hardware for home use large storage

[Svein Skogen (Listmail Account)]

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On 08.02.2010 06:01, Dan Langille wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I'm looking at creating a large home use storage machine.  Budget is a
> concern, but size and reliability are also a priority.  Noise is also a
> concern, since this will be at home, in the basement.  That, and cost,
> pretty much rules out a commercial case, such as a 3U case.  It would be
> nice, but it greatly inflates the budget.  This pretty much restricts me
> to a tower case.
> 
> The primary use of this machine will be a backup server[1].  It will do
> other secondary use will include minor tasks such as samba, CIFS, cvsup,
> etc.
> 
> I'm thinking of 8x1TB (or larger) SATA drives.  I've found a case[2]
> with hot-swap bays[3], that seems interesting.  I haven't looked at
> power supplies, but given that number of drives, I expect something
> beefy with a decent reputation is called for.
> 
> Whether I use hardware or software RAID is undecided.  I
> 
> I think I am leaning towards software RAID, probably ZFS under FreeBSD
> 8.x but I'm open to hardware RAID but I think the cost won't justify it
> given ZFS.
> 
> Given that, what motherboard and RAM configuration would you recommend
> to work with FreeBSD [and probably ZFS].  The lists seems to indicate
> that more RAM is better with ZFS.

Just before christmas, I rebuilt my own storage backend server for my
home, so I've had a recent look at "what's there". Some hardware I had
from the old solution, and some were new. Some of it is a tad more
expensive that what you gave as the idea here, but the logic is (mostly)
the same. I'll also include what replacements for some of the old parts
I'm looking at.

Heirlooms of the old server:
- -Disks (four Samsung HD501LJ, Four Seagate ST31500341AS)
- -Disk Controller AMI/Lsilogic Megaraid SAS 8308ELP (8chan MFI)

The new hardware around this:
- -Chieftec UNB-410F-B
- -Two Chieftec SST3141SAS
- -Chieftec APS-850C (850watt modular power)
- -Intel E7500 CPU using the bundled stock cooler, and arcticsilver paste
- -4 2GB Corasair Valueram DDR2 1066 sticks
- -Asus P5Q Premium mainboard
- -LSI SAS3801E (for the tape autoloader)
- -Some old graphics board (unless you need a lot of fancy 3D stuff, use
what you have around that's not ESD-damaged here).

Should I have started from scratch, I'd have used Seagate 2TB "Green"
disks, due to the lower temperatures and powerconsumption of these. And
that's about the only thing I'd do differently. The MFI controller
(Megaraid) would stay, simply because it has built in logic to
periodically do patrolreading and consistency checks, and I've had
previous experiences with the raid-controllers checks discovering bad
disks before they go critical. But this breed of controllers is a little
costly (Customers are willing to pay for the features, so the
manufacturer milks them for all they can).

I recommend you go for a modular power, that is rated for quite a bit
more that what you expect to draw from it. The reason is that as current
increases, the efficiency of the conversion drops, so a power running at
half its rated max, is more efficient than one pushed to the limits. Go
for modular so you don't have to have the extra cables tied into coils
inside your machine distruption airflow (and creating EMF noise).

Make sure you get yourself a proper ESD wriststrap (or anklestrap)
before handling any of these components, and make sure you use correct
torque for all the screws handling the components (and disks). This
machine will probably have a lot of uptime, and disks (and fans) create
vibrations. If in doubt, use some fancy-colored nailpolish (or locktite)
on the screws to make sure they don't unscrew from vibrations over time.
(a loose screw has a will of it own, and WILL short-circuit the most
expensive component in your computer).

Also make sure you use cableties to get the cables out of the airflow,
so you get sufficient cooling. Speaking of cooling, make sure your
air-inputs have some sort of filtering, or you'll learn where Illiad
(userfriendly.org) got the idea for "Dustpuppy". No matter how pedantic
you are about cleaning your house, a computer is basically a large,
expensive, vacuum-cleaner and WILL suck in dust from the air.

These are some of the pointers I'd like to share on the subject. :)

//Svein


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