[Novalug] best hard disk setup for home file server?

Tue Oct 13 14:37:54 EDT 2009

i prefer one volume group because that's the most efficient way to
store a bunch of files. if i have 2 TB of movies, for example, but two
1.5 TB volumes, then i have to split the group somehow. seems messy to
me.

are there better solutions?

On Tue, Oct 13, 2009 at 14:32, Bryan J. Smith <b.j.smith at ieee.org> wrote:
> That's exactly what I did.  I transitioned to 2.5" drives with 3.5" drives in
> the new system.  I haven't bought any new 3.5" drives since late 2006 /
> early 2007 and everything has been 2.5".  I've been 100% 2.5" since
> 2007, except the externals and a couple of systems.  By the end of last
> year, any system I cared about had 2.5" drives because of 3.5" failures.  ;)
>
> I'm seeing 2.5" 500GB drives for $70 when you catch a sale.  That should
> drop soon as 640GB is just hitting (just released in volume at the end of
> September).  Heck, I bought my 2.5" 500GB drives for $90 in 2008
> December so $90 is _not_ a deal!  ;)
>
>
> I don't know why you feel the need to mix'n match drives in the same
> volume group.  Why not just keep them separate?  I _only_ make my
> volume groups of drives of the same model-sizing.  You're just adding
> more points of potential failure.
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: Richard Ertel <richard.ertel at gmail.com>
> To: William Sutton <william at trilug.org>
> Cc: Novalug <novalug at calypso2.tux.org>; novalug-bounces at calypso2.tux.org
> Sent: Tue, October 13, 2009 1:19:16 PM
> Subject: Re: [Novalug] best hard disk setup for home file server?
>
> OK so say i want to ditch these two 1.5 TB 3.5" drives in favor of
> 2.5" drives... in order to keep costs low, i'd want to use them along
> with my two reliable 1.0 TB 3.5" drives.
>
> 500 gigs seems to be the sweet spot for 2.5" drives right now, at $90
> or less per drive.
>
> option: add FIVE 500 GB drives to system (would have to get an add-on
> SATA controller), partition the 1 TB drives into two 500 gig
> partitions each, then put all NINE 500 gig partitions into a RAID-Z2
> array yielding 3.5 TB of usable space. (Z2 to account for two
> partitions on the 1 TB drives)
>
> a) would this work? am i insane? am i cheap?
>
> b) when space upgrade is desired and the new sweet spot for 2.5"
> drives is 1.0 TB, how should the array then be made? use LVM to
> combine two 500 gig drives into a 1 TB volume and then RAID-Z the 1 TB
> partitions (presumably four new 1.0 TB 2.5" drives plus four 500 GB
> drives = 6 partitions in array = 5 TB)?
>
> On Tue, Oct 13, 2009 at 12:48, William Sutton <william at trilug.org> wrote:
>> nifty
>>
>> William Sutton
>>
>> On Tue, 13 Oct 2009, Bryan Seitz wrote:
>>
>>> Adapters adapters adapters!
>>>
>>> Something like:
>>>
>>> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816119012
>>>
>>> Cheaper ones available but you get the idea.  A unit with a fan would probably
>>> be a good idea.
>>>
>>> On Tue, Oct 13, 2009 at 12:30:55PM -0400, William Sutton wrote:
>>>> Out of curiosity for those of us who haven't done it before, how do you
>>>> mount 8 2.5" drives in 2 optical bays? :-)
>>>>
>>>> William Sutton
>>>>
>>>> On Tue, 13 Oct 2009, Bryan J Smith wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> 8 drives would fit nicely in two optical bays.  ;)
>>>>>
>>>>> Your choice.  I've just noted failure rates of 2.5" v. 3.5" and
>>>>> I know my experiences aren't alone.  ;)
>>>>>
>>>>> I've been in IT departments that stopped considering anything
>>>>> other than 2.5" drives except for non 24x7 systems (like
>>>>> nearline or PCs that could quickly be replaced whole).
>>>>>
>>>>> Just not worth it to me.
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Bryan J Smith - mailto:b.j.smith at ieee.org
>>>>> http://www.linkedin.com/in/bjsmith
>>>>> Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>> From: Richard Ertel <richard.ertel at gmail.com>
>>>>> Date: Tue, 13 Oct 2009 12:00:38
>>>>> To: Megan Larko<larkoc at iges.org>
>>>>> Cc: Novalug<novalug at calypso2.tux.org>
>>>>> Subject: Re: [Novalug] best hard disk setup for home file server?
>>>>>
>>>>> @John:
>>>>> i'll take the calling my configuration "weird" as a compliment.
>>>>> actually, the idea of using the remaining 500 gigs on each drive as
>>>>> another array came from this list, i just then combined them into LVM
>>>>>
>>>>> @Bryan:
>>>>> unfortunately, my storage needs are 3+ TB, so the sheer number of 2.5"
>>>>> disks required (with redundancy) at 500 GB per disk is what, 7 disks
>>>>> for RAID-5 and 8 disks for RAID-6? i ran a 8-drive server in the past,
>>>>> didn't like having that many to worry about. for me, 4 disks is a nice
>>>>> number and that works out well with 3.5" disks and my current storage
>>>>> needs.
>>>>>
>>>>> @Megan:
>>>>> thanks for the info about external enclosures and netbooks. yeah, my
>>>>> previous servers have been made with 160 gig drives, 250 gig drives,
>>>>> 500, 750, 1TB... over the past 6 years or so. and these 2 damn
>>>>> identical seagates are the first to ever fail. i still use some of the
>>>>> 160 gig drives in other machines. all always been 24/7 too.
>>>>>
>>>>> On Tue, Oct 13, 2009 at 11:51, Megan Larko <larkoc at iges.org> wrote:
>>>>>> Richard Ertel wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Ouch! ? I feel your pain.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> in light of the current problems i am having with my home file server,
>>>>>>> i want to reconsider my choice for how i configured hard disks in my
>>>>>>> server.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> as said before, i currently have two 1.5 TB drives and two 1.0 TB
>>>>>>> drives, all standard 3.5" internal disks.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> four 1.0 TB partitions are in RAID-5 configuration, and the remaining
>>>>>>> two 500 GB partitions are RAID-1. these two arrays are combined via
>>>>>>> LVM into one logical volume of 3.5 TB.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> my current situation has the new brand new 1.5 TB drives dying, which
>>>>>>> of course kills all my data. they are identical drives (seagate), same
>>>>>>> model number, maybe same manufacturing batch. both dying at the same
>>>>>>> time.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> A co-working in my office tried to use the 1.5Tb capacity drives when they
>>>>>> came out some months ago and he also had them only a short period of time
>>>>>> before they had a simultaneous failure. ? As the disks were under warranty
>>>>>> he exchanged them for drives of a smaller capacity (1 Tb).
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> does anyone have any experience RAIDing external USB drives in linux?
>>>>>>> should i expect reliability to increase if i move all 4 drives to 4
>>>>>>> external SATA to USB enclosures (5.25" enclosures with fans)? are
>>>>>>> these enclosures suitable for 24/7 operation? would read and write
>>>>>>> speed suffer (all transfers are over gigabit network)?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I have personally not created RAIDs of external USB drives. ?I have found
>>>>>> that even with fans, many external enclosures become uncomfortably (for me)
>>>>>> warm. ?I really think the external USB enclosures were not designed for 24/7
>>>>>> generally.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> if all those USB drives running through a USB hub to a server is ok,
>>>>>>> then what about ditching my tower and running them all to a netbook as
>>>>>>> a server? i've seen that argument made once before, citing built-in
>>>>>>> ups (battery), built-in monitor, low power draw and other factors as
>>>>>>> big benefits to a netbook as server.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> My ASUS EeePC 700 netbook does not run for too many hours (8+) without
>>>>>> getting warm. ?A two-fan notebook cooler helped this issue. ?Just
>>>>>> mentioning.....
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> or am i worrying too much and what i have on my hands is just a fluke,
>>>>>>> and in the future i should mix drive manufacturers/models to avoid
>>>>>>> simultaneous failure?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I would continue to use similar manufacturer and models in RAID units. ? I
>>>>>> think the particular drives you have just are not "ready for prime time". ?I
>>>>>> have done very will with 500Gb and 1Tb drives by Hitachi and Western Digital
>>>>>> in 24/7 rack-mounted data server systems. ? That said, perhaps an old tower
>>>>>> with a motherboard allowing multiple drives and good PSU and fans would be
>>>>>> an option for you? ?It could run a small OS eliminating the netbook on all
>>>>>> the time and use NFS or SAMBA to share the drives with other computers on
>>>>>> your network. ?It can have a better pipe than just USB2.0.
>>>>>> If the data is to be on-line 24/7 might as well put it into a box designed
>>>>>> to run all the time.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Enjoy your day.
>>>>>> megan
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>>> Novalug mailing list
>>>>>>> Novalug at calypso.tux.org
>>>>>>> http://calypso.tux.org/mailman/listinfo/novalug
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> --
>>>>>> I will now bring you up to speed on the situation.
>>>>>> We know nothing!
>>>>>> There, you are now up to speed.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> ---Steve Martin as Inspector Clouseau
>>>>>> ? Pink Panther 2
>>>>>>
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>>>
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>>>
>>> --
>>>
>>> Bryan G. Seitz
>>>
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