Implementing External RAID

Hello,

SBS2K. I am thinking about implementing a RAID system for my server. I need
to install something external because of the lack of room inside of the
machine. I am not looking for a lot of storage, simply about 80GB or so.
Also, since my office is so small, if the costs are too great, I am willing
to punt on hot swappable part. What I am asking is what type of issues do I
need to be looking at? I need to learn all of the different specifications
and what each is for. Basically, I would like to know if anyone has any
sites, etc that explain how to evaluate different RAID systems as well as
recommendations on how to install them. Thanks,

Chris

Kevin
Mon Jan 24 05:18:02 CST 2005

Lack of room inside? Please explain. Do you mean you do not have room to add
another hard drive? How many disks, and how much disk space do you currently
have? What are your needs for additional disk space?

Also, there are different levels of Raid (-1, -5, -10, etc) and one can
control Raid either by software means or hardware controllers. A hardware
Raid controller is always preferable.

Raid-1 is essentially mirrored disks, thus requiring two drives of equal
size. You mirror the contents of drive to the second one.
Raid-5 requires a minimum of three drives, but because the data is spread
across all three drives and Raid-5 allows you to lose one drive and keep
running, you also lose the equivalent of one disk in storage space. Thus, if
you have three 80gb drives in Raid-5 config, you only have 160gb of avaiable
disk space. But, if one drive fails, you keep running!


--
Kevin Weilbacher [SBS-MVP]
"The days pass by so quickly now, the nights are seldom long"


"Chris Guimbellot" <cguimbellot@FORGETSPAM.hifranchise.com> wrote in message
news:uk9w9r7$EHA.600@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> Hello,
>
> SBS2K. I am thinking about implementing a RAID system for my server. I
> need to install something external because of the lack of room inside of
> the machine. I am not looking for a lot of storage, simply about 80GB or
> so. Also, since my office is so small, if the costs are too great, I am
> willing to punt on hot swappable part. What I am asking is what type of
> issues do I need to be looking at? I need to learn all of the different
> specifications and what each is for. Basically, I would like to know if
> anyone has any sites, etc that explain how to evaluate different RAID
> systems as well as recommendations on how to install them. Thanks,
>
> Chris
>

Chris
Mon Jan 24 10:38:22 CST 2005

Kevin,

Thanks for the response. I would like to do a RAID 5 with at least three
dives but preferably more. Currently, I only have 40 GB of space, but would
like to add maybe 80GB or so. I have heard that a hardware controller was
better. That said, how would I go about researching exactly what type of
device I need. What are the appropriate specs I need to look for in the
device? I appreciate the help. Thanks.

Chris

"Kevin Weilbacher [SBS-MVP]" <kweilbacMVP@gte.net> wrote in message
news:esOWVZgAFHA.2156@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
> Lack of room inside? Please explain. Do you mean you do not have room to
> add another hard drive? How many disks, and how much disk space do you
> currently have? What are your needs for additional disk space?
>
> Also, there are different levels of Raid (-1, -5, -10, etc) and one can
> control Raid either by software means or hardware controllers. A hardware
> Raid controller is always preferable.
>
> Raid-1 is essentially mirrored disks, thus requiring two drives of equal
> size. You mirror the contents of drive to the second one.
> Raid-5 requires a minimum of three drives, but because the data is spread
> across all three drives and Raid-5 allows you to lose one drive and keep
> running, you also lose the equivalent of one disk in storage space. Thus,
> if you have three 80gb drives in Raid-5 config, you only have 160gb of
> avaiable disk space. But, if one drive fails, you keep running!
>
>
> --
> Kevin Weilbacher [SBS-MVP]
> "The days pass by so quickly now, the nights are seldom long"
>
>
> "Chris Guimbellot" <cguimbellot@FORGETSPAM.hifranchise.com> wrote in
> message news:uk9w9r7$EHA.600@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
>> Hello,
>>
>> SBS2K. I am thinking about implementing a RAID system for my server. I
>> need to install something external because of the lack of room inside of
>> the machine. I am not looking for a lot of storage, simply about 80GB or
>> so. Also, since my office is so small, if the costs are too great, I am
>> willing to punt on hot swappable part. What I am asking is what type of
>> issues do I need to be looking at? I need to learn all of the different
>> specifications and what each is for. Basically, I would like to know if
>> anyone has any sites, etc that explain how to evaluate different RAID
>> systems as well as recommendations on how to install them. Thanks,
>>
>> Chris
>>
>
>