[mythtv-users] Fastest RAID for HD?

[Roger Heflin]

Steven Adeff wrote:
> On Thu, Feb 14, 2008 at 3:15 PM, J.D. <mythtv at demuth.homelinux.org> wrote:
>> All people responding have good points but often seem to have differing
>> goals. Let's discuss those in more depth.
>>
> <snip>
>> - USB/Firewire: well, the connector limits the total throughput. Speed
>> ok to run small setups (1-2 concurrent recordings, interface limits top
>> speed, sometimes bandwidth needs to be shared with other USB/firewire
>> devices). Good for permanent storage, very flexible in that you take it
>> and plug it into another machine (take your archive along with your
>> laptop?). Turn it off if you don't need it and save energy.
> <snip>
> 
> J.D., and others,
> 
> I've got a 6 drive RAID5 array (for redundancy, not speed) on my main
> frontend I use for long term storage. I'd like to move this to my
> backend which is in the basement; and thus no concerns with noise or
> heat, and will let me shut the frontend off while allowing the other
> computers in the house access to this array since the backend never
> turns off.
> the problem of course is, the backend already has its own 6 drive
> array for recordings, so I need some sort of external solution, the
> only things I can find are the very expensive back plane type devices
> that, while being able to hold 6-12 drives would cost more than just
> building a second computer down there.
> 
> So I'm thinking I could just buy six external drive enclosures, either
> USB or Firewire, and install the drives in those.
> 
> Has anyone done anything similar to this, and if so, what is your experience?
> Does anyone else have any other suggestions that I may not have thought of?
> 
> Thanks!


Here is a suggestion.

There are some cases out there that have 9 external 5.25" bays, such as the 
Coolermaster Centurian 590 or the Thermoltake M9 (both cost about $70), and with 
9 external 5.25 bays, you could put in 2 5-into-3 drive mount chassis you could 
have 10 sata drives in the machine, and still have room for one more 5 into 3 or 
a 3-into-2 drive mount and still have a 5.25" slot, and get all of the drives in 
a single chassis.     Both cases also have at least 1 more hidden 3.5" drive 
mount location, and appear to claim to come with a single 4-into-3 non-hot swap 
cage.

I don't have either one of these cases yet, but either one looks like a decent 
reasonably cheap solution for a lot of disks in a single chassis without going 
to the enterprise class solutions that cost a lot more.

                             Roger