2011-01-20, 20:15
SwissElite happy, all good then 
2011-01-20, 20:43
hey SwissElite,
you might wanna read on FLEXRAID!!
Its FREE and runs on windows which means
you can still use the pc for other purposes!
you might wanna read on FLEXRAID!!
Its FREE and runs on windows which means
you can still use the pc for other purposes!
2011-01-20, 21:02
jmarshall Wrote:So you'll pay for WHS instead?
WHS will cost me about $20, as opposed to $120, so yes, I'm perfectly willing to pay for it, especially since I can easily run other software on it.
2011-01-21, 01:00
eskro Wrote:you might wanna read on FLEXRAID!!
Its FREE and runs on windows which means
you can still use the pc for other purposes!
i have had a look at it... but i cant help somehow.. it just doesnt make a professional impression to me... no offence to anyone.. .maybe its great - but the wikipedia entry doesnt convince me and on the first page where flexnas is introduced i didnt even find a download link... plus, it seems to me like a lot of ambition and "coming up" features... but how much is actually already implemented?
maybe someone here in the forum has experience with flexraid and can prove me to be entirley wrong! then shoot!
2011-01-21, 01:09
Honestly SwissElite, i came to this conclusion,,
if your using a 2 HDD raid array, go with Windows7's Software RAID1....
if your using a 3 HDD raid array, go with a seperate NAS rig running Software unRAID Basic....
if your using a 4 to 6 HDD raid array, go with a seperate NAS rig running Software unRAID Plus....
if your using a 7 to 21 HDD raid array, go with a seperate NAS rig running Software unRAID Pro....
if your using a 2 HDD raid array, go with Windows7's Software RAID1....
if your using a 3 HDD raid array, go with a seperate NAS rig running Software unRAID Basic....
if your using a 4 to 6 HDD raid array, go with a seperate NAS rig running Software unRAID Plus....
if your using a 7 to 21 HDD raid array, go with a seperate NAS rig running Software unRAID Pro....
2011-01-21, 01:18
I would put it like this:
If you predict the library will not exceed 4TB then RAID 1 in windows. If you think you will need to expand further, a NAS of your choice. At the moment unRAID has a set of features designed for media storage which are hard to beat by faster and more secure systems out there.
I keep all my private and business data encrypted on RAID1 drives (4 x 500G) with backup on the unRAID while the media sits on the unRAID only.
If you predict the library will not exceed 4TB then RAID 1 in windows. If you think you will need to expand further, a NAS of your choice. At the moment unRAID has a set of features designed for media storage which are hard to beat by faster and more secure systems out there.
I keep all my private and business data encrypted on RAID1 drives (4 x 500G) with backup on the unRAID while the media sits on the unRAID only.
2011-01-21, 01:34
SwissElite Wrote:i have had a look at it... but i cant help somehow.. it just doesnt make a professional impression to me... no offence to anyone.. .maybe its great - but the wikipedia entry doesnt convince me and on the first page where flexnas is introduced i didnt even find a download link... plus, it seems to me like a lot of ambition and "coming up" features... but how much is actually already implemented?
maybe someone here in the forum has experience with flexraid and can prove me to be entirley wrong! then shoot!
Only thing I don't like about Flexraid is the lack of live parity. As things download and are moved to my NAS I want them protected right then- that is the whole point to me. If my system was less automated not having live parity wouldn't matter as much.
2011-01-24, 12:37
I've been researching for a few days now. My situation is a little different. I have one T.V. in my apartment. I have a laptop for the internet. I dont watch anything on the laptop. I just dont see the sense in having two PCs next to the T.V. One for Raid storage and another hooked to the T.V. I want one PC to hook to the TV but to have at least 6TB of space running at least Raid 5. So what options do I have? I need to run the media software and run a software raid together. What do you recommend?
Windows XP or 7 or .......?
NAS or unRaid or Flexraid or........?
P.S. Not worried about the hardware. I have a 2.4ghz Quadcore laying around that I'm going to use. Just going to buy a mobo and HD Video Card and should be ready to go.
Windows XP or 7 or .......?
NAS or unRaid or Flexraid or........?
P.S. Not worried about the hardware. I have a 2.4ghz Quadcore laying around that I'm going to use. Just going to buy a mobo and HD Video Card and should be ready to go.
2011-01-24, 14:10
if you want to keep everything under the same roof,
you'll have to plan accordingly of course...
you can't use unRAID on top of your OS...
thats why you need a dedicated machine just for that,,,,
now since that doesn't apply to you,
you have to choose between software RAID0 & software RAID1
since windows 7 supports only those 2...
obviously, software RAID1 would be the way to go then...
but 6TB will equal --> 3TB of possible data storage....
so yeah, you loose 3TB to parity....
Now why we dont suggest RAID5 here is because
you'd have to use a hardware RAID5 configuration...
as opposed to a software RAID5 (which win7 doesnt support)
a hardware RAID is not the best since your pretty much stuck
if your hardware RAID controller breaks...
if you can't replace it, because the part is not sold anymore, your screwed....
but with a software RAID, your safe from this situation!
there's always the software Flexraid that could work for you here
because it can sit on top of your OS...
as anything, it has advantages an disadvantages...
i know Poofy doesn't like the fact that it's lacking live parity (can't blame him right)...
but it does neat things like you keep 100% of the speed of your hard disks...
but i didn't try Flexraid, you'd have to digg in yourself to see if it suits your needs....
and its still a "Work in Progress" application....
but a very ambitious one!
any how, if you predict your library will not exceed 6TB,
then you can go for win7's software RAID1....
If you think you will need to expand further, there's 2 choices....
A) you can use software FlexRAID since you can use it on top of your OS....
B) use a dediacted NAS machine using software unRAID...
hope this helps
you'll have to plan accordingly of course...
you can't use unRAID on top of your OS...
thats why you need a dedicated machine just for that,,,,
now since that doesn't apply to you,
you have to choose between software RAID0 & software RAID1
since windows 7 supports only those 2...
obviously, software RAID1 would be the way to go then...
but 6TB will equal --> 3TB of possible data storage....
so yeah, you loose 3TB to parity....
Now why we dont suggest RAID5 here is because
you'd have to use a hardware RAID5 configuration...
as opposed to a software RAID5 (which win7 doesnt support)
a hardware RAID is not the best since your pretty much stuck
if your hardware RAID controller breaks...
if you can't replace it, because the part is not sold anymore, your screwed....
but with a software RAID, your safe from this situation!
there's always the software Flexraid that could work for you here
because it can sit on top of your OS...
as anything, it has advantages an disadvantages...
i know Poofy doesn't like the fact that it's lacking live parity (can't blame him right)...
but it does neat things like you keep 100% of the speed of your hard disks...
but i didn't try Flexraid, you'd have to digg in yourself to see if it suits your needs....
and its still a "Work in Progress" application....
but a very ambitious one!
any how, if you predict your library will not exceed 6TB,
then you can go for win7's software RAID1....
If you think you will need to expand further, there's 2 choices....
A) you can use software FlexRAID since you can use it on top of your OS....
B) use a dediacted NAS machine using software unRAID...
hope this helps
2011-01-24, 15:20
very nice summary, eskro!
i had the same issue, jcorey. i initially wanted to set up a mediacenter with 4 TB, also only in one computer. as i dont want to rely on a hardware controller and flexraid does not seem professional enough for me, i decided for win7 - however, as eskro pointed out well, it only supports raid1. thus, i would have needed 8 TB of storage.
i figured that personally i can also handle with 2 TB for now (which needs 2 times a 2TB disk) - maybe you also can live with 2 TB? (think of it - 2 TB is not so small either and im sure, many movies once watched are worth deleting
)
otherwise, u can still go for 4*2 TB.. but then slowly the question comes up if "losing" so much space (4TB) to parity is worth it...
i had the same issue, jcorey. i initially wanted to set up a mediacenter with 4 TB, also only in one computer. as i dont want to rely on a hardware controller and flexraid does not seem professional enough for me, i decided for win7 - however, as eskro pointed out well, it only supports raid1. thus, i would have needed 8 TB of storage.
i figured that personally i can also handle with 2 TB for now (which needs 2 times a 2TB disk) - maybe you also can live with 2 TB? (think of it - 2 TB is not so small either and im sure, many movies once watched are worth deleting
)otherwise, u can still go for 4*2 TB.. but then slowly the question comes up if "losing" so much space (4TB) to parity is worth it...
2011-01-24, 15:26
SwissElite Wrote:otherwise,
u can still go for 4*2 TB..
but then slowly the question comes up
if "losing" so much space (4TB) to parity is worth it...
thats why unRAID rocks!!!
4 hdd x 2TB each = 6TB of true data storage + 2TB for parity!!
2011-01-24, 15:36
for storing media, I wouldn't even consider something in which you loose half of your space...
Think carefully about what you do, but my opinion is that, it doesn't matter how much space you think you can fill, you will fill it, sooner or later, but you will. When that happens, you want a fast, safe and 'cheap' way to expand, or you want to erase data. It's really up to you.
Think carefully about what you do, but my opinion is that, it doesn't matter how much space you think you can fill, you will fill it, sooner or later, but you will. When that happens, you want a fast, safe and 'cheap' way to expand, or you want to erase data. It's really up to you.
2011-01-24, 16:23
poofyhairguy Wrote:Only thing I don't like about Flexraid is the lack of live parity. As things download and are moved to my NAS I want them protected right then- that is the whole point to me. If my system was less automated not having live parity wouldn't matter as much.Live parity is coming. It's been tested in closed beta right now.
2011-01-24, 18:27
PatrickVogeli Wrote:for storing media, I wouldn't even consider something in which you loose half of your space...
Because it is a relatively small number of drives in this 1 client configuration, a NAS adds to much to the costs but there is still a lot of information you would rather have protected.
This isn't all wasted. Like you said, they will get full eventually or perhaps a 2nd client is needed and then a NAS can be justified. The advantage here is that you can always reuse the drives when the time comes. This is probably the most cost efficient solution which only looses an extra 17% storage space lost compared to a RAID5.
