RAID & WHS Clarifcation

[barnsey_00]

Hi Guys,

I am researching and buying hardware for my WHS build.

I want to know if WHS needs a hardware RAID 1 setup to mirror the other disk or does it do it somehow in software? I basically want to know if I need to buy a 2 or 4 port SATA II RAID PCI card (the mobo I have has IDE only)? Does that make sense?

I'm sure i'll find the answer after I post, that is Murphy's law, but until then, over to you.

Cheers

[barnsey_00]

Told you! Bloody Murphy!

But I didn't find anything about Redundancy... hmmm

[CraigMBecket]

barnsey_00,

You can set WHS to mirror/duplicate all data, it is handled by its own software and if you have sufficient disks it will ensure that the two copies are kept on different drives. However the OS disk is not mirrored.

The advice is that raid systems are problematic in WHS and prety much redundant really.

Craig.

[bodogbodog]

Originally Posted by barnsey_00

I want to know if WHS needs a hardware RAID 1 setup to mirror the other disk or does it do it somehow in software?

Have a look at the whitepaper from Microsoft on Drive Extender technology which is how WHS handles storage - you can download a copy here under Technical briefs & developer resources (along with other interesting background info on WHS)
Another suggestion while we are talking storage - use a decent size disk as the system disk (the system only takes a 20gb partitiion) as the free space on that drive is used to shuffle files around, if it is too small then WHS can't handle large file copies efficiently and it will bog down - I'd suggest at least a 250gb or bigger drive.

[krypto]

I have used PCI raid cards, not run in raid, to expand my WHS. I have 2 x 4 port cards and am running 10HDDs.

Choose the raid card carefully as not all cards play with WHS. I bought cards based on the sil3114 chip for $15 on ebay. WHS installed them without special drivers and they work better than my onboard sata controller (GA-MA69GM-S2H).

Get the biggest drive possible for your sys drive. I am using a 500GB WD green power. I tried to build a system that would use minimum power as it is on a lot.

Some must have add-ins
- Advanced Admin Console
- Lights out
- Disk Management

[barnsey_00]

I failed to mention, that this build is for a friend who isn't that computer literate. I am building the server end first as I already have it (using his old desktop). As for the front end I need a small, stable and bulletproof unit, so he won't be calling me telling me come fix it, (still looking, found Mvix units, but not convinced).

This is the server setup I am currently thinking...

OS - 120Gig IDE (existing drive), do I go bigger again?
Storage - 2 x 1 TB WD SATA II Green Power connected to a suitable PCI to SATA II adapter.

With a view to drop in another 2 x 1TB drives in the future.... and more as needed.

He will be storing a collection of converted dvd's & blu's to divx, mp3's, and possibly pictures.

So with what your saying if I create the folders - movies, music, pictures on one of the drives it will replicate it on the second drive (redundancy), automatically? I guess that leads me to another question... Do I install one disk first, create folders, add media files, then add the second drive, WHS will replicate the data....? Or am I thinking too much?

I think I better go read the Whitepaper as suggested.

[bodogbodog]

Originally Posted by barnsey_00

This is the server setup I am currently thinking...

OS - 120Gig IDE (existing drive), do I go bigger again?
Storage - 2 x 1 TB WD SATA II Green Power connected to a suitable PCI to SATA II adapter.So with what your saying if I create the folders - movies, music, pictures on one of the drives it will replicate it on the second drive (redundancy), automatically? I guess that leads me to another question... Do I install one disk first, create folders, add media files, then add the second drive, WHS will replicate the data....? Or am I thinking too much?

WHS will automatically create the following shared folders (which you can vary access rights on) - Public, Software, Photos, Video, Music - you can choose in the console which folders you want duplicated at the individual folder level

Remember right now before PP1 is released with the data corruption bug fix you need to be careflu about updating files stored on the WHS in a multi-spindle environment (read only is fine) - the RC4 Beta for PP! was released yesterday so hopefully it won't be long before PP1 is released and we can forgot about data corruption - I suggest you head over to the FAQ thread on WHS in this forum for more background on how WHS operates

This post is a good backgrounder for you when considering RAID and WHS

I would go for a bigger HDD for the system - but 1gb is unecessarily large I think - it should be at least 250gb and maybe a 500gb if you can run to that would be the sweet spot for the landing space needed by WHS for file management

Keep posting questions - better to ask now than later!

My recomendation for add-ins would be WHS Disk Management - and maybe WHIIST for making viewing photos remotely easier.

[barnsey_00]

Thanks for the reply...

I have taken on board what you said and adjusted the current hardware setup. I have added the WD 500Gig GP SATA II drive for the OS.

I'm considering the following as the SATA II Controller card, but haven't been able to find out whether it is compatible looking on the WHS support site or the promise tech site.

http://www.promise.com/product/produ...product_id=139

Is there a better compatibility site out there?

[krypto]

I'd stick to something based on the sil3114, works straight off with no driver problems and its cheap.

Lots of the other cards need drivers/tweaking to get working.

My WHS was cheap and runs 24/7 without a hick-up. Have rebooted once in 6 months

[CraigMBecket]

barnsey_00,

I am using these in my WHS, have 4 in there but only using 2 at the moment, both worked without a problem, after installation of drivers, and have continued to do so.

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?...oducts_id=5909

Craig.

[vlad]

Software RAID is crap - I have more experience than all of users here combined. Arrogant but true
It is crap and will be crap in any of IOPS calculations.
Hardware RAID with assisted XOR is rubbish too, try to copy to it and you will see what I mean.
The only solution is a dedicated RAID controller with processor to calculate and volume of more or equal of 5+1.
WHS RAID solution is utterly rubbish.
SCSI protocol will overwhelm WHS any time.

Would you like to know more?

Not trying to alienate people here, just to expand their horizons.

[bodogbodog]

Originally Posted by vlad

Software RAID is crap - I have more experience than all of users here combined. Arrogant but true..........
WHS RAID solution is utterly rubbish.
Would you like to know more?

Where to begin.....

Have you ever used WHS?

WHS does not purport to be providing RAID and in fact recomends against using RAID solutions with WHS - WHS uses Drive Extender technology which is specific to WHS - there is a whitepaper on WHS Disk Technology you can download for more information on how it works

I know I'm going to regret this but.....

Yes I would like to know more - like how you can possibly make your first claim you know more than all others combined (your credibility sort of gets blown away at that point) and whether you've ever used WHS?