Network based storage

ah. I'm not sure if I want to spend $1000+ just on raid controllers. What are the benefits of these professional equipment compared to those on the mobo? I don't exactly need 100Mb/s speed since I doubt my network is even capable (in real life) of getting those speeds. I'm more than happy with 15-20mb/s with gigabit ethernet.

I am too. If it's not too much trouble, you should write a review of the device and how it fell short of your expectations.

 

If you get a commercial SMB NAS these are deciated units. They only have one function so the cpu is not doing anything but RAID Parity and network stuff. Mine supports SCSI tape backup and AV (server based). With the better ones using a P4 class cpu or faster. Plus you have firmware/software package overlaying the Kernel making them more user friendly. Most run SAMBA so they support other OS's besides MS.

With raid on the modern MB you have a software raid just like the SMB NAS's. With the modern Core2 CPU it should have more than enough cpu power to run raid and your application needs. The only problem with the built in raid controllers is the front end. So setup is not as easy, if you have a failure you need to find out how it reports the problem. Some of the early one the only clue you had was during boot, bios post. Some have drivers that allow it to report to the OS. Then it comes to what you have to do for recovery if you have a failure. Which drive is what ID. Then what you have to do to rebuild the array once the drive is replaced. I always recommend failing hd's to know what the process is, and take notes. All of this is automatic on commercial units. Mine are hot swappable and auto resync when the drive is replaced. None of the raid supplied on mb are this refined. MB raids if not Linux OS, you only have support for 1 file structure, ntsf if ms. I would hope you get something with a GigE port. This is really a must if you run RAID5. But alot of the residential NAS if they have one there is no advantage. These units (cpu) are not fast enough to fill a 100baset network.

Smallnetbuilder did an article on how to build you own NAS. What it did not cover was setting up security for multiple users. This can be quite involved once you add users and security. Nor did it cover drive failures.

You case from what all you have posted would tell me you could get by with just a deciated pc. Find a MB that supports RAID5 (SATA) with built in video. Since you are not going to be running any high end software requiring video. The new MS Home server may fit your needs pretty good. A lot more overhead that what you actually needs, so a core 2 cpu will be required to have good performance. MS (bloatware) does not know what lean means. If XP Pro suites your needs it will preform better than vista or MSHS. Plus if you need a ftp server that is another applications that needs to be installed. Run atleast 2 gig of ram. With mb that support raid you must load the driver prior to installing any os.

Then there are programs like FreeNAS that runs under FreeBSD which is a unix bases os. I was looking at this prior to getting my Snap servers. With it you do not use or need the built in raid controller. You need one small HD for the OS and FreeNAS, and the remaining drives can be used for raid arrays. Then you must run supported hardware for it ti work. But it will not run your required software so it's out.

I have been using NAS's for 10+ years for home use. Did not like file share turned on for security reasons, so the NAS filled this need. Plus I have an old Apple running OS 9 that I needed a way to move files around. Snap was the only units that I found that supported these older units. I have several units with a total capacity of over 3T if all are on line. My big SNAP4500 is a work horse but was design for server rooms so not the quietest thing. I had to build a cabinet to help kill the noise and add extra cooling to the room to cool all of my network gear. My sig has some of my hardware but not all.