Server setups...

[Skillz]

I know most of you work in the IT field, usually for medium to large companies where they might have some old server hardware laying around.

I'm interested in getting a standard 19" rack for my garage to house a few, file servers for backups. Doesn't have to be fast servers, just needs the power to be able to store GB's worth of data. Only needs to run Linux, no GUI.

So far, I have nothing. Started looking around on ebay for some 19" racks, but they are all new and want some serious coin for them. I also found a bunch of older 1U servers for under $100 that I think I'm going to pick up 1 or 2 of them.

Anyway, if you guys happen to run across any kind of equipment for 19" racks, let me know. I may be interested.

[andyofne]

You could save a little money and just buy an out of the box NAS unit that has RAID 5 all set up already.

I bought one for the office a few years ago and I use it for simple file storage, not backing any important stuff up on it.

How much space are you talking about?

I bought one like this for about $1500 maybe 3 years ago. It's under $400 now for 1.5TB.

Conversely, I also recently bought a cool NAS unit that is rack mountable and has redundant power and gigabit NICS.

It was about $2200 when I loaded it with eight 1TB drives.

I bought a Thecus N8800 for about $1200 and added 8 western digital black drives ($99 each).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-028-_-Product

[Skillz]

I am looking for about 6TB worth of storage, do those NAS units run Linux? Not familiar with them. "Network Attached Storage" is what they stand for correct? What kind of operating system do they run?

I need to run simple rsync and mysqldump commands on them to gather files and databases off my server for backups on a daily basis. ut-files.com current sits around the 250GB mark, and it's only going to get larger. My other sites are around the 100GB combined, but the databases are over 100Mb between the two...and with a daily backup on them, they start taking up a ton of space after a while.

Currently I just have a 1TB hard drive on my desktop running CentOS that does the backups for me. I'm wanting to get back on my desktop, now that I have a desk. So I'm looking for a way to backup my data on a more permanent solution.

[andyofne]

A NAS typically has linux running on it but it isn't a Linux server per se.

You can mount the drives like a network drive and use your Linux box to run the commands on.

[Skillz]

Originally Posted by andyofne

A NAS typically has linux running on it but it isn't a Linux server per se.

You can mount the drives like a network drive and use your Linux box to run the commands on.

I think I'd be better off just getting a cheap 1U server for under $100 and putting a few hard drives in it than going that route then.

Geeks.com has a few 2.4Ghz 1U servers with 80GB hard drives for under $100, I think I'm gonna pick up 1 or 2 of them, then buy a bunch of hard drives to fill them up. I just need a good rack.

[hoser]

Originally Posted by Skillz

I just need a good rack.

That's what she said.

[andyofne]

Originally Posted by Skillz

I think I'd be better off just getting a cheap 1U server for under $100 and putting a few hard drives in it than going that route then.

Geeks.com has a few 2.4Ghz 1U servers with 80GB hard drives for under $100, I think I'm gonna pick up 1 or 2 of them, then buy a bunch of hard drives to fill them up. I just need a good rack.

You get what you pay for.

Reading the reviews on the Thecus NAS I linked really makes me wonder if it was a good idea.

On the other hand, it's non-critical storage for us. Kind of a back-up of a back-up.

[Skillz]

While I do understand the "you get what you pay for" idea, but it's just older technology that isn't worth much compared to the newer technology.

I don't think paying $100 for something that doesn't need a lot of processing power would be "cheap" in a sense of quality. The hard drives in them, on the other hand, is something that I wouldn't go cheap on. I'd get a good quality hard drive for sure.

I just don't see this as being "cheap".

Chipset: Intel E7500/E7501
Two (2) Intel Xeon 2.4 GHz single-core processors (2400DP, Dual Processors)
1 GB DDR266 Registered ECC memory (supports up to 8 GB)
60 GB IDE hard drive
Controller: dual-channel master mode
System bus: 400 MHz/533 MHz Front Side Bus
No optical drive
No floppy drive
ATI Rage XL graphics controller
Dual Fast Ethernet LAN
Four (4) cooling fans built-in

Granted I would use that 60GB IDE hard drive to run the operating system, then get an SATA PCI card with a large 1TB+ SATA hard drive for the backup storage.

The price on them are relatively cheap, at $70 plus shipping.