RE: Re: Windows home server

["Phil Harris" <phil@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

> I almost bought a RAID controller card for use in my server, but then
I
> receivedan epiphianic slap round the face.  For that =A3180 (or
> thereabouts) you can buy a motherboard with 9 internal SATA connectors
> (for example, the Abit AB9), a Core2Duo processor and 1Gb of RAM.  For
> those who bought lottery tickets today (i.e who are not good with
> numbers), that means up to 4.5Tb with the bargain-priced 500Gb drives
> available at the moment.  The server will run faster and consume less
> power too.

4.5Tb? Jesus ... can you manage with that little? ;-)

> For home use, RAID is a red herring, IMO.  The additional robustness
> provided by a extra drive or two is not necessary in a home server -
> even a tetchy SWMBO will survive a "down day" once every few
years or
> so.  RAID is NOT backup.  To protect your data against the most likely
> causes of failure - fire, theft and flood - duplicates are required,
> and
> need to be stored off-site (or in a safe at the very least).
>=20
> Mal

Agreed ... I've tried RAID before and dismissed it as a frippery unless
it'=
s
done right (and made that quite clear on here too).

*HOWEVER*...

...1) The 3Ware cards are generally regarded as being the dogs bollocks
without going to SCSI.

...2) The 3Ware cards run all the RAID calculations in hardware so don't
need a lot of CPU power to drive 'em unlike software RAID so an old mobo
an=
d
CPU will be more than man enough for the job (reuse of existing kit - eco
friendly and that's good remember).

Not saying that just buying a 3Ware card alone is doing it right but it's
not in itself part of doing it wrong. :-D

As for your "RAID is NOT backup" statement - again, couldn't
agree with you
more but I had to give up backing up my server long ago when a 6 tape DDS-4
Autoloader became more use as a footstool than as a useable backup medium.
Nowadays my documents and photos get mirrored but my movie and audio data
has to go without being backed up.=20

Phil