fail.

On the other hand, if you have a RAID controller that supports RAID 5, then 1.5T will need 3x 750G drives, 4x 500G or 6x 300G (assuming the controller can run 6 drives).

I'd be looking at a RAID set, of the largest drives at the point before the price skyrockets.

jp306 · Dec 24, 2006, 07:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matth

I'd be looking at a RAID set, of the largest drives at the point before the price skyrockets.

Ditto

Dowaco · Dec 25, 2006, 12:53 AM

More drives = more power needed from your PSU and you will be splitting molex connectors to get them juice. More drives = higher failure rate.
You also need to find a motherboard with more than 4 SATA ports unless you go for a RAID controller card.

Seagate 320's are $90 so 5 would be only $450 not $600. But it seem like you will have to spend a lot more to get over 1.5 TB in a RAID 5 or 1+0 setup.

PangingJr · Dec 25, 2006, 11:04 AM

the onboard RAID controller, its firmware, and its software-based drivers, are only good (in terms of RAID subsystem's performance and reliability) for up to a point.
but anyway, you didn't mention what RAID solution that you will use on the system? and if you want to use the integrated on motherboard's RAID controller, then how many hard drives can the RAID controller support? what is your power supply? whether or not all the many hard drives are required to be inside the computer case?

H3X4D3C1M4L · Dec 26, 2006, 07:01 PM

Look at it this way: The 750's are more of an initial investment but the power savings (especially for a 24/7 style server) will add up, and you also have to factor in additional cooling and whatnot.

cwick · Jan 5, 2007, 05:57 AM

Thanks for the replies. I really liked the price of the 320's but I agree with whats been said and will go the 750 with the OS on a smaller drive. I have another question about hardrives. I want to replace my current drive with a smaller, faster hardrive(a raptor for my gaming rig) and was wondering if there is a way to duplicate with a program or windows feature the current drive and back it up to the raptor without having to go through setting up and installing all my programs, windows and settings again. I doubt anyone is watching this thread so I will probably start another.

Dowaco · Jan 5, 2007, 04:20 PM

Norton Ghost comes to mind.

Matth · Jan 5, 2007, 06:22 PM

Not sure if you can still do it with NTFS, but back in the FAT32 era, always found the utilities offered by the drive manufacturerers to be adequate for drive migration, even maintaining bootability while copying to a different sized partition.

H3X4D3C1M4L · Jan 7, 2007, 05:01 PM

Download the Knoppix live DVD and use dd, that's about as exact a copy as you can get.

Dec 24, 2006, 01:59 PM	#1
cwick DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 23 Rep Power: 0	Wich hardrive set up? I am close to building my family a media server for our house but am slightly confused as to how I should attack the problem of mass storage. I am aiming for about 1.5-2.0 terabytes of storage. I recently built a rig featuring 2xSeagate 320 7900.10 which are really cheap right now. Now should I buy 5 of those which will only set me back around $600 or buy 2 750g drives wich will set me back closer to $900? This seems pretty obviuous to me what I should choose but is thier any disadvantage I am not thinking of if I go with the smaller, cheaper drives? __________________ PC Profile: http://www.pcprofiles.com/p/cwick AMD X2 4800+ @ 2.7GHz w/ XP-90 Tornado 5700 rpm Asus A8N32-SLI deluxe Corsair 2048MB TwinX PC3200 CAS 2 Dual Channel Kit Gigabyte 7900GTX Enermax Liberty 620W Antec p180 silver 2xSeagate 320GB Barracuda 7200.10 SATA II w/ NCQ 16MB Cache Plextor PX-716SA 16x16 Dual Layer DVD+/-RW Serial ATA Cheap floppy drive for bios upgrades and memtest86+ Logitech G7 wireless mouse eMachines keyboard belkin nostromo n52 speedpad Win xp Professional w/ BBlean shell Dell 2007wfp

Dec 24, 2006, 06:57 PM	#2
Matth Flash Banner Hater Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: UK Posts: 3,426 Rep Power: 93 System Specs	The more drives you have. the more likely that one of them will fail. On the other hand, if you have a RAID controller that supports RAID 5, then 1.5T will need 3x 750G drives, 4x 500G or 6x 300G (assuming the controller can run 6 drives). I'd be looking at a RAID set, of the largest drives at the point before the price skyrockets. __________________ Mary had a little lamb, Her father shot it dead Now Mary takes her lamb to school, Between two crusts of bread

Jan 5, 2007, 05:57 AM	Thread Starter #7
cwick DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 23 Rep Power: 0	Thanks for the replies. I really liked the price of the 320's but I agree with whats been said and will go the 750 with the OS on a smaller drive. I have another question about hardrives. I want to replace my current drive with a smaller, faster hardrive(a raptor for my gaming rig) and was wondering if there is a way to duplicate with a program or windows feature the current drive and back it up to the raptor without having to go through setting up and installing all my programs, windows and settings again. I doubt anyone is watching this thread so I will probably start another. __________________ PC Profile: http://www.pcprofiles.com/p/cwick AMD X2 4800+ @ 2.7GHz w/ XP-90 Tornado 5700 rpm Asus A8N32-SLI deluxe Corsair 2048MB TwinX PC3200 CAS 2 Dual Channel Kit Gigabyte 7900GTX Enermax Liberty 620W Antec p180 silver 2xSeagate 320GB Barracuda 7200.10 SATA II w/ NCQ 16MB Cache Plextor PX-716SA 16x16 Dual Layer DVD+/-RW Serial ATA Cheap floppy drive for bios upgrades and memtest86+ Logitech G7 wireless mouse eMachines keyboard belkin nostromo n52 speedpad Win xp Professional w/ BBlean shell Dell 2007wfp

Jan 5, 2007, 06:22 PM	#9
Matth Flash Banner Hater Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: UK Posts: 3,426 Rep Power: 93 System Specs	Not sure if you can still do it with NTFS, but back in the FAT32 era, always found the utilities offered by the drive manufacturerers to be adequate for drive migration, even maintaining bootability while copying to a different sized partition. __________________ Mary had a little lamb, Her father shot it dead Now Mary takes her lamb to school, Between two crusts of bread

Dec 25, 2006, 12:53 AM	#4
Dowaco DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: East Coast, USA Posts: 217 Rep Power: 0	More drives = more power needed from your PSU and you will be splitting molex connectors to get them juice. More drives = higher failure rate. You also need to find a motherboard with more than 4 SATA ports unless you go for a RAID controller card. Seagate 320's are $90 so 5 would be only $450 not $600. But it seem like you will have to spend a lot more to get over 1.5 TB in a RAID 5 or 1+0 setup.

Dec 25, 2006, 11:04 AM	#5
PangingJr Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 5,989 Rep Power: 71	the onboard RAID controller, its firmware, and its software-based drivers, are only good (in terms of RAID subsystem's performance and reliability) for up to a point. but anyway, you didn't mention what RAID solution that you will use on the system? and if you want to use the integrated on motherboard's RAID controller, then how many hard drives can the RAID controller support? what is your power supply? whether or not all the many hard drives are required to be inside the computer case?

Dec 26, 2006, 07:01 PM	#6
H3X4D3C1M4L DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 6,794 Rep Power: 0	Look at it this way: The 750's are more of an initial investment but the power savings (especially for a 24/7 style server) will add up, and you also have to factor in additional cooling and whatnot.

Jan 5, 2007, 04:20 PM	#8
Dowaco DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: East Coast, USA Posts: 217 Rep Power: 0	Norton Ghost comes to mind.

Jan 7, 2007, 05:01 PM	#10
H3X4D3C1M4L DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 6,794 Rep Power: 0	Download the Knoppix live DVD and use dd, that's about as exact a copy as you can get.