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18TB Hard Drive Array

8889 Views 99 Replies 27 Participants Last post by mr2dave, Sep 4, 2011

iwanrs

Discussion Starter · Aug 17, 2011

I need huge external HDD for my HTPC-Vista, just simply to download and play HD movies, no need back up, mirror and raid those fancy/security features. But need USB3.0 connectivity for future upgrade ( running USB2.0 at this time).

I am considering to purchase Iomega px6-300d storcenter network storage with 18 TB capacity, by installing 6 units of Hitachi Deskstar 7200, 3TB each HDD.

As my main objective is to get the maximum capacity, I need help:

1. Will I get the maximum 18TB HD capacity from this Iomega?

2. Is this true, if I run it with JBOD mode, I will end up to get 6 individual HDD of 3TB each, instead of one whole unit of HDD?

3. What is the maximum possible TB capacity I will get and with what mode?

4. Is there any better option out there for my need? In term of price, technical advances and relibility of cause.

Any inputs and recommendations is much appreciated.

1 - 20 of 100 Posts

amarshonarbangla

· #2 · Aug 17, 2011

1) Yes

2) Yes

4) Since you are not looking for any advanced features, I will recommend you get this http://ain.mediasonic.ca/store/produ...tu3q3gnp96bar4

It's a 8-bay USB 3.0 enclosure with 3TB support. I think it will do just fine for your needs. It's a lot cheaper too at $299.99.

iwanrs

Discussion Starter · #3 · Aug 17, 2011

Quote:
Originally Posted by amarshonarbangla /forum/post/20832489

1) Yes

2) Yes

4) Since you are not looking for any advanced features, I will recommend you get this http://ain.mediasonic.ca/store/produ...tu3q3gnp96bar4

It's a 8-bay USB 3.0 enclosure with 3TB support. I think it will do just fine for your needs. It's a lot cheaper too at $299.99.

Thanks amarshonarbangla.

If I use this 8 bay Enclosure, can I start with 18 TB (5x3TB) first, then add on HDD when needed?

Question: Will this new add on HDD merge automatically to the 18TB and increase the capacity as one whole HDD?

Can I rely on Hitachi Deskstar 3TB 7200 HDD, any better option? I run it 24/7.

iwanrs

Discussion Starter · #4 · Aug 17, 2011

Where to get this Mediasonic online?

CountryBumkin

· #5 · Aug 17, 2011

Quote:
Originally Posted by iwanrs /forum/post/20832391

2. Is this true, if I run it with JBOD mode, I will end up to get 6 individual HDD of 3TB each, instead of one whole unit of HDD?

.

My LSI (3Ware) RAID controller manual says that they do not support JBOD anymore becuase in this configuration if one drive fails it wipes out the entire array. I know you are not using an LSI controller but it may be the same issue for all JBODs.

I don't know if my age and memory has distorted this warning - but if it is correct, you do not want to set up a JBOD system. Maybe Google this term to see if it is right.

amarshonarbangla

· #6 · Aug 17, 2011

Quote:
Originally Posted by iwanrs /forum/post/20832691

Thanks amarshonarbangla.

If I use this 8 bay Enclosure, can I start with 18 TB (5x3TB) first, then add on HDD when needed?

Question: Will this new add on HDD merge automatically to the 18TB and increase the capacity as one whole HDD?

Can I rely on Hitachi Deskstar 3TB 7200 HDD, any better option? I run it 24/7.

Yes you can start with 18TB first and then add more when you need later on.

When you add a new hard-drive, it will be listed as separate drive, and not part of the 18TB array.

Yes the 3TB Hitatchi drive is pretty reliable from what I have read online. But you may want to look into 5400RPM drives. They will be a little cheaper and save you on electricty bill as well.

Quote:
Originally Posted by iwanrs /forum/post/20832767

Where to get this Mediasonic online?

I believe you can buy it from the link I posted http://ain.mediasonic.ca/store/produ...roducts_id=258

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iwanrs

Discussion Starter · #7 · Aug 17, 2011

[QU

Yes the 3TB Hitatchi drive is pretty reliable from what I have read online. But you may want to look into 5400RPM drives. They will be a little cheaper and save you on electricty bill as well.

QUOTE]

Will this lower 5400rpm matter if I later upgrade my HTPC to USB3.0, in term of transfer speed?

spivonious

· #8 · Aug 17, 2011

Unless I'm mistaken, JBOD will expose the drives as one big hard drive. You may encounter OS problems addressing an 18TB drive.

Personally, I would settle for 14TB and use RAID 5. That way if one drive fails, you can replace it and not lose any data. Yes, writes will be a bit slower, but you won't notice it with large files.

drealit

· #9 · Aug 17, 2011

As I do with everyone, I highly recommend you looking into unRaid. It will be cheap and easy to setup (you might even be able to recycle old hardware you have laying around). No need for any fanciness... it just works as a storage server which is what you want. Setup shares and then everything will appear as one location (not spread over drives) not to mention you can easily expand as necessary and have redundancy for 1 drive failure... the entire array will never be at risk.

amarshonarbangla

· #10 · Aug 17, 2011

Quote:
Originally Posted by iwanrs /forum/post/20833795

Will this lower 5400rpm matter if I later upgrade my HTPC to USB3.0, in term of transfer speed?

The USB 3.0 will be faster.

spivonious

· #11 · Aug 17, 2011

Quote:
Originally Posted by iwanrs /forum/post/20833795

Will this lower 5400rpm matter if I later upgrade my HTPC to USB3.0, in term of transfer speed?

Rotation speed only affects seek time, not transfer speed (at least not noticeably). Random reads will be slower, but sequential reads will be the same. USB 3.0 is rated at 5Gbps, which is far beyond what any mechanical hard disk can deliver, so I wouldn't worry.

iwanrs

Discussion Starter · #12 · Aug 20, 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by amarshonarbangla

Yes you can start with 18TB first and then add more when you need later on.

When you add a new hard-drive, it will be listed as separate drive, and not part of the 18TB array.

Yes the 3TB Hitatchi drive is pretty reliable from what I have read online. But you may want to look into 5400RPM drives. They will be a little cheaper and save you on electricty bill as well.

I believe you can buy it from the link I posted http://ain.mediasonic.ca/store/produ...roducts_id=258

Sorry to ask you this again to be sure before I proceed.

Because this issue is very important to me :

If I install all 8 units of Hitachi 3TB HDD into this Mediasonic 8 bay HDD enclosure, will my HTPC via USB2.0 connection recognize it as ONE WHOLE UNIT OF 24TB HDD CAPACITY, not 8 difference HDDs of 3TB each ? ? ?

I bought 4 bay Mediasonic Probox 2 years ago, install 4 x 2TB HDD and I end up get 4 separate individual HDDs File, not ONE whole unit.

Thanks

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Nebiroth

· #13 · Aug 20, 2011

Don't waste extra money on 7200 rpm drives for this sort of use. 5400 rpm drives are more than adequate for the task. Any bottlenecks encountered won't involve the rate at which drives can deliver the data.

iwanrs

Discussion Starter · #14 · Aug 20, 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nebiroth

Don't waste extra money on 7200 rpm drives for this sort of use. 5400 rpm drives are more than adequate for the task. Any bottlenecks encountered won't involve the rate at which drives can deliver the data.

Thanks and Yes, I will get 5400rpm HDD.

Can you answer my question ?

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spivonious

· #15 · Aug 20, 2011

I'm not familiar with that particular box, but in general it would need to implement RAID or JBOD for the drives to show up as one big drive.

rinorho

· #16 · Aug 20, 2011

Please, save your data, seriously!

I solved it with one file server ubuntu (software is free and high-performance).

I've got 2 twins HTPC case Silverstone lc-13B-E (good thing in living room) The first is the HTPC, last one for the file server ubuntu. Into LC-13 you can install 8 x 3 TB HDD.

Wich is the advantage?

You can save your data on ext4 file system partition, under 64bit LINUX OS, (virus free) in RAID config, also and to have access from many clients.

Last nigt I transfered 8 Tbyte iso movies files @90Mbyte/sec!

It's a server and you can save your money (under 300 LC-13 included!)

bye

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rjburke377

· #17 · Aug 20, 2011

Quote:
Originally Posted by spivonious /forum/post/20845684

I'm not familiar with that particular box, but in general it would need to implement RAID or JBOD for the drives to show up as one big drive.

JBOD (for "just a bunch of disks," or sometimes "just a bunch of drives") is a term used to refer to a computer's hard disks that haven't been configured using RAID. JBOD will show each disk as a discrete unit.

RAID can be used to unify disk space, or instead use a unifying filesystem such as mhddfs or LLVM2 on top of JBOD. mhddfs joins several linux filesystems together to form a single larger one. I use JBOD each formatted with ext3 and then unified using mhddfs. I am able to simultaneously access each disk within the JBOD separately or as part of a storage pool.

ericbsmith

· #18 · Aug 20, 2011

Quote:
Originally Posted by rjburke377 /forum/post/20846469

JBOD (for "just a bunch of disks," or sometimes "just a bunch of drives") is a term used to refer to a computer's hard disks that haven't been configured using RAID. JBOD will show each disk as a discrete unit.

No, JBOD can also refer to concatenation of disks into a single presented drive. Usually when a RAID controller has a JBOD mode it is specifically talking about concatenation of drives by the RAID controller itself; mainly because if all you wanted was a bunch of independently presented disks you don't need a special controller mode to do it.

rjburke377

· #19 · Aug 20, 2011

Quote:
Originally Posted by ericbsmith /forum/post/20846556

No, JBOD can also refer to concatenation of disks into a single presented drive. Usually when a RAID controller has a JBOD mode it is specifically talking about concatenation of drives by the RAID controller itself; mainly because if all you wanted was a bunch of independently presented disks you don't need a special controller mode to do it.

I normally refer to that as a SPAN as does my fancy controller. When you have a 16 port device, like mine, not all disks are consolidated using only one scheme. Didn't realize the term has been made ambiguous. My mistake.

iwanrs

Discussion Starter · #20 · Aug 21, 2011

Quote:
Originally Posted by iwanrs /forum/post/20845316

Sorry to ask this again to be sure before I proceed to get one of this Mediasonic 8 bay HDD enclosure:

http://ain.mediasonic.ca/store/produ...roducts_id=258 .

Because this issue is very important to me :

If I install all 8 units of Hitachi 3TB HDD into this Mediasonic 8 bay HDD enclosure, will my HTPC via USB2.0 connection recognize it as ONE WHOLE UNIT OF 24TB HDD CAPACITY, not 8 difference HDD Files of 3TB each ? ? ?

I bought 4 bay Mediasonic Probox 2 years ago, install 4 x 2TB HDD and I end up get 4 separate individual HDD Files, not ONE whole unit file. This is not what I wanted/intended.

Can I get a definite answer to above question? THANKS

1 - 20 of 100 Posts

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