[mythtv-users] Backend hardware advice - RAID suggestions

[dave johnson]

der, uh... that's 5 HDs on one ps, 6 HDs on the other.  These are pretty stout 250's out of some old 
compaq desktops so any old 250s might not be quite enough - YMMV

-=dave

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "dave johnson" <DJ4904 at hotmail.com>
To: <mythtv-users at mythtv.org>
Sent: Friday, July 14, 2006 8:03 PM
Subject: Re: [mythtv-users] Backend hardware advice - RAID suggestions


I just built the storage system for my Myth "array" about 6 mos ago as follows... all items I owned
or scrounged from friends for free except where noted.

Storage system:
-1GHz PIII System
-512MB Ram
-Intel Desktop Board with integrated video
-Intel Pro1000 Desktop Card ($15 craigslist)
-3Ware 7508-12 PATA RAID controller ($219 ebay)
-11x200GB Seagate 7200.8 PATA HD ($43/ea - massive tripple-rebate coupon-hell at Fry's and a lot of
trust-worthy friends.  It took almost 3 months to get the rebates and one was denied because I
probably filled one out wrong, so add $70 for "my mistake." ;)
-2x250W powersupplies (connect green leads from each ATX connector to have both support auto-on/off.
Mobo+4HDs on one, 5 HDs on the other)
-Openfiler NAS/SAN appliance software (http://openfiler.com)

All front ends in "quiet" locations use old 2.5" laptop boot drives and mount iSCSI drives for
working space if needed.

I am happy as a clam with this setup!  It doesn't support all the cool features of the newer 9660SX
3Ware SATA cards like online capacity expansion, raid level migration, etc, but this sucker was
cheap as hell and got me 2TB of pre-formatted space.  It is also used to store all my important
documents and such.  I share it's space with a friend who built an exact replica of mine... we rsync
our "permanent"media store (mp3's, divx's, etc.) over our cable modems so that if either of our
houses burn down, we've got D.R. as well.  Also, if one of our 3Ware cards goes south, the other's
can be used to recover data before replacing it.  I actually built it for 12 drives since the 3Ware
supports 12 PATA drives but it has a 2.0TB limit on volume size.  I may add it back in as a hot
spare but I'm using it for another system at the moment.  I would suggest only using Seagates as
they carry a 5yr warranty.  You may not care about the cost of a 200GB drive in 3 years but without
the same drive to replace a failed one, you might run into troubles so, go with the longer warranty.

For those suggesting software RAID... remember that every drive needs to be on it's own controller
to be an effective solution against equipment failure because if a single PATA fails on a
master/slave pair of drives in a RAID5, the whole array is toast because you lost 2 drives.  The
added cost of the "dumb" PATA cards really makes hardware raid more compelling than you might think.
The 3Ware cards are relatively bullet proof so unless you over heat them, or physically short one
out or something, you should be extremely happy with it, I know I am.  And latest drivers are part
of standard 2.6 kernels so you're bootable and ready to go right onto it like it was any other
drive.

Never under estimate the power of the K.I.S.S. method :)

-=dave

ps- snapshots with Openfiler are sweet

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Paul Simpson" <paul at maggiandpaul.dnsalias.com>
To: <mythtv-users at mythtv.org>
Sent: Saturday, July 08, 2006 6:00 AM
Subject: [mythtv-users] Backend hardware advice


Hi,

Like a lot of people, I'm looking at putting together a Myth system for as
little cash as possible!

I'm looking at having a dedicated backend and about half a dozen front
ends around the house all linked with Gigabit Ethernet.

For the backend, what's the best storage to go for? SATA or PATA? What are
the benefits for the cost of SATA? I'm thinking of going hardware Raid5
and want as much potential space as possible. What controller cards are
people using for this? What about drives? I'm thinking of having a
seperate drive for swap (and boot if the raid card doesn't support it).
Then there are cases, I'd like to go rack-mount if possible.

I'm in the UK and also looking for suppliers.

Advice gratefully accepted.

-- 
Paul


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