[Cialug] Virtual Box and NAS

[Nicolai]

On Wed, Aug 17, 2011 at 09:04:28PM -0500, Dave Hala Jr wrote:

> I've still got a need for about 4tb of just general file storage. If I
> could outperform a ReadyNas 1500 using hardware that I have laying
> around or an considering taking out of service, its worth considering.

Hey Dave,

I asked a friend whose $work has a lot of storage, what they use
and what he suggests for your 4TB fileserver.  This is what he
wrote:

 Server 1: 3ware 9750 8i with 36x2TB drives in RAID6 + hot spare
 (expensive)
 Server 2: 24x2TB drives in RAID-Z3 + Solid State Cache
 (mission-critical, ZFS, freakin' AWESOME)
 NAS 1: Drobo (www.drobo.com 4x2TB drives; nice features but expensive)
 NAS 2: Oldass server with 10x250GB drives in software RAID5

 My recommendation would be three 2TB drives in RAID-Z1 in ZFS. I've
 found it to be a majestic filesystem. You can drop in a cheap 32GB
 SSD ($65) for write caching and get some amazing speeds.  Consider:

 3x2TB Seagate Barracuda XT (7200RPM) = $390
 3x2TB Seagate Barracuda Green (5400RPM) + SSD Cache = $(240 + 65) = $305

Hope this helps,

Nicolai