vinylfreak Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 Say I build a box with a 10TB Raid 5 array. If I connect this external Raid 5 array to my WHS 2011 through USB3 or E-Sata, would I be able to dedicate the array as my Video Folder? Is there a performance downside to doing this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 You can absolutely build the array and attach it to WHS2011 and use it as a video folder. No question there. Speed becomes the issue now. I think eSata has the edge over USB3 due to USB's overhead but I could be wrong. I think you would want to use 7200 RPM drives and SATA II or higher bus speeds. RAID 5 is known for faster reads than writes so I think you would be OK but I've not tested it. RAID 10 would be something to consider as well but I believe it needs 4 or more drives in pairs. So 4, 6, etc. I'll let the BYOB chime in for an expert opinion! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jam3ohio Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 (edited) You can absolutely build the array and attach it to WHS2011 and use it as a video folder. No question there. Speed becomes the issue now. I think eSata has the edge over USB3 due to USB's overhead but I could be wrong. I think you would want to use 7200 RPM drives and SATA II or higher bus speeds. RAID 5 is known for faster reads than writes so I think you would be OK but I've not tested it. RAID 10 would be something to consider as well but I believe it needs 4 or more drives in pairs. So 4, 6, etc. I'll let the BYOB chime in for an expert opinion! Dave-- If he did this, would WHS2011 (not used to that yet!) see it as 5 2TB partitions and give him 5 drive letters (assuming the OP had 5 2TB drives), or would this be seen as 1 10TB partition? And of course there would be no way to back that array up to external drives in whole or part from within WHS2011, correct? If he used 5 3TB drives, would that be seen as one 15TB partition, or 5 2TB and 5 1Tb partitions? Thanks, Jim Edited February 4, 2011 by jam3ohio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmwills Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 If I have read the notes correctly, WHS 2011 would see the RAID as an initialized drive and would allow it as one drive. The key is "initialized" and you must do that in order to build the array. I will stand corrected but that's the product as I know it. One drawback is you would not be be able to use any of that space for Backups since backup mechanism will not allow backups to a drive that has folders on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jam3ohio Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 If I have read the notes correctly, WHS 2011 would see the RAID as an initialized drive and would allow it as one drive. The key is "initialized" and you must do that in order to build the array. I will stand corrected but that's the product as I know it. One drawback is you would not be be able to use any of that space for Backups since backup mechanism will not allow backups to a drive that has folders on it. Thanks! I was hoping you'd say that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 I concur. I haven't tried it yet but everything leads me to believe that 100% Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinylfreak Posted February 5, 2011 Author Share Posted February 5, 2011 Thanks for the info guys! That's good news. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmwills Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 Looks like the "D Word" may have life after all! I was also looking at the Synology cases and the ones designed for SOHO's would seem to fit the bill also, however, witht he right board and case you could build your own NAS probably with parts you already have laying around, or at least PcDoc, anyway. Between him and NoControl they should be known as a substation of Fry's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 What is the perfect Drive Extender card then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmwills Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 Good question. I guess this really depends on the level and complexity of the user involved. I can see scenarios where you recommend a plain Jane setup with a couple of data drives and an external for backup and others ranging form physical installs with physicals up to and including virtualization with a RAID passthru for storage. One thing for sure, this is not your "Mama's WHS" anymore unless you stick with Version 1. I will give up Drive Extender for speed any day of the week. The downside is you start to involve more and more equipment and the average home user will revert to standard NAS units if this gets any more complex. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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