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I would recommend RAID10 for highest performance and redundancy as it allows the possibility of loosing more than 1 drive without loosing the array but you do get a hit on diskspace. Also the more drive you have per array the faster the array in term of I/O. Thanks for sharing your configuration. Firm. On Mar 12, 2010, at 5:21 PM, "Kramer, Jack" <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Oh, and I’m sure I’d probably gain a bit of performance if I > split it into, say, four RAID5 arrays instead of one big RAID6 – it > would definitely spread the load around on the card and the I/O itse > lf. However, the point of this particular server is 100% space, spac > e, space so max performance wasn’t one of the design elements. (For > best performance, I could go RAID10 and really scream!) > ---- > Jack Kramer > Computer Systems Specialist > University Relations, Michigan State University > w: 517-884-1231 / c: 248-635-4955 > > > > From: Jack Kramer <[log in to unmask]> > Reply-To: Jack Kramer <[log in to unmask]> > Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:17:34 -0500 > To: "[log in to unmask]" <[log in to unmask]> > Subject: Re: [MSUNAG] Atom Based NAS Devices? > > More likely than not that MD1000 will soon be attached to the > external port on my Openfiler's SAS card. I have nothing against > Dell hardware other than the fact that the bundled NICs on their > servers are typically crap - Broadcom NICs don't hold up very well > under load and Intel is by far the preferred vendor. (Or something > even better with hardware iSCSI support if you can afford it.) The > Supermicro board has dual Intel gigabit NICs and they’ve performed v > ery well using the latest Intel x86-64 kernel modules. I know of at > least one other Openfiler that’s running on an older Dell Poweredge > with two MD1000s attached to a PERC adapter card and it’s been worki > ng fine, except for the Broadcom NICs (which were replaced with Inte > l PCI-X cards). > ---- > Jack Kramer > Computer Systems Specialist > University Relations, Michigan State University > w: 517-884-1231 / c: 248-635-4955 > > > > > From: Tom Rockwell <[log in to unmask]> > > Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 23:45:12 -0500 > > To: Jack Kramer <[log in to unmask]> > > Cc: "[log in to unmask]" <[log in to unmask]> > > Subject: Re: [MSUNAG] Atom Based NAS Devices? > > > > Jack, > > > > Nice write-up! > > > > Couple comments, depending on number of clients, you might get > better > > performance with multiple RAID arrays to spread the IO out --- the > > trade-off is more space lost to parity, but space is cheap... > > > > Supermicro does make nice chassis and either build it yourself or > > purchasing from a "white-box" vendor that uses their hardware is > > reasonable depending on the purchasing situation and use. Also, > just > > using openfiler on IBM/HP/Dell hardware can work well. An example > would > > be a Dell 1 or 2 U node with external shelf disk shelf (I see you > have > > an MD1000 and Dell server racked just above this new one). > Pricing is > > variable though. I'd be interested in hearing any comparisons you > have > > between the Dell hardware and this new server as you get > experience with > > them over time. > > > > Cheers, > > Tom > > > > > > On 3/11/10 2:31 PM, Kramer, Jack wrote: > >> Okay, I did a (very quick) writeup about the whole thing and > posted it on my > >> AFS space. You can find it at http://www.msu.edu/~kramer45/openfiler/ > . For > >> those of you who don’t want to follow a link, I used a Supermicro > 846A 4u > >> chassis which has 24 SAS/SATA drive bays and then added a > Supermicro > >> motherboard, an Areca 1680IX 24 port raid card, 12gb of RAM, and > basically > >> let ‘er rip. There’s some details as to the build and > configuration tweaks I > >> had to make in the writeup and a couple of photos – I’ll post > more photos the > >> next time I have the unit down for service. > >> > >> And yeah, the writeup is done in iWeb – I didn’t feel like > actually doing > >> HTML and it’s surprisingly not that crappy for a very basic web e > ditor. > >> ---- > >> Jack Kramer > >> Computer Systems Specialist > >> University Relations, Michigan State University > >> w: 517-884-1231 / c: 248-635-4955 > >> > >> > >> > >> ________________________________ > >> From: Jon Galbreath<[log in to unmask]> > >> Reply-To: Jon Galbreath<[log in to unmask]> > >> Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:29:05 -0500 > >> To: "[log in to unmask]"<[log in to unmask]> > >> Subject: Re: [MSUNAG] Atom Based NAS Devices? > >> > >> I’m sure I’m not alone in my curiosity. Can you provide more > details about > >> the hardware you’re using? > >> > >> Thanks in advance! > >> > >> > >> Jon Galbreath > >> MCSE/Security+ > >> Systems Administrator > >> International Studies and Programs > >> Ph: 517-884-2144 > >> [log in to unmask] > >> > >> > >> From: Kramer, Jack [mailto:[log in to unmask]] > >> Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2010 9:12 AM > >> To: [log in to unmask] > >> Subject: Re: [MSUNAG] Atom Based NAS Devices? > >> > >> Another option in terms of NAS is rolling your own system based > off of > >> Openfiler (openfiler.org) or something like it (the BSD-based > FreeNAS comes > >> to mind). We’re in the process of deploying an Openfiler based sy > stem over > >> here that’s providing 21TB of storage at a total cost of well und > er $10k. You > >> could go hardware raid for large storage or, for something where > performance > >> isn’t as important, you could go software raid and save a bundle. > It’s also a > >> great way to repurpose hardware that you may have sitting around > as the > >> minimum system requirements are very low. > >> ---- > >> Jack Kramer > >> Computer Systems Specialist > >> University Relations, Michigan State University > >> w: 517-884-1231 / c: 248-635-4955 > >> > >> > >> > >>> From: Jason Coleman<[log in to unmask]> > >>> Reply-To: Jason Coleman<[log in to unmask]> > >>> Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:34:26 -0500 > >>> To: "[log in to unmask]"<[log in to unmask]> > >>> Subject: Re: [MSUNAG] Atom Based NAS Devices? > >>> > >>> I suggest researching it at http://www.smallnetbuilder.com, they > were an > >>> excellent resource when I was researching NAS devices for myself. > >>> > >>> The one you are looking at is too new to have a lot of info on > yet. Thecus > >>> is generally well regarded in the space though, but it's also at > the higher > >>> end, cost and a performance-wise of the SOHO space. You may try > their > >>> forums to see if there's any early adopters of it or to check on > other Atom > >>> based devices. > >>> > >>> Good luck! > >>> > >>> -----Original Message----- > >>> From: Al Puzzuoli [mailto:[log in to unmask]] > >>> Sent: Tuesday, March 09, 2010 8:59 AM > >>> To: [log in to unmask] > >>> Subject: [MSUNAG] Atom Based NAS Devices? > >>> > >>> We're considering the possibility of purchasing an atom based > NAS. Has > >>> anyone researched these? What features are considered important > aside from > >>> iSCSI support? One that looks interesting to me is the Thecus > >>> N4200: > >>> http://bit.ly/aId9Dt > >>> > >>> A favorable review can be found here: > >>> http://www.trustedreviews.com/networking/review/2010/02/24/Thecus-N4200- > >>> 4-Bay-NAS/p1 > >>> > >>> Thanks in advance for any thoughts. > >>> > >>> --Al > >> > >> > > >