Cost effective network storage

[Xspringe]

Hello everyone!

I'm currently working on a non-profit online music sales and distribution project. Because I will be storing a lot of media content, I'll require quite a bit of storage space (>1.5TB). The problem is that I cannot seem to find any storage systems at a decent price, everything seems to be more then 1.5 dollar/gig. Does anyone have any suggestions for me?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Malogato]

Hello everyone!

I'm currently working on a non-profit online music sales and distribution project. Because I will be storing a lot of media content, I'll require quite a bit of storage space (>1.5TB). The problem is that I cannot seem to find any storage systems at a decent price, everything seems to be more then 1.5 dollar/gig. Does anyone have any suggestions for me?

Thanks in advance!

Cheap Computer + 4x400gb hdd's

 

[Xspringe]

Cheap Computer + 4x400gb hdd's

Thank you for the reply.

Is there any specific setup you recommend me for this purpose? I have no idea what kind of setup would be sufficient and most cost effective... Thanks!

 

[slk32]

i would recommend raid 5 or so. Unless you don't care of data loss.

it all depends on the OS win or linux.

if using win use a promise controller

if using linux use a 3ware controller

 

[Xspringe]

i would recommend raid 5 or so. Unless you don't care of data loss.

it all depends on the OS win or linux.

if using win use a promise controller

if using linux use a 3ware controller

What about the Highpoint RocketRAID 1820A? And what kind of cpu would you recommend to go with it?

 

[Sib]

You can get the LinkSys NSLU2 NAS for $80, 2 USB 2.0 enclosures for around $25 ea., and two harddrives. It is not the fast, but it is probably the cheapest NAS. There is some good support for the NAS since it runs a version of Linux. People have written some good utilities for it. You can even raid the drives with a hack.

 

[ePi]

look at a lacie system if u have a pc..i recall i saw 1 that had 1.6TB for 1800 or 1900 dollars which isnt really too bad

 

[Malogato]

Thank you for the reply.

Is there any specific setup you recommend me for this purpose? I have no idea what kind of setup would be sufficient and most cost effective... Thanks!

The problem that some folks here aren't taking into consideration is the fact that you want to keep the costs super low.
To Debunk the solutions provided already :

The LaCie Drives, while nice, are not exactly cheap. $1899 for 1.6 terabytes over a FIREWIRE connection. - Still requires you to set a computer up as a "Server" - Yes, it can be a workstation, such as your own.. but, It's not advisable. Mainly because of virus issues, etc.. A true remote server or NAS is preferable.
The "Linksys + usb drives" suggestion is laughable. You do want performance, right? 480 megabit theoretical maximum, with more like 100megabit REAL WORLD performance out of that gives you storage that's slower than retrieving it over dvd disks.
Some may suggest promise cards : Lets look at their offerings that are 32 bit
FastTrak S150 SX4
4 x SATA ports - In raid 5, you'll have 1.2 TB (before formatting) if you use 4 x 400gb drives
Not quite making the grade as 1.5 terabytes was your request.
The SuperTrak 6000 Pro
http://www.promise.com/product/images/STSX6000Pro.jpg
http://www.promise.com/product/product_detail_eng.asp?segment=RAID 5 HBAs&product_id=84#
6 x P-ATA ports : It will accomplish your requested task, and it's a "long" 32 bit pci card by looks
Problem : It's $259 at the egg.
OK.. Lets go with that.
$259 Long PCI Card
+ say, a $300 server [like the recent dell deals]
[not counting O/S]
5 x Hitachi 400GB HDD's (pata, 7200rpm,. 8mb, fdb, 3 yr warranty) [and don't let the naysayers yell "DeathStar" to you.. that was SO FREAKING LONG AGO, only a complete idiot would try to claim that the problem that IBM had when they made the drives, and they were ATA66, with completely different designs, and what HITACHI makes today is a reason to not purchase them. = $1,420
Grand Total : just under 2 grand.
And you've got a "smart", 1 gigabit connected, raid 5, 1.6 Terabyte (1.488 after formatting) file server.
$1.32 per gigabyte, if you use linux
3ware card that does this for you?
Add about $300 to the base price
Now, before someone tells me "What are you talking about ..the 3ware escalade 7506-8 is only $409"
Consider the card is 64 BIT.. which is gonna raise the price of the server considerably.
I'm talking about a 32 bit controller for a 32 bit pci slot.. not 64 bit, pci-x

 

[Malogato]

What about the Highpoint RocketRAID 1820A? And what kind of cpu would you recommend to go with it?

The card you mention is 64bit, hence, you'd most likely be using a more expensive, 64 bit motherboard.

 

[scotty do]

3ware cards are backwards compatible with 32bit slots.
They are also 100% hardware raid.

 

[ashmedai]

What about the Highpoint RocketRAID 1820A? And what kind of cpu would you recommend to go with it?

Mine's one of those. I can't say as I've ever noticed a sizable CPU load from it. Note that I didn't do extensive testing, I'm just going by having taskman's meter in my system tray. I don't know how it'd go over on a P100 but anything modern should work easily.

PCI-X cards work in PCI slots, but at PCI band. Depending on how much of a concern uptime / speed are, you might need to go with a server-oriented board already anyway. If it's not critical, just get a cheapass mobo & low-end Celeron or something.