Off Topic Need help setting up RAID Server

[LEXi73]

Hey all,

I'm not sure where to look for this so I thought I'd ask here and see if anyone could offer some advise or guidance. Sorry this is going to be long.

Back Story:
I'm going to be upgrading from a desktop to a laptop sometime in the near future. Instead of just ditching my old computer I had some thoughts. I was originally going to install ubuntu and play around with Linux. After thinking about this i think it makes more sense to convert my old tower into a file server that is set up as a raid 1.

Problem and Guidance:
Now here is where I get lost...basically my goal is to backup all my files (mainly going to be many many gigs of mp3's and photos) on to the server that I'm creating and have the machine RAID the info to another drive. I would need to access the files from both a Vista and a OSX machine. Also this machine would not have a monitor attached to it so network access is a must for moving files and remote management. This is an old machine so it has the older IDE style drive. do they still make IDE drives and what sizes do they come in (only see 500gig max)? If I'm going to do this I think I need at least a 750gig RAID to hold my music, 1000's of photos (and growing), and other misc files. Also if I Get a Raid Controller will this controller can i choose it to be SATA or IDE? seems like SATA are larger and cheaper.

Questions:
1. I'm assuming it will run nearly 24hrs a day?
2. Will it work with both OS's?
3. If I'm going to set up a RAID1 I would need 3 drive (main drive with OS, 2nd drive with all important files, 3rd drive mirror of 2snd drive)
4. will windows xp work for this?

I'm not stupid with computers this is just something I've have never done before so it's new to me. I know that I'll have to get a RAID controller card and 2 Identical drives. anything else?

cliff notes:
need info on setting up a RAID network server on an old tower to work with Windows and Apple.

Any advise or locations you can point me to to figure this out would be great.

 

[Kain]

Here's a quick vid on CNET for a basic RAID server: http://cnettv.cnet.com/2001-1_53-50004337.html

Never tried a cross-platform RAID setup, but an invaluable resource for my job is an Experts Exchange account. There is nothing techie that hasn't been discussed and resolved there.

 

[LEXi73]

Thanks kain,
I found the video previously...

I would just need to access files with both computers and all the information would be on a windows machine with a RAIDed setup.

 

[LEXi73]

anyone???

 

[5moreyears]

A1) Anything can run for 24hrs a day, the question is when will it fail. Most newer SATAII enterprise class drives are rated at 1M MTBF.

A2) You could install an open source NAS server, this will enable you to access the NFS across the network.

A3) RAID1 = mirror so if you have 3x500GB drives for example the RAID controller will build an mirrored array with 3 drives. You're operating system will then see only 1x500GB drive (which you could format into 3 logical partitions). Running RAID 1 /w 3HDs is for the lack of a better word, uber redundant as 2 drives could fail at the same time and the data would be fine. For what you are looking to do, as in have 3 separate partitions equaling the size of each physical drive, you might want to look at raid 10 consisting of 6 (equal sized) drives (3 mirrors in a stripe). This will not only provide the space you are looking for but redundancy and increased performance via RAID0 (at the upper layer).

A4) refer to A2

see chg259552 for change control and update information see chg259552 for change control and worklog information

Edit: I see you want 1HD to act as your OS (non-redundant) and a redundant array for the storage. I would get a RAID controller, 2 identical size drives and call it a day.

Not sure if XP allows NFS creation, might want to look at Server 2003.