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do i understand correctly but there is no other way than a hardware RAID if i want to use Windows 7 on the same computer (at the same time, accessing the raided storage?), as a software RAID need a seperately running OS (such as FreeNAS) - thus, WIN7 cannot run at the same time, making 2 separate computers necessary?
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2011-01-19, 12:40
(This post was last modified: 2011-01-19, 12:58 by SwissElite.)
hmmmm seems as if win7 only supports raid 0 and raid 1...
and i think i should at least make a raid 5? ... im lost again :S does that mean i better install win2008 server? (first i'd have to get that :S)
maybe its wiser to build a dedicated nas rather than starting to "patchwork" a raid.... on the other hand... i everytime would need the "dedictated NAS" when i use the MediaPc... but the dedicated nas alone only very rarely.... so... its kind of *stupid* (in lack of a more euphemistic word) investing into 2 computers and then running them both at the sasme time.... :S
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but i guess your situation is different - you need to be able to access your mediaserver more often from different computers (as you say, for instance, you have 2 HTPCs) - in my case i need maybe once every two weeks to access my MediaServer from ohter computers, for the rest of the time, i uniquely need it directly as a HTPC - thus, it would make sense to include the MediaServer directly in the HTPC - only, i have not figured out yet with what raid system. You convinced me that Hardware Raid isnt the best way - but software i would have to use Win7, which doesnt support Raid5... im in the dilemma (or i just dont see the light at the horizon)
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maxinc
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Probably easy to think about the NAS as a really big and expandable external drive which you can switch on and off as you would normally do with a USb drive for example.
The justification for a separate NAS comes when the library size exceeds a certain size and easy solutions like RAID 1 or 5 become too costly.
If your library has 2TB in size, it is a lot easier and cheaper to use 2 x 2TB hdd in software RAID 1. Easy, power efficient and very cheap.
If you get to 8, 10, 20TB in size, a separate, proper NAS would make a lot more sense and offers the flexibility you need to manage this amount of data.
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maxinc
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For 6TB I would personally still go with a separate box.