Would like to replace my 1.2 5HD RAID that I use for my trailers, music, and other with a NAS or a Networked HD and have a few ?s.



What is the deferences (advantages/disadvantages) between NAS and a Network HD and which would be best for me?

Do they use standard user replaceable HDs (in some type of special holder)?

In the future could you increase the size by replacing HDs one at a time with larger in a RAID 5?

Do they include any basic sofware (like backup)?

Does it look, map, read, and write like a network drive on another computer?

Any Vista compatability problems?

I'll try and answer some of your questions. I have the Infrant ReadyNAS NV (not available anymore) which was replaced by the ReadyNAS NV+.

Do they use standard user replaceable HDs (in some type of special holder)?

Yes. My Infrant takes standard sata drives.

In the future could you increase the size by replacing HDs one at a time with larger in a RAID 5?

Not sure about RAID 5, but Infrant has a version called X-RAID which is the default that allows this.

Do they include any basic sofware (like backup)?

I chose the ReadyNAS NV because I didn't want to pay extra for the backup software, but the ReadyNAS NV+ comes with this software.

Does it look, map, read, and write like a network drive on another computer?

Yes.

William,

You might take a look at Unraid from Lime Technology. For home media use it offers some substantial advantages over traditional raid 5. I've looked long and hard at some different solutions and this is nearly perfect for this use.

http://www.lime-technology.com/

I particularly like the convenience of spin down (creates different usage patterns on drives bought at the same time), different size drives, easy addition of additional drives, and in the event of a 2 drive failure you don't lose the entire array but only the failed drive data which makes this a far more robust solution if you are looking for some backup protection (granted the whole box could get hit by lightning or the house could burn down but otherwise it's a whole lot better than traditional striping of data especially when a home environment typically doesn't require the additional speed).

Something to check out anyway. You may still be able to buy ready made solutions but the software is free to try and use on a 3 drive system and cheap enough for 12 drives that it makes some tinkering worthwhile.

William,

You might take a look at Unraid from Lime Technology...
WOW that is a good looking system. However it is a little on the pricey side. I guess a 4 to 6 HD (is there a 6?) NAS system would be my best bet. Just wish I had some experience with one so I would know how it works and what features I need.

Hopefully someone can help you. I'm not a big NAS fan, I have enough spare parts that I'd just assume throw together a motherboard and put an OS on the hard drive to run it as a server. You can put something like that together dirt cheap shopping around online and waiting for some good mb/processor combo deals, although if you insist on RAID 5, you'd likely want a card of some kind and that's more expensive. For me, I'd assume go the server route over the NAS.

WOW that is a good looking system. However it is a little on the pricey side. I guess a 4 to 6 HD (is there a 6?) NAS system would be my best bet. Just wish I had some experience with one so I would know how it works and what features I need.

unRAID can be whatever you want it to be. Sure, the pre-built system is pricey, but you can get the unRAID "OS" by itself. unRAID is all in the software. You can download a 3 disk system "OS" for free. Then, if you want to add more disks, just upgrade. No other RAID setup I know of lets you effectively use different sized hard drives.

WOW that is a good looking system. However it is a little on the pricey side. I guess a 4 to 6 HD (is there a 6?) NAS system would be my best bet. Just wish I had some experience with one so I would know how it works and what features I need.

There is no "look" to Unraid, it is software and the up-to-6-drive version costs $69, so it isn't too expensive. What you saw was a full system they used to sell but don't any more. While it may be a bit too adventurous for many, the Unraid business model is to sell only the software and the customer rolls their own hardware - check out their forums for parts lists from those who have successfully built their boxes. IIRC, one guy built his for ~$400 (w/o drives).

I am in the midst of putting together a bit beefier system, but am attempting to stay under $700 (again, sans drives).


Bill

Beat me to it! Good call on the free version, too.

Looking at the unRAID but have a few basic questions. First I will have a ASUS MB (P4P800-E) with a Pentium 4 (3GHz) w/1.5GB RAM. It has 4 SATA inputs labeled 1, 2, RAID 1, and RAID2. Will also have 6-300GB and 2-250GB SATA HD's.

Could I buy a power supply, tower case, and uses this to build a unRAID?

Does it need a monitor?

Does it need Windows?

How do you hook up the HD's?

Does it boot from Flash USB drive?

Would I need a larger HD for the parity HD?

Is it fully Vista compatible?

Could I buy a power supply, tower case, and uses this to build a unRAID?

Sure

Does it need a monitor?

Probably useful to get it setup but not required once it's ready

Does it need Windows?

No - it's all on the USB key, it's a small Linux system on there

How do you hook up the HD's?

Any combo of SATA and IDE drives. You may need an expansion card either PCI or PCI-X to provide more inputs. Make sure your PSU has an adequate 12 volt rail for all your drives.

Does it boot from Flash USB drive?

Yes, but you need to have a motherboard that can boot via USB (there is a way around this but you'd have to get specifics from the developer, you'd boot the OS from an optical or HD and then access the pertinent files on USB

Would I need a larger HD for the parity HD?

Parity drive must be >/= the size of the largest data drive

Is it fully Vista compatible?

Yes. Pretty sure it's standard SMB file sharing (which is windows protocol)

See Italics above - EDIT crap, a quote is all Italics, just read carefully ;)

More specific hardware questions about your motherboard/etc might be better asked on the UNraid forums. http://support.lime-technology.com/forum/index.php

Although I haven't full figured out the issues or limitations there seems to be a big focus on gigabyte ethernet and PCI Express add-on cards for more drives. Granted they are trying not to saturate a standard 33mhz PCI bus but if there are other limitations to not having these or whether they might interfere with your specific needs I'm not sure. It doesn't seem so although certainly this would maximize it. And for the record another guy on here was streaming 4 DVD ISO images to separate machines from a failed drive using the parity files (all drives spinning) while simultaneously rebuilding the failed drive with a new blank. That's pretty hardcore and likely far more use than any normal household would see.

EDIT, looking at your drives again it looks like you might make use of those cheap 4 port Promise SATA expansion cards, no RAID functions required for it. Here's one although you may find an older or used one cheaper (I've seen similar cards very cheap, just search around). http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816102062. Providing the 4 SATA ports on the MB will each hold a HD, this will get all your drives up and running. If you want to add more or your board only supports 2 SATA devices (an either/or with the RAID and standard ports would be rare though) - you need another card.

BTW - this is roughly the same case that they use LINK (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119039) the juice is that it can hold 2 power supplies and with the number of drives you have, it may well be better to go with 2 smaller PSUs with good 12v rails rather than try to deal with a big honker if you want to expand. This case used to cost a lot more, big beast, but is reasonable now and can do long term duty as a server for you.