Upgrade drives

[Ganzir]

So what is the difference?

I use my PC to watch a video that is stored on the NAS using VLC.

I lack the upstream to watch something in any meaningfull resolultion over the internet. Besides I do not own a tablet and I do not watch movies on a smartphone. And my TV is not smart, so if I want to watch something there it is via PC.

 

[Stux]

I don't believe anyone said you had to install plex :-/

If you did, it had additional ram requirements.

Many people do like plex.

Re: 6 disks

With 6 disks in Raidz2 you have 33% parity which is decent, but more importantly six disks is a manageable quantity.

You could go with 8 for example and have 25% parity, but 8 disks is a big chunk. Requires a big case and a big PSU and a big purchase.

 

[Ganzir]

OK so from your point of view it is simply the best configuration for home office purposes taking into regard

(in no particular order)

a) Budget
b) Storage Capacity
c) Redundancy
d) Physical space requirements
e) Energy consumption

Thanks for the advice.

...

Since ppl here have obviously given it more thought than I have:

What kind of upgrade policy is recommended when taking budget into consideration, if any such advice can be given?

1) Buy the largest drives possible and go with them for a long time

or

2) Buy drives with the best TB/price ratio provided those drives yield enough storage capacity for ones purposes and upgrade only when necessary at some point in the future, when larger drives offer the then best TB/price ratio?

 

[Stux]

OK so from your point of view it is simply the best configuration for home office purposes taking into regard

(in no particular order)

a) Budget
b) Storage Capacity
c) Redundancy
d) Physical space requirements
e) Energy consumption

Thanks for the advice.

And upgradability/expandability

Since ppl here have obviously given it more thought than I have:

What kind of upgrade policy is recommended when taking budget into consideration, if any such advice can be given?

1) Buy the largest drives possible and go with them for a long time

or

2) Buy drives with the best TB/price ratio provided those drives yield enough storage capacity for ones purposes and upgrade only when necessary at some point in the future, when larger drives offer the then best TB/price ratio?

Buying the largest drives is rarely a good solution as 1) they're more expensive per TB and 2) you will lose more to parity the fewer drives you have

The best option is to go middle of the road. This will also give you more performance.

I advocate taking bay cost into account as well as per TB cost.

If your system cost a 1000 bucks and has 10 bays, that's 100$/bay.

With a 6 bays.... think about bay cost...3TB drives are cheaper per TB but 4TB drives are actually cheaper when you realize you'd use an extra bay to get the same storage with 3TB drives...

Next step up from 6 drives would best be another 6 drives, in addition and upgrade to a 12 bay NAS or 24bay NAS. Depending on your growth requirements.

But if this is in 3-5 years time, perhaps just replacing the 6 drives with 8TB drives would be fine too. In 3-5 years you'll probably be looking at an upgrade anyway.

Maybe that old NAS would make a good secondary NAS then?

 

[Ganzir]

...I was refering to a NAS with the same number of disks

so more like

6 disks with best TB / price ration and upgrade when needed

or

6 disks as large as possible so an upgrade is as far down the road as possible

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

6 disks as large as possible so an upgrade is as far down the road as possible

With technology, I think trying to build something for a long lifetime is usually a false economy. Prices drop so quickly and technology changes so quickly that for anything more than a few years ahead, your plans will probably be obsolete.

 

[Ganzir]

OK so with regards to my current setup:

CPU: Intel i5 - 4690
Mainboard: ASUS H97M-E
HDDs: 4 x Western Digital WD2003FYPS RE4 2TB
RAM: I am not sure here I think 8 or 16 GB non-ECC

(before anyone asks why this components were used in the fiirst place ... I salavged them from another PC that was no in use anymore)

I will go for:
CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1240L
Mainboard: Supermicro X11SAE-M
HDDs: 6 x Western Digital WD2003FYPS RE4 2TB
RAM: Crucial DIMM 16GB, DDR4-2133 (ECC)

Would that make for a good NAS (for home office purposes)?

 

[darkwarrior]

I will go for:
CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1240L
Mainboard: Supermicro X11SAE-M
HDDs: 6 x Western Digital WD2003FYPS RE4 2TB
RAM: Crucial DIMM 16GB, DDR4-2133 (ECC)

Would that make for a good NAS (for home office purposes)?

If I can give you one advice:
Stay away from the LowPower models. They are slower and more expensive ...
Additionally, the whole Xeon E3 line-up vs. E3L has very similar idle power consumption.
Your NAS will stay most of the time idle, so the economy you think you're making on the power usage is insignificant

I bought a E3-1230L and have been regretting my choice since then ...

 

[Ganzir]

If so ... rahter a
Intel Xeon E3-1240 v5?

 

[darkwarrior]

If so ... rahter a
Intel Xeon E3-1240 v5?

That one will definitely make you happy :D
And should be a bit less expensive too