Windows pcs and dlna devices are the applications.

I'd considered using a cheap PC, but I'd still have to buy it and set it up and keep it running and up to date, so a purpose built appliance seemed like a better option. I had a manager offer to let me have some old 1RU rack mount servers once, but those things are only compact in one dimension.

Steve, what are you planning to do with it? We are using these as work Network drives with fully automated backup, even allowing the drives to backup to multiple places, including cloud backup.

dlna is my big thing, I've ripped every DVD I own to digital and being able to stream to every device I have is the best. However DLNA is also the main problem I have with my NAS. You're reliant on the vendor to supply you updates to the media server piece. In my case it's Twonky supplied by Buffalo and it seriously needs an upgrade which they keep delaying.

Now I could "jailbreak" the NAS and load the new Twonky packages myself... however the next firmware they provide will likely destroy my NAS and cause me to go even farther into to it to correct it.

Ugh, you never realize just how loud a rack server is till you get one in your house.

Unless you've got a basement to hide it in you'll hear it in every corner.

I used to run a few from home. Never again.

It will be a network drive and perform some document/data back up for the pcs in our home. I also plan on ripping all of our DVDs and streaming to WD Live boxes.

Right, sound engineering doesn't seem to be a consideration. I assume because server rooms are usually loud from all of the AC and equipment anyway. I've been in a bunch of server rooms, and even met people whose desks were in them. I don't think I could/would allow that to happen.

Whatever you pick, look at the power consumtion, since it will be turned on 24/7. Quiet is nice too!

I replaced the drives on my older ix2-200. I chose lower power drives specifically to reduce heat and noise (limits the fan coming on). I only replaced them because one was failing. This is why I think you should pick up a bare unit and choose the drives. You can balance price, noise, energy and size.

$499

I just bought the StorCenter px4-300d bare in May for $549, but with a $150 rebate. Which reminds me I need to send that bad boy in!

The Drobo FS has 5 bays instead of 4 and if the hype is correct, has better flexibility for changing out a drive/upgrading the disks.

Yes. The drobo allows you to mix and match harddrives which is probably great if you have the thing over a long time. You can gradually upgrade your storage by replacing drives with newer, bigger drives. The drobo also has 5 bays for $500.

The Iomega px4-300d only has 4 bays and costs $550 (I'll have to look for a rebate), but for another $100, you can get the px6-300d which has six bays.

The downside to the Iomega is that it requires that all of the drives be identical. Sourcing a replacement drive two or three years from now could be problematic. If I go that route, I'll buy a spare drive right now and either run it as a hot spare or just keep it in the package as a cold spare.

I just found that I can get the IOmega PX6-300D which is the 6 bay unit for $649 plus a $200 rebate from Newegg.com which is a pretty smokin' deal. That's cheaper than the Drobo unit by $50. I'll then purchase 5 or maybe 6 disks and use a more fault tolerant RAID config allowing for 2 drive failures.

I just noticed, Newegg also has the $200 rebate on the PX4-300D. So the box is normally $550, but then would be $350 and they offer free shipping. For $350 I could buy 2 or even 3 spare drives (since they all have to be the same make and model). I think I'm going that route.

Thanks all.

One last question. The list of supported drives for this box is pretty small. Any preferences on which drive to use? This isn't the full list, but it's the full list of consumer 2TB drives, so it's what I'm chosing from. I was thinking the Seagate Barracuda/Grenada as they are inexpensive and readily available.

Hitachi:

* Hitachi Deskstar 7K3000 2TB, Model HDS723020BLA642, Part Number: 0F12115

Seagate:

* Seagate Barracuda LP 2TB, Model ST2000DL001
* Seagate Barracuda/Grenada 2TB, Model ST2000DM001

Western Digital:

* Western Digital Green 2TB, Model WD20EARS

DO NOT use the Western Digital Green drives for this application. Trust me...

Hey, does anyone think the WD Green drives are a good choice?


;)

Yeah, apparently the seagate green are generally not liked as well, so I'll be avoiding the seagate DL model. I guess that leaves the choice hitachi or seagate.

"green" drives try to shut down to save energy and this wreaks havoc with RAID and advanced data storage controllers, etc...

Thanks for the why. The green drives also seem to be more failure prone than the others.

I had a need for NAS as well.

My solution was, in my opinion, pretty darn good.

I bought some hard drives, and stuck them in an old pc. I added. CF/SD reader and loaded FreeNAS on it.

It is very fast, I could even trunk 1g links if I need more bandwidth, it was very cheap, has a great development base and is rock solid.

FreeNAS.org

Oh, you can do everything with it, even make it a block device for SAN connectivity if needed.

Totally happy!

T


T951

I'm using 2x120 SSD in the primary RAID partician and and a couple of 2TB in the backup RAID partician. I didn't worry about whether they are supported or not. They just work. I think I'm using WD Black edition.

Check NEwegg. They have a very good rating system and you can also see user comments.

Some people have had issues using other drives, so I'm sticking to the list.

Thanks all, for all of the help.