Hi Newbie here, need advice please

[owen1978]

Hello, i managed to stumble across this great site as i was researching for my NAS!

Its gonna be a busy year for me! in the last couple of weeks i have finally
moved over to Linux, and loving Linux Mint (highly recommended) Anyway
over the next year i want to build a NAS Server and also a HTPC.

Im going for the Hardware NAS route and so far managed to get one of these
cards of ebay!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320324939375&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:GB:1123

for £50 / $74

I looking at this MIcro ATX Case
http://www.xcase.co.uk/p/395351/x-case-m2-mpc---media-micro-case-micro-size-supports-full-size-boards---no-psu--black-2-x-120mm-fans-hd-audio-front-usb-takes-micro-and-full-size-boards-gloss-paintwork-just-365mm-tall--.html

Reason being its got 3 x 5.25 bays which will allow me to fit a 4 bay 3.5" Raid Caddie.

Coupled with a decent low end gigabyte AM2 mobo and a low end Sempron CPU
512mb ram, Enermax PSU.

Also going install Freenas on CF card and use and CF IDE adapter.

Is there anything else i need to consider, will the RAID card affect streaming
of HD data to my HTPC for example? due to it being a Sata 150 card? will it be a serious bottleneck or wont i notice it?

Thanks for your help & and have a happy new year!

 

[00Roush]

Not sure why you really need the extra RAID card. Most of the later AM2 boards have at least 4 SATA connectors and support RAID 0 and 1. From what I can tell the LSI card uses a larger 64 bit PCI slot and not many desktop boards have this type of slot. It will most likely work in a standard 32 bit PCI slot but you would be limited to 133 MB/sec max for all devices on that bus. Some of the latest SATA drives can do over 100 MB/sec with a single drive so with 4 drives you have the potential for over 400 MB/sec but would be limited when using the RAID card. In my mind you would only need an extra RAID card if you are needing a fast RAID 5 or 6 array.

Just wanted to give you my point of view. I think your setup will probably work just fine for you but wanted to make you aware that you might be limited by the PCI. The SATA 150 connections shouldn't hurt anything as they are 150 MB/sec per connection. Freenas might limit you though. From my experience Freenas does not give the best performance. Also one of the reviews on in this article it is also noted... http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/content/view/30573/77/1/5/

Basically it boils down to what you performance goals are. How do you plan to use the NAS and what about future roles?

00Roush

 

[owen1978]

Hi thanks for your input!

Sorry i forget to mention that i will be running a RAID 5 Array!
Also what mobos have a 64 bit PCI slot is this another term for PCI-X?

So is Freenas viable for a RAID 5 array?

 

[00Roush]

Yes the 64 bit PCI slot is PCI-X. I do believe you can find a standard sized PCI slot that is 64 bit but the longer PCI pinouts are PCI-X. Take a look here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peripheral_Component_Interconnect. Just don't confuse these with PCIe or PCI-Express as they are a different interface.

PCI-X slots are usually only found on server motherboards which in most cases cost quiet a bit more than desktop boards. As I mentioned some PCI-X cards will work just fine in a standard PCI slot. (slower but they work) I have used a Intel PRO 1000 MT PCI-X network card in a standard PCI slot without any problems.

Freenas will probably work but if you are looking for top performance you might try Ubuntu Server. This article outlines how to install it and also how to install a web interface that is fairly easy to use. http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/content/view/30573/77/

00Roush

 

[owen1978]

Freenas will probably work but if you are looking for top performance you might try Ubuntu Server. This article outlines how to install it and also how to install a web interface that is fairly easy to use. http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/content/view/30573/77/

00Roush

How much space would Ubuntu take up? could it fit on a CF?
The Articles you provided me have been very informative, but im getting mixed messages!

So let me you clear this up;
Ubuntu Server > Freenas (Samba)
I have read that NFS has better speeds and is better than SAMBA for
network media streaming.
In that case is there any data about Ubuntu Server vs Freenas (NFS)?