nas for storing vmware disks

[slow_lacie]

Hi,

I currently use a desktop as a vmware workstation that runs a few vms at a time, the system is an i7 with 16gb ram. The system can only fit 2 hdds in there and I would like to have some data recovery ability. Currently I store some vmdk files on a wd black series that is inside the desktop, and some on a lacie nas model 301298U. Everything is gigabit

What I would like is to build a system where I can reuse the 4x 500gb drives in the lacie and get some better performance to store the vm disks and also some random files for storage. This thing uses a sil3512 as one of the controllers and the ones built into the motherboard for the other 2 drives and a 800mhz via c3 cpu.

My research basically says dump that controller and with a get a proper one and dump that cpu.

So as of right now I'm thinking d525
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128452
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813121442

They say max 4gb but I think I'll be able to put in 8gb and it will run, and then I can buy 2x8gb to upgrade my desktop from 16gb to 24gb.

I feel like I'm typing too much here so I'll basically jump to my questions
1. which raid setup is best for this type of scenario, 3,4 or 5
2. a good raid controller or with the 525 can I get good performance using the onboard sata for 2 drives and reuse the sil3512 for the other 2?
3. which os, preferably on that is fairly simple to setup and will let me take advantage of 4gb+ ram. I did some reading but honestly I'm a bit lost but I'm leaning towards unraid or freenas right now.

Thanks for taking the time to read and advicing

*edit*
would http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131843 or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157247
be a better choice, and skip the extra controller card all together?

Components I already have:
4x500gb from the lacie
an older antec full tower case I can use to house 4 drives without any tweaks, or more if I want to tweak it
2x4gb ddr3 (I will take them from my desktop which I'm looking to upgrade to 2x8gb)
sil3512 i can take from the lacie

 

[loyukfai]

Does it have to be NAS...? Is DAS possible for you...?

Cheers.

 

[slow_lacie]

Yes, because I also use it to backup some other files from my laptops. Also if its not directly attached I can keep it in the basement where I have my switch and router and current lacie. Plus the temp are cooler there, and noisy fans don't bother anyone there. The desktop that runs the VMs is 2 floors above.

 

[loyukfai]

What's the throughput your Lacie is capable of...?

For such kind of usage (home/small NAS), it seems that software RAID is a better idea. You can install FreeNAS, and possibly unRAID as well, in a VM environment and try them out. Some mainboards come with 4 SATA ports so you may not even need the separate controller. Besides Atom, you may also like to look at AMD's Brazos platform. If you use FreeNAS, you'll probably be using ZFS and RAIDZ.

Cheers.

 

[slow_lacie]

What's the throughput your Lacie is capable of...?

For such kind of usage (home/small NAS), it seems that software RAID is a better idea. You can install FreeNAS, and possibly unRAID as well, in a VM environment and try them out. Some mainboards come with 4 SATA ports so you may not even need the separate controller. Besides Atom, you may also like to look at AMD's Brazos platform. If you use FreeNAS, you'll probably be using ZFS and RAIDZ.

Cheers.

I haven't benchmarked it but I would imagine software raid 0 with a 1ghz cpu and 1gb ram maxed out running XP embedded that an upgrade would be in order. Though I guess more importantly this doesn't give the option to do anything other than raid 0 so I would like some data protection