36TB NAS advice needed

[ugo1]

Hi,

I'm planning to build for the end of the year a home server of 36TB storage in raid 6 configuration. This mean I will have 2 array of 18 TB each using 8x3TB disks

In this kind of configuration is better go with Adaptec 5805 raid cards or go with linux software raid?

the cpu will be a core i7 930

Any advice?

Ugo

 

[GregN]

Hi,

I'm planning to build for the end of the year a home server of 36TB storage in raid 6 configuration. This mean I will have 2 array of 18 TB each using 8x3TB disks

In this kind of configuration is better go with Adaptec 5805 raid cards or go with linux software raid?

the cpu will be a core i7 930

Any advice?

Ugo

Have you read the Build Your Own Fibre Channel SAN For Less Than $1000 Article? In part one a build of materials is laid out, and a NAS capable of 36TB is built.

I see three ways to go:

The first is with FreeNAS or Openfiler (FreeNAS is the better choice) and with Hardware Raid. This is the most expensive of the DIY approaches, but is the most reliable.

The Second is go with OpenIndiana or NexentaCore running a package like Napp-it, if going software raid I think ZFS/RaidZ offers the most flexibility and a good deal of reliability.

Last go with Sata cards with port multipliers running Ubuntu server or alike and software raid using MDM or LVM. This is the least reliable, but the cheapest.
Do you have a budget? I think that tends to be the largest determining factor.

For hardware raid Areca, 3Ware and Adaptec (in that order) are good choices.

What is the primary purpose of the Array: Media, backup, or general purpose storage? How reliable and performant does it have to be?