ISCSI NAS Selection

[sk1939]

So originally I bought a WD Live 2TB drive with the hopes that I would be able to use it as network storage. Now, I knew that it didn't have iSCSI and all the other fancy features, but it was relatively cheap and has a decent amount of storage (2TB).

The problem is that it's[strike] slow[/strike], I mean it's damn slow. It's so slow that transferring files over USB 2.0 to a Seagate Freeagent is actually faster than using Gigabit Ethernet. So now I'm looking for a replacement with iSCSI.

I've narrowed it down to the following:

QNAP TS-119PII
QNAP TS-219PII
Netgear RNDU2000-100NAS
Thecus N2200XXX

The last one is beyond the range of what I want to pay, but it came highly recommended.

The other question is are these worth the price, or would I be better off going even higher to something like the QNAP TS-259Pro or Synology DS712+. Both of those are really more than I would like to pay, but will if the extra GbE and features are worth it.

Primary uses are networked "local" storage, and at some point, iSCSI for ESXi. As a result, throughput is the the most important thing, followed shortly after by cost. Things like a DLNA server and torrent client are extras that I probably won't even use.

 

[sk1939]

Is this forum inactive? Lots of questions pending answers.

 

[BobJ_72]

So originally I bought a WD Live 2TB drive with the hopes that I would be able to use it as network storage. Now, I knew that it didn't have iSCSI and all the other fancy features, but it was relatively cheap and has a decent amount of storage (2TB).

The problem is that it's[strike] slow[/strike], I mean it's damn slow. It's so slow that transferring files over USB 2.0 to a Seagate Freeagent is actually faster than using Gigabit Ethernet. So now I'm looking for a replacement with iSCSI.

I've narrowed it down to the following:

QNAP TS-119PII
QNAP TS-219PII
Netgear RNDU2000-100NAS
Thecus N2200XXX

The last one is beyond the range of what I want to pay, but it came highly recommended.

The other question is are these worth the price, or would I be better off going even higher to something like the QNAP TS-259Pro or Synology DS712+. Both of those are really more than I would like to pay, but will if the extra GbE and features are worth it.

Primary uses are networked "local" storage, and at some point, iSCSI for ESXi. As a result, throughput is the the most important thing, followed shortly after by cost. Things like a DLNA server and torrent client are extras that I probably won't even use.

If you need iSCSI for this unit, check this out:
http://www.intelisan.com/ldisk.html
It will give you iSCSI, faster data transfer and might solve your problem.
Good luck...

 

[sk1939]

If you need iSCSI for this unit, check this out:
http://www.intelisan.com/ldisk.html
It will give you iSCSI, faster data transfer and might solve your problem.
Good luck...

Interesting suggestion, and something to consider, but the problem is I don't have a box right now that can run that. I would have to build a box which is considerably more than any of the NAS appliances I listed. The problem is that the server I have running file server applications is a full fledged Server 2008 box, but it uses Ultra320 drives and is EoL. I really am looking for something that is less power hungry, and considerably smaller/less noisy.

 

[BobJ_72]

Interesting suggestion, and something to consider, but the problem is I don't have a box right now that can run that. I would have to build a box which is considerably more than any of the NAS appliances I listed. The problem is that the server I have running file server applications is a full fledged Server 2008 box, but it uses Ultra320 drives and is EoL. I really am looking for something that is less power hungry, and considerably smaller/less noisy.

You can add this LDisk iSCSI Add-in to either WD DX4000 or LaCie office+ and it will give you a NAS+iSCSI SAN+Backup. None of these other boxes give you all that. I have used both Office+ and DX4000 with LDisk and they both worked fine for me. LaCie has two GiGe ports and give you a better performance. If you do not care about the backup those other boxes might do the job, but I am not familiar with these other boxes.

 

[sk1939]

Would love to get the WD DX4000 (not a fan of LaCie, although they always look nice) but it's way beyond my price range for this particular project. I know for a fact that the QNAP TS-219PII, QNAP TS-259Pro and Synology DS712+ have iSCSI targets (between 10 and 40), but I don't know about what kind of performance to expect (actual Disk to LAN to Disk random transfer of files using NTFS).

 

[BobJ_72]

If you are into building your own, here is another option. Buy these pieces and put them together:
HW:
1- HP Microserver ~($200 to $250) gives you one 250G disk
2- 1 to 3 additional SATA disks
SW:
3- WHS-2011 (NAS+Backup)~($50)
4- InteliSAN LDisk (iSCSI) ($59)

HP box has a pretty good performance and motherboard RAID 0 or 1.

 

[sk1939]

If you are into building your own, here is another option. Buy these pieces and put them together:
HW:
1- HP Microserver ~($200 to $250) gives you one 250G disk
2- 1 to 3 additional SATA disks
SW:
3- WHS-2011 (NAS+Backup)~($50)
4- InteliSAN LDisk (iSCSI) ($59)

HP box has a pretty good performance and motherboard RAID 0 or 1.

Interesting suggestion. I saw the HP Microserver on Newegg, but last time I looked it was the same price as the NAS device, but it is more flexible without a doubt. I can also probably skip the WHS-2011 since I have several fully licensed copies of Server 2008 R2 I can use. I really like the look of the MicroServer though, and the flexibility, the only question is, is it worth the cost?


What I'm looking at currently:

HP ProLiant N40L MicroServer (would complement the DL360G5 and DL145G2 I have already)

$283

or

QNAP TS-219-PII-US

$270

or

LianLi PC-Q25B
Jetway JNF99FL-525LF
Kingston 1GB DDR3

$309


Thoughts?

 

[BobJ_72]

Interesting suggestion. I saw the HP Microserver on Newegg, but last time I looked it was the same price as the NAS device, but it is more flexible without a doubt. I can also probably skip the WHS-2011 since I have several fully licensed copies of Server 2008 R2 I can use. I really like the look of the MicroServer though, and the flexibility, the only question is, is it worth the cost?


What I'm looking at currently:

HP ProLiant N40L MicroServer (would complement the DL360G5 and DL145G2 I have already)

$283

or

QNAP TS-219-PII-US

$270

or

LianLi PC-Q25B
Jetway JNF99FL-525LF
Kingston 1GB DDR3

$309


Thoughts?

Well.....
-Now I am not sure if you want to have a Storage or Server? 2008R2 will give you a server and not really a storage. If you want a storage, lowest cost OS is WHS-2011 and it will give you NAS and Backup and all you need to add is iSCSI.
-If you are comparing HP Microserver with the other boxes, you need to make them 2G memory and 250G drive that comes with HP to have apple to apple comparison.
- The QNAP box you listed only holds 2 drives, but that all depends on how much storage you need...
- Like the Jettway board since it gives you RAID-5, so those pieces seems the best. As anything else, best choice always cost the most...

 

[sk1939]

Storage is the goal. I only mention Server 2008 R2 because as I said, I already have the licenses for Enterprise and Datacenter which would allow me to save the $50 since it already includes Windows Storage Server 2008 R2.

Adding another gig to the custom build only adds $9 to the price tag.

Well, looking towards the future I would like at least 2TB, probably 3TB, plus redundancy via RAID 1.

That's why I chose it (also has dual Gigabit LAN with Intel NICS). Although dosen't the HP also support RAID 5?

Between the HP and the Jetway then, which would you choose?

 

[BobJ_72]

HP doesnot support RAID5. R1 or R0 only.
If it is in your budget: Jetway package, but u need 3 or 4 disk for RAID5
If not: HP package with RAID1
Both with WHS-2011
Start with that and if you wanted iSCSI, get InteliSAN LDisk later.
Good luck...

 

[sk1939]

Well I'm really leaning towards the HP since I can grab it for about $200 thanks to an Amazon gift card, although the inability to run RAID 5 bothers me a bit, although I could always run Solaris 11 and use ZFS and RAID-Z.

I could do this for the same price as the HP, the only question is it worth it over the HP.

CPU/Motherboard
Case
RAM (2x)

Total: $257

Will add the following to it (already own):

Dual Gigabit NIC
Hard Drives (3x Initially)