RAID Storage Server 2.0

Back in my final year at uni I threw togeather a nice little RAID storage server using one of them Adaptec rebranded 2610SA Dell cards, 6 x 500GB SATA hard disks into a RAID 5 Array, which up untill now has proved fantastic for my home run media. That box is currently a multifunction server, provinding web hosting for internal websites, 3 Virtual Machines (running through VMWare Server), a VoIP Asterisk server running several internal and external extensions for myself and several family members and friends as well as being the primary storage for 3 Vista Media Center machines scattered around the house.

Well, the time has finally arrived where ill be leaving this nest, a new job has arrived and will involve me moving down to Exeter within the next few weeks or month, so it came time to re-asses a few architecture items, first of which was this server. Obviously it cant be in two places at once and both my new location and here need it, so their was only one choice (well, im lying there a little, but this is the one i wanted to do, cus its cool lol)…

Time for a new Server hehe !

Specifications;

• Motherboard : Gigabyte MA790X-UD3P
• CPU : AMD Phenom 9650 Quad Core 2.30 Ghz
• Memory : 4GB DDR2
• Graphics : ATI Radeon 9200 (PCI)
• Power Supply : Chieftec 650W (80 Plus, modular power connectors)
• RAID Card : Adaptec Unified Serial Card – 3805 (Internal 8 Port SSF-8087)
• Primary Hard Disk : Samsung HD501LJ 500GB (Running off Motherboard SATA Controller)
• RAID Hard Disks : 4 x Samsung HD103UI 1TB Green SATA
• RAID Configuration : RAID5 Array 2.728TB (Over 4 Drives, card capable of running 4 more at later date
• Operating System : Windows Small Business Server 2008

Suffice to say, its a little bit of an upgrade to the old machine, which has been lagging a little for some time now (mostly due to the weight of the virtual machines pulling it down). At the current time this machine has been built into an old cheap case I had sitting in the garage, but next month ill be ordering a 20 or 24 bay rackmount storage server (like this one) and transfering the bits across, look out for some good pics of the finished article soon…

For the immediate future this server is going to have another 4 1TB drives added, creating an addition 2.7TB array, which will either be used for addition storage, or most likely a mirror for the time being. But with the purchase of the new chassis ill be looking to get an additional Adaptec RAID card capable of running the additional 12 disk bays on the chassis, most likely one of the adaptec 51245 cards with Intelegant Power Manangement, this card has the capability to power the additional 12 bays within the machine and one external SSF-8087 connector to power the JBOB boxes such as this one which can be stand alone outside the main chassis.