WHS2011 RAID 5 Questions

[ziogref]

Hi Guys!
this is my first post here (WooHoo!) I have done a lot of prior research, but i just need a final opinion with someone with more knowledge and I'm open for other idea's.

I understand that raid is not a backup solution, keeping that in mind this is not about backing up data, its about drive redundancy.

I have got a WHS2011 server at home that its main purpose is a centralised data storage point (for lan and internet access), remote access to download files, running a game server every now and then and doing network backups with UrBackup (only 2 computers) running 24/7. I have been running 2x2TB drives separate, one for the OS (and programs) and Urbackup and the other for data storage, However i am now running out of room.

I have opted to go for a RAID 5 solution with a "RocketRAID 640L" (on order) using 4x2tb drives.
I have a WD 2tb green drive (2years old, extracted out of a external enclosure a year ago)
A seagate 2tb normal drive (nothing special, 7200rpm, 1y old)
and 2 new seagate drives (same as above)
will I have any issues running these drives in raid 5? also I haven't had any experience using a dedicated raid card, i have only every done a raid1 on using the on-board raid card using almost dead drives, just for the know how. is it any different using a dedicated card>

Thanks

 

[COLGeek]

For best performance, you want all drives in a RAID to be identical. You may find that you can't build the RAID due to the physical differences of the HDDs themselves.

 

[ziogref]

For best performance, you want all drives in a RAID to be identical. You may find that you can't build the RAID due to the physical differences of the HDDs themselves.

I did hear about this. will I still get around gigabit speeds? if so that's fine, as the bottle neck here is my network, which is gigabit.

 

[COLGeek]

If you can build the RAID and it is stable, then throughput performance should be fine.

 

[popatim]

I actually would not put the green drive into a raid5. It has an internal power down setting which is unaffected by any external settings (including windows power settings (harddrive always on for example)) when coupled with the lengthy wakeup/spinup often causes it to get dropped from the array leaving you with a degraded and much slower array.

Also, The green drive is probably 5400 rpm* and will slow down the array a bit while the controller waits longer for it to locate and load its data segment than the 7200rpms.

* while there were some 7200 rpm green drives way back when they first came out, they probably have all failed by now. All the current lineup for the past several years are 'intellipower' models and spin at just over 5400rpm.

 

[ziogref]

I actually would not put the green drive into a raid5. It has an internal power down setting which is unaffected by any external settings (including windows power settings (harddrive always on for example)) when coupled with the lengthy wakeup/spinup often causes it to get dropped from the array leaving you with a degraded and much slower array.

Also, The green drive is probably 5400 rpm* and will slow down the array a bit while the controller waits longer for it to locate and load its data segment than the 7200rpms.

* while there were some 7200 rpm green drives way back when they first came out, they probably have all failed by now. All the current lineup for the past several years are 'intellipower' models and spin at just over 5400rpm.

the green drive is the drive im expecting to fail first, so in saying that will it still run at gigabit? when the drive fails i can replace it within the hour (local computer store about 20min away) but id rather not spend $100 on a drive until i need it. but if it only takes a second or 2 to load the directory list or open a file i couldnt care less, as when im streaming a video it wont matter

 

[COLGeek]

HDDs don't run in "gigabits" and comparing their throughput to your network capacity are completely different things. Sure, slow drives can impact how fast data can be transferred to/from the server.

In this case, HDD throughput should not be an issue. Your issue is likely to be in trying to build a RAID with drives that don't match.

Good luck!

 

[ziogref]

HDDs don't run in "gigabits" and comparing their throughput to your network capacity are completely different things. Sure, slow drives can impact how fast data can be transferred to/from the server.

In this case, HDD throughput should not be an issue. Your issue is likely to be in trying to build a RAID with drives that don't match.

Good luck!

Thanks heaps, this is the answer i was after!

 

[BillyDataGuy]

If you are building a RAID 5 box with any expectation of any particular drive "failing first" you are losing from the get go. You don't build RAID arrays with the expectation they are going to fail in one part or the other. It's unrealistic to expect any particular drive to fail first, as even brand new drives fail directly out of the box. Albeit it's rare, but it DOES happen. It's not wise to build anything on a crippled leg. What happens if your cripple drive fails with one of the "good" drives. Your dead or desperately in trouble. Anything can happen with electronics. ANYTHING. And it usually does. Build it to work, not to fail. Also just about everyone knows to match the drives. Maybe rethinking your principles. You are going through a lot of trouble for a home file server. Seems like you might be asking for a larger problem to fix another one (backup storage size). Also consider a secure cloud storage for smaller irreplaceable files.

 

[ziogref]

I actually would not put the green drive into a raid5. It has an internal power down setting which is unaffected by any external settings (including windows power settings (harddrive always on for example)) when coupled with the lengthy wakeup/spinup often causes it to get dropped from the array leaving you with a degraded and much slower array.

Also, The green drive is probably 5400 rpm* and will slow down the array a bit while the controller waits longer for it to locate and load its data segment than the 7200rpms.

* while there were some 7200 rpm green drives way back when they first came out, they probably have all failed by now. All the current lineup for the past several years are 'intellipower' models and spin at just over 5400rpm.

If you are building a RAID 5 box with any expectation of any particular drive "failing first" you are losing from the get go. You don't build RAID arrays with the expectation they are going to fail in one part or the other. It's unrealistic to expect any particular drive to fail first, as even brand new drives fail directly out of the box. Albeit it's rare, but it DOES happen. It's not wise to build anything on a crippled leg. What happens if your cripple drive fails with one of the "good" drives. Your dead or desperately in trouble. Anything can happen with electronics. ANYTHING. And it usually does. Build it to work, not to fail. Also just about everyone knows to match the drives. Maybe rethinking your principles. You are going through a lot of trouble for a home file server. Seems like you might be asking for a larger problem to fix another one (backup storage size). Also consider a secure cloud storage for smaller irreplaceable files.

I already have the server and it's working. I was planning on doing the raid today but my 4th drive was DOA. Also the reason why I expect one to die before the others is simply because it's older and was an external hard drive that had been travelled. Also if 2 drives fail at the same time it will suck but all my important data is backed up else were