Storage / Raid Help

[startrek133]

Hi Everyone,

I have ben having the same trouble for years now , i never seem to have enough storage space .. Currently I have 6 hards drives in my computer .. listed below ..

this was my idea , to get a raid controller card and make a raid 5 .. that way i would have about 5tb worth of space and i would be safe in cast of hard drive crash ..

so i am looking for advice on the following ..

software or hardware raid ? i am thinking hardware because i hear its better , if that is so what kind of card would i look into ?

advice on how to backup my current hard drives to i can convert them into raid 5 ? tape back ?

any advice would be great , thanks ..

1. C:\ Main OS / Programs - 80gb
2. G:\ Games - 300gb
3. H: \ Media / Backup - 320gb ---- MP3's, Videos, Backup of My Person Docs
4. X: \ Media 2 / Anime 2 - 1TB --- Movies, Anime
5. Y: \ Anime - 1TB
6. Z: \ Anime - 300gb

 

[Dereck47]

.. that way i would have about 5tb worth of space and i would be safe in cast of hard drive crash ..

Not necessarily. The purpose of RAID-5 is redundancy, not backup.

Think of RAID-5 as run-flat tires on a car. Run-flat tires will allow you to drive up to 100 miles in order to get home or to a repair station.

There are many threads on this Forum of people who have panicked because they created a RAID-5 array and for one reason or another can’t access it and did not create backups of their data.

Your odds of drive failure also are much greater with 5 drives in RAID-0.

There’s nothing wrong with your current setup of using separate drives.

 

[startrek133]

Thanks Dereck47

I was thinking Raid-5 because I wanted the redundancy, right now if i lost a drive i lose everything on that drive because its just to much data to back up ..

So was thinking of getting 3 more 1TB and a raid 5 controlle card ... but not sure if that is the right way to go .. and I still have the trouble of how do i clear off the data on the 2 - 1TB drives I have now ..

Keep the advice coming please ..

 

[Dereck47]

In that case you want a PCIe x4 or x8 RAID controller card.
It doesn't matter if the transfer rates on the card are 3Gb/s or 6Gb/s since you will be using HDDs, not SSDs.

Hopefully other members will be able to assist you on how to backup your current 2 1TB drives before you use them in your RAID array.

 

[startrek133]

Thanks Dereck again for the advice ..

any thoughts on what kind of card to get ? i dont mind spending the money but also dont want this to cost an arm and a leg ..

thanks ..

 

[Dereck47]

Here's a good one for a decent price: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816115100

You'll have to do some additional research to see if there'll be any compatibility issues with your motherboard.

 

[startrek133]

Thanks for the lnk Dereck , but if i am reading that right it only has 2 ports on it .. i need 5 ports if i am going to use my existing 1tb drives and buy 3 more ...

thanks ..

 

[Dereck47]

The ports on the card are mini-SAS ports, not SATA. Each port can connect up to 4 drives.

You would need to purchase 2 SFF-8087 to SATA mini-SAS breakout cables.

Here's a link to one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816151080

 

[startrek133]

oooo really Dereck ... i didnt know that , i will have to do some reading up on mini-sas .. i have been seeing that alot as of late and didnt know what it was ..

thanks for all the help .. its a start in the right direction for me ...

now just need to figure out how to back everything up so i can wipe the 2 - 1tb drives ..

 

[awesomedude911]

[/quote]

Hi Everyone,

I have ben having the same trouble for years now , i never seem to have enough storage space .. Currently I have 6 hards drives in my computer .. listed below ..

this was my idea , to get a raid controller card and make a raid 5 .. that way i would have about 5tb worth of space and i would be safe in cast of hard drive crash ..

so i am looking for advice on the following ..

software or hardware raid ? i am thinking hardware because i hear its better , if that is so what kind of card would i look into ?

advice on how to backup my current hard drives to i can convert them into raid 5 ? tape back ?

any advice would be great , thanks ..

1. C:\ Main OS / Programs - 80gb
2. G:\ Games - 300gb
3. H: \ Media / Backup - 320gb ---- MP3's, Videos, Backup of My Person Docs
4. X: \ Media 2 / Anime 2 - 1TB --- Movies, Anime
5. Y: \ Anime - 1TB
6. Z: \ Anime - 300gb

Sorry I just have to know what brad Hard drives do you have??- WD/Seagate/Samsung?????????????

 

[FireWire2]

Well... I have a different approach much more cost cost effective.
about $100.00 for a five drives raid5

SPM393

and a PCI backet about $4.00 then you are set.
http://www.datoptic.com/pci-to-scsi-1-bracket-adapter.html

Mount the SPM393 controller via PCI bracket with screw to the case
Connect 5x HDD to SPM393
Connect the Orange SATA back to MB's SATA host port.
Set the switch to RAID5
Press and hold the reset switch while turn on Power.
When you hear the beep, release it
After boot, go to Disk Management there should be a GIANT HDD That is your hardware RAID5 volume
Format it and use it

The whole set up may take about 5 min top


To test the redundancy, copy some file to the RAID
During copying process
Yank out one of the SATA cable connect to the drive
There should be nothing happen except the alarm going off
The copy process should be continue w/o problem
Plug back in the SATA drive...

RAID5 should rebuilt by itself

Of course you can use the RAID utility come with this device to monitor and manage the raid just like any other raid in the market

If you are looking for more the 400MB/s transfer then this controller is not for you...

Note: Each of your existing SATA port in your MB can be use with this SPM393...

So in your case:
Except your C drives
G, H, X, Y, X <--- that is total of 25 drives can be connected to