Need help setting up file server

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Brando457

[H]ard|Gawd
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Aug 11, 2003
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I am in need of a file server for a production company I will be running.

Basically i have LOTS of videos that I need to archive for safe keeping in case one HD fails or I need to access them at a later date.

What is the best way to go about doing this?

I was trying to look at newegg for server cases, raid controllers, and the such, but am not sure exactly what kind of hardware I would need for such a a setup.

I know I want to have it so if one HD fails then the files are spread or mirroed on another so definitely a RAID array of some sort. The computer would be ONLY used to store the files and access them at a later date, nothing more.

Could someone recommend some hardware as far as motherboard, controller, case, controller?

harddrives I know about & I was planning on using a QUAD Core 6600 for the processor.

Thanks in advance
 
Please think about the OS you would like to use first.

WHS/Windows? Or Linux/BSD/OpenSolaris/FreeNAS/etc? Those two are very fundamental choices and should be made before you buy any hardware. The windows route would require you to run Hardware RAID if you want RAID5. The BSD/FreeNAS approach would prefer plain disks and not RAID controllers.

So please carefully think about your setup before thinking about hardware setup, etc.
 
Subs right, youll need a definitive answer on what OS youre comfortable working with. BUT, youll also need to be VERY descriptive in what you would like it to do. And mentioning RAID without fully understanding should be a 10 day forum ban:p Lots of ways to do what you want without complicating and adding expense of raid.

Reconsider what you want exactly, how large ( 5 Tb, 20 Tb, 750 gigs, etc) what your budget is, and what OSes youre comfortable using OR learning. That will help a ton in guiding you in the right direction.
 
If you choose something like FreeNAS, you get the lovely option of ZFS. RAIDz setup on ZFS is easy and quick and can expand easily. Just something to think about. I recently converted our Archive systems to FreeNAS solely to use ZFS for storage.

Right now, I have the archive servers running FreeNAS on an 8gb CF card so I don't have to do extra partitioning on the storage drives for the OS.
 
Basically what I need is a file server to store all production videos for safe keeping with redundancy so I do not run the risk of losing any of the data should a HD crash.

I'm comfortable learning a new operation system if there are good guides out there, otherwise I am more than able to navigate around windows.

I'd prefer the simplest approach to do what I need which like I said is to back-up a large amount of videos. I'd send the videos from my primary editing comptuer for storage to the server.

Space I'd like to start with 5-10 TB initially with the option to expand as my business grows.
 
these words were used: production, archive

to me that says you need a backup solution. have you looked at tape/dvd/cloud/etc?
 
It almost seems you need a server, AND a backup solution. Like Danny said WHS is dead simple. As for backing up theres tons of options for that.
 
more so a backup solution I'd say, but a place to dump the files to so I guess server?

Does WHS offer the redundancy where if one HD fails I can rebuild the files and not risk losing anything?

if so then would I need a raid controller or just a sata controller and run all the HDS off that?

Most motherboards IRCC only have 5 or so sata channels, which I'd want to do more in the future.

Can anyone recommend a good case to house this beast and motherboard/processor combo?
 
If you turn on duplication on all the folders in WHS, it does offer redundancy of sorts. You would not need a RAID controller but a SATA controller and run all some of the drives off that once you fill up the SATA ports on the mobo.

Case wise, regardless of what OS you go with, a good case for a ton of hard drives is this:
$290 - NORCO RPC-4020 4U Rackmount Server Case

But to make sure that you're informed of another option, take a look at this guide on a ZFS Fileserver:
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1500505
 
What Anti stated is correct, but let me explain WHY for you. Otherwise your just going by what your told without fully understanding why. Ill use my home setup to give examples. So I have 2 WHS boxes setup. One echos the other so I have all my data on 2 separate spindles (disks). ALMOST a backup, but not quite. See , I am protected should a HD die, my WHS install pukes all over the place, etc. If anything happens to one of those boxes, but not the other, Im pretty golden. BUT, if my house catches fire, floods, I get hit by lightning and it gets to both PC's, etc I am screwed..... Ok, so what I have done ( and remember I am dealing with VERY little irreplaceable data but the theory is similiar) is I have about 100 pictures that are totally irreplaceable. So I have them burned to not one but 2 DVD and put in a safe deposit box at the bank. I also have emailed them to 2 separate online based emails ( Yahoo and Gmail for me). So now my really important data is on 2 hard drives locally ( WHS boxes), on some other form of media stored in a safe place (DVD in safe deposit box) and in the cloud so to speak ( email inboxes) In theory, I would have to have my home burn down, my bank burn down, Google and Yahoo server rooms burn down all at about the same time to actualy lose that data.
 
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