Hello there, long time lurker, first time poster. (because I actually have something to post about . ) I’ve searched the forum and have seen similar systems, but everyone seems to have a different setup. I made the mistake of buying one of those crappy Netgear SC101 NAS boxes, and found out the hard way how terrible they are. (proprietary software, formatting & drivers that like to crash XP) I have finally sold the wife on the idea of a homebuilt NAS. All I (we) really want is a server I can stick in a corner, plug into the router and forget about. I have built several machines, and am no stranger to hardware or Windows. I absolutely know nothing about Linux OS’s however. I have compiled a list of hardware to make my own NAS. Could you please look over it and offer any pointers or suggestions on improving things? (stability, cost, speed, etc.) First off, here is a list of the existing hardware I have (old machine) to use as a base:
Motherboard- Intel 845GRG: http://www.intel.com/design/motherbd/rg/
RAM- 1GB (512 x 2) PC3200 DDR Samsung
CPU- Intel Pentium 4 2.4Ghz
5.25” CD-ROM drive
Floppy drive
20Gb Seagate IDE HDD (for OS)
300W generic power supply
Next, to build the NAS, I am thinking of adding 1TB of storage with 4 Seagate 400GB SATA2 drives like this: http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.jsp?locale=en-US&name=Barracuda_7200.10_SATA_400.3_GB&vgnextoid=8eff99f4fa74c010VgnVCM100000dd04090aRCRD&vgnextchannel=a32a2f290c5fb010VgnVCM100000dd04090aRCRD&reqPage=Model
Controlled by a Highpoint Rocketraid 1740 SATA2 Controller in RAID 5 array.
And installed in a case like this: http://www.malabs.com/product.asp?product_sku=63261&item_no=CA-ST901BS&show=b
According to my calculations, I should be able to realize about 1.02TB of useable storage space.
Using this RAID 5 setup, will I be able to install another card (using the HP link cable) and another 4 hard drives to increase my capacity later down the road without corrupting my existing RAID array? Using a total of 5 drives (4 for the array, 1 for the OS) and the CD-ROM, etc be too much for my power supply? (all the on-line power calculators give varying results) What OS would be the best to use in this application (remember, I don’t know zip about anything Linux) and does this seem like the best way to go?
Motherboard- Intel 845GRG: http://www.intel.com/design/motherbd/rg/
RAM- 1GB (512 x 2) PC3200 DDR Samsung
CPU- Intel Pentium 4 2.4Ghz
5.25” CD-ROM drive
Floppy drive
20Gb Seagate IDE HDD (for OS)
300W generic power supply
Next, to build the NAS, I am thinking of adding 1TB of storage with 4 Seagate 400GB SATA2 drives like this: http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.jsp?locale=en-US&name=Barracuda_7200.10_SATA_400.3_GB&vgnextoid=8eff99f4fa74c010VgnVCM100000dd04090aRCRD&vgnextchannel=a32a2f290c5fb010VgnVCM100000dd04090aRCRD&reqPage=Model
Controlled by a Highpoint Rocketraid 1740 SATA2 Controller in RAID 5 array.
And installed in a case like this: http://www.malabs.com/product.asp?product_sku=63261&item_no=CA-ST901BS&show=b
According to my calculations, I should be able to realize about 1.02TB of useable storage space.
Using this RAID 5 setup, will I be able to install another card (using the HP link cable) and another 4 hard drives to increase my capacity later down the road without corrupting my existing RAID array? Using a total of 5 drives (4 for the array, 1 for the OS) and the CD-ROM, etc be too much for my power supply? (all the on-line power calculators give varying results) What OS would be the best to use in this application (remember, I don’t know zip about anything Linux) and does this seem like the best way to go?