Disk Array with 4 drives

[joannev]

With an Asus motherboard P8Z68-V-LX with a 2nd PCI x16 slot available we want aq external disk Array in Raid 5 or 10 not sure yet for our backup server. I need a reliable controler card and an Array enclosure. Any suggestionon the hardware ?

 

[RealBeast]

If you are building it based on the motherboard, with only four drives I would just buy a midtower case, low end i3 CPU using the onboard graphics and 4GB of memory (unless you are going with FreeNAS then more memory is useful).

If you go with Windows or Linux and need a true raid controller, an Adaptec 6405/7405/8405, or equivalent should work well unless you want room to grow, then get an 8 drive card like a 6805/7805/8805. Best to buy the cable with the card if they come bundled as they are cheaper. Of course, if you go with FreeNAS and use raidz you do not want a raid card, only a host bus adapter (the IBM M1015 is the best way to go for FreeNAS).

Buy good drives, enterprise quality for business data.

I have used that motherboard with an Adaptec 6805, so I know that it works even though some literature states the contrary.

Please correct any misunderstanding that I may have on your hardware, planned OS, or budget.

 

[Joannevl]

If you are building it based on the motherboard, with only four drives I would just buy a midtower case, low end i3 CPU using the onboard graphics and 4GB of memory (unless you are going with FreeNAS then more memory is useful).

If you go with Windows or Linux and need a true raid controller, an Adaptec 6405/7405/8405, or equivalent should work well unless you want room to grow, then get an 8 drive card like a 6805/7805/8805. Best to buy the cable with the card if they come bundled as they are cheaper. Of course, if you go with FreeNAS and use raidz you do not want a raid card, only a host bus adapter (the IBM M1015 is the best way to go for FreeNAS).

Buy good drives, enterprise quality for business data.

I have used that motherboard with an Adaptec 6805, so I know that it works even though some literature states the contrary.

Please correct any misunderstanding that I may have on your hardware, planned OS, or budget.

Hi,

What we want to do is extend our Windows backup server which is full with a 4 HDD Array (need 4TB) and connect that locally on the server. We need a PCIe x1 to go in the second available slot X16 on the motherboard. We could not find any info for the Adaptec card, if it is a PCIe X1 compatible and if it will work in the PCIe x16 slot. We want the reliabiity or a true Raid not Raidz but the FreNAS look interesting. Avaiting your feedback. Thanks

 

[RealBeast]

All of the Adaptec cards are x8 (as are all of the comparable cards from competitors) and work in x16 slots, and I have used a few on that motherboard without issues.

In fact I use an older Adaptec 6805 card on that motherboard in an NAS rig at my home in RAID 6 with 8 3TB drives for a home media server that runs Windows 7. The newer cards (7x05 and 8x05) have some newer features if they are comparable in price would be preferred, if the x is a 4 they can use 4 drives and if an 8 they can use 8 drives. I generally buy controller cards from Amazon or Newegg and all of my recent HDD buys are from Amazon as they have better prices on the large and expensive HGST He6 and He8 enterprise 6 and 8 TB drives that I often use. Newegg and others remain fairly competitive on the smaller enterprise quality drives.

Although I do not suggest that you switch to FreeNAS due to the learning curve, raidz is in many ways superior to standard RAID because it reduces UREs (unrecoverable read errors) on the drives by continually checking drive data for integrity.

Two more questions, are you looking to completely replace your current 4TB (4 drives 1TB each) RAID 5 storage array or expand it? How much additional space do you anticipate needing?

 

[Joannevl]

Want to expand it with an array of 4x 1TB disk (4TB total).

 

[RealBeast]

Want to expand it with an array of 4x 1TB disk (4TB total).

So you have a 4 x 1TB array and want another of the same size? What brand/model is your current RAID controller?

Budget?

 

[Joannevl]

Want to expand it with an array of 4x 1TB disk (4TB total).

So you have a 4 x 1TB array and want another of the same size? What brand/model is your current RAID controller?

Budget?

Our Backup server is full.
I want to expand our storage with an external array of four hard drive of 1TB each for a total of 4TB.
I dont want to spend a lot.
Actual OS is Windows server 2008R2,
So I need a Host Bus Controler card to connect the external array in eSATA3 ont the Asus motheboard P8Z68-V-LX with only the second x16 slot available.
Then an External Array and 4 hard drives of 1 TB but not the too much expensive ones,

I hope the information is better, not very good at this.