RE: Video server / NAS

["Paul Gale" <groups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The =A3100 Dell servers are VERY quiet :) Mine runs 24/7 in my office and
I=
can't hear it. The noisiest bit would be the drives though, so careful sel=
ection would be a must if going that route.

Paul.



> -----Original Message-----
> From: ukha_d@xxxxxxx [mailto:ukha_d@xxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
> Adam Stevens
> Sent: 30 August 2005 23:38
> To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
> Subject: [ukha_d] Video server / NAS
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> Hello,
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> My old video server died tonight.  It's basically just an old Dell PC
wit=
h
> a bunch of disks connected to it (3 internal IDE, 2 internal SATA, and
4
> external IDE via a firewire box).
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> I've been aware that it's been "on it's way out" for a long
time, and hav=
e
> been looking around for a neater solution.  Ideally I'd like to treat
> myself to a 1Tb or 1.6Tb Terastation (http://tinyurl.com/4wd7h), but I
> can't quite bring myself to spend around =A3600 when I've already got
ove=
r
> 1Tb of disk storage in my current server.
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> So, as I see it, I've got 3 options:
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> 1) Build/buy a new PC, bung all my old drives in it.
> 2) Buy one of those USB NAS's, which allow USB drives to be connected
to
> the network.
> 3) Look for something like the Terastation, but which comes with no
> drives, so I can put my own in.
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> I'd rather stay away from building yet another PC.  I know that NAS's
are
> basically just PC's with pre-installed software, but I like the idea
of a
> "stand alone" unit connected to the network.  If I did build
a PC, I'd
> have to put some flavour of Windows on it (I don't know enough about
Linu=
x
> to trust myself to be able to fix it if something went wrong), and
> although I haven't looked at Windows Server for NAS, I don't know if
it
> suits my needs (eg, remote control via web interfact etc).
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> I'm not a big fan of USB and/or firewire drives.  I don't know if it's
> just me, but I've never had a reliable external USB/firewire drive
(and
> I've tried *lots*!).  Even my current box'o'four IDE drives with a
> firewire interface has given me major headaches at times.  I'd also
have
> to get a load of USB caddies, and they'd each need their own PSU etc.
etc=
.
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> So, basically, I'm looking for something as near as possible to the
> Terastation, but something which will allow me to use my existing
drives,
> and something which I can get for around the =A3200 mark (or less
> obviously!).  I don't really care if it supports IDE or SATA drives
> (ideally, something which came in both flavours, so I could get one of
> each!).  It should also be able to hold at least 4 drives
internally...
> Two and a pinch, but only if it's cheap.
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> Noise is also an issue.  I've considered getting one of those cheap
Dell
> servers which pop up occasionally, but although I have great respect
for
> Dell, I know from using them in my office that their servers are quite
> noisy, and the NAS needs to me in my home office (it doesn't need to
be
> whisper-quite - I've already got a PC on 24/7, but I'd rather not have
a
> hurricane in the office!).
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> Any ideas?! - I'm really hoping someone will say "Ah yes, a
diskless
> Terastation, go to this link"! :-)  I've Googled 'til my figures
bleed,
> but I haven't found one!
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> Thanks,
> A.
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> Yahoo! Groups Links
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