Networked raid storage and NFS

Hello,

I've been looking for an inexpensive networked storage solution using 4
500 GB SATA hard disks in a 4 bay enclosure that supports raid-5, giving
me 1.5 TB of storage.

I've perused the following possibilities:

StorCenter Pro NAS 150d/2TB from Iomega
terastation pro II from Buffalo Technologies
SS4000-E from Intel

They all seem comparable, but I'm leaning toward the Intel model because
I can buy the enclosure separate from the disks.

Here's the problem though. All of these seem to be marketed to the
Windows market, and I want a solution that will work for Linux/Unix
wokstations. I want to set it up and be able to use NFS to mount the
disk just like I would mount the exported disk on a linux or unix
machine. I'd like to be able to choose (by ip address) which machines
are allowed to access the disk, and set up users and groups.

These boxes all mention NFS (or DFS - in the case of the tetrastation
pro II), but that's the extent of it. I've emailed the various
companies for more information, but haven't heard a peep. I assume
because these boxes are actually running a linux 2.6 kernel that I can
do what I want, but I'd like confirmation before I order.

Has anyone actually set one of these systems up and used NFS to mount it
as an external disk from a linux or unix workstation?

Any opinions on which one would be best?

Thanks.

-Jonathan

Buy a generic computer, install 4 drives there and your favourite Linux
distro.

Is this bad?

--
Maxim Shatskih, Windows DDK MVP
StorageCraft Corporation

http://www.storagecraft.com

"JJ" wrote in message
...
Hello,

I've been looking for an inexpensive networked storage solution using 4
500 GB SATA hard disks in a 4 bay enclosure that supports raid-5, giving
me 1.5 TB of storage.

I've perused the following possibilities:

StorCenter Pro NAS 150d/2TB from Iomega
terastation pro II from Buffalo Technologies
SS4000-E from Intel

They all seem comparable, but I'm leaning toward the Intel model because
I can buy the enclosure separate from the disks.

Here's the problem though. All of these seem to be marketed to the
Windows market, and I want a solution that will work for Linux/Unix
wokstations. I want to set it up and be able to use NFS to mount the
disk just like I would mount the exported disk on a linux or unix
machine. I'd like to be able to choose (by ip address) which machines
are allowed to access the disk, and set up users and groups.

These boxes all mention NFS (or DFS - in the case of the tetrastation
pro II), but that's the extent of it. I've emailed the various
companies for more information, but haven't heard a peep. I assume
because these boxes are actually running a linux 2.6 kernel that I can
do what I want, but I'd like confirmation before I order.

Has anyone actually set one of these systems up and used NFS to mount it
as an external disk from a linux or unix workstation?

Any opinions on which one would be best?

Thanks.

-Jonathan

Maxim S. Shatskih wrote:
Buy a generic computer, install 4 drives there and your favourite Linux
distro.

Is this bad?


Thanks for your input, but...

.... that will not give me hot-swap capability. Plus it gives me the
overhead of worrying about another whole linux system (and my linux
sysadmin skills are marginal, I'm much better with Solaris). We
actually do have some internal raids like this on some of our linux
systems, and they're a pain to deal with if you lose a disk. We also
have 12-disk external raid box with hot swap capability hooked up to a
Sun and it's so simple to deal with if a single disk goes south.
Unfortunately, the size of the disks is small and going the Sun route is
prohibitively expensive right now.

I started my search by just looking for a raid card and external box
with hot-swap capability that I could hook up to one of our existing
linux boxes, but again, most of the stuff I found seemed to be geared
toward windows. I'm no linux guru, and when faced with installing
cards, flashing bios, installing drivers (if they exist), etc, I was a
bit daunted. When I heard about a standalone networked solution, it
seemed ideal. Also, a lot of the good-looking raid cards were PCIe, and
we don't seem to have that type of slot on our linux boxes. Others were
so expensive as to be prohibitive.

Also, one of my colleagues previously set up a raid in an external box
hooked to a linux machine (he was much more profficient than me at linux
admin) and it crashed and burned at some point. We never could figure
out exactly why, but it was suggested that it was somehow linked with
having the raid card and the disks powered by different power supplies.
That could be a totally bogus conclusion, but it does make me leary.

Anyway. These standalone networked stoarge devices seem a simple and
reasonably priced alternative - if they will do what they seem to promise.

So if anyone has any input on any of the models mentioned, I would
greatly appreciate it.

Thanks.

-Jonathan

How much money can you spend? I have been through a whole lot of
iterations trying to find reliable cheap storage, and this is what we've
been doing lately:

Get an x86 server class system, such as these:

http://www.siliconmechanics.com/

You can pretty much build anything from a 500GB to 15TB server in one
chassis out of these. Install a decent 3ware RAID card. The newer
3ware cards are actually very good.

Then get a DOM (Disk on Module) from these guys (Silicon Mechanics will
sell you this as well):

http://www.open-e.com

The Open-E solution turns your commodity x86 box into a SAN or NAS
server, with a simple web interface. They pre-install the 3ware 3dm2
web management interface with their product, so you can monitor drive
failures, handle drive replacements, schedule RAID verifies, etc. You
can set up the device in about 1/2 hour, and be ready to roll. You
should be able to put together a 1.5TB server for a $3-4K pretty easily.

BTW: Since you're a Solaris person, we are now running zfs on a 10TB
Open-E iSCSI R-3 box, and it absolutely smokes. With a powerful enough
x86 Solaris server, you could see near 200MB/sec write speeds with 15 IO
streams. Not sure about NFS speeds though. Not a lot of experience
with that. But using a Solaris system as the head node, and an iSCSI
SAN back side works really well.

Jon

JJ wrote:
div class="moz-text-flowed" style="font-family: -moz-fixed"Maxim S.
Shatskih wrote:
Buy a generic computer, install 4 drives there and your favourite
Linux
distro.

Is this bad?


Thanks for your input, but...

... that will not give me hot-swap capability. Plus it gives me the
overhead of worrying about another whole linux system (and my linux
sysadmin skills are marginal, I'm much better with Solaris). We
actually do have some internal raids like this on some of our linux
systems, and they're a pain to deal with if you lose a disk. We also
have 12-disk external raid box with hot swap capability hooked up to a
Sun and it's so simple to deal with if a single disk goes south.
Unfortunately, the size of the disks is small and going the Sun route
is prohibitively expensive right now.

I started my search by just looking for a raid card and external box
with hot-swap capability that I could hook up to one of our existing
linux boxes, but again, most of the stuff I found seemed to be geared
toward windows. I'm no linux guru, and when faced with installing
cards, flashing bios, installing drivers (if they exist), etc, I was a
bit daunted. When I heard about a standalone networked solution, it
seemed ideal. Also, a lot of the good-looking raid cards were PCIe,
and we don't seem to have that type of slot on our linux boxes.
Others were so expensive as to be prohibitive.

Also, one of my colleagues previously set up a raid in an external box
hooked to a linux machine (he was much more profficient than me at
linux admin) and it crashed and burned at some point. We never could
figure out exactly why, but it was suggested that it was somehow
linked with having the raid card and the disks powered by different
power supplies. That could be a totally bogus conclusion, but it does
make me leary.

Anyway. These standalone networked stoarge devices seem a simple and
reasonably priced alternative - if they will do what they seem to
promise.

So if anyone has any input on any of the models mentioned, I would
greatly appreciate it.

Thanks.

-Jonathan

/div

--


- _____/ _____/ / - Jonathan Loran - -
- / / / IT Manager -
- _____ / _____ / / Space Sciences Laboratory, UC Berkeley
- / / / (510) 643-5146
- ______/ ______/ ______/ AST:7731^29u18e3

Jonathan,

Thanks for your detailed response. It looks like you've found a nice
solution - although it still doesn't seem to give hot-swap
functionality. Also, we have all standalone boxes (no rack for rack
mounting). If I felt I had more tech savvy, I might go in for this sort
of solution. I'm also kind of limited to the 1-1.5K price range. I may
end up regretting this choice on the "reliable" front, but I think I'm
going to have to try the intel box and see what happens.

Thanks again.

-Jonathan


Jonathan Loran wrote:
How much money can you spend? I have been through a whole lot of
iterations trying to find reliable cheap storage, and this is what we've
been doing lately:

Get an x86 server class system, such as these:

http://www.siliconmechanics.com/

You can pretty much build anything from a 500GB to 15TB server in one
chassis out of these. Install a decent 3ware RAID card. The newer
3ware cards are actually very good.
Then get a DOM (Disk on Module) from these guys (Silicon Mechanics will
sell you this as well):

http://www.open-e.com

The Open-E solution turns your commodity x86 box into a SAN or NAS
server, with a simple web interface. They pre-install the 3ware 3dm2
web management interface with their product, so you can monitor drive
failures, handle drive replacements, schedule RAID verifies, etc. You
can set up the device in about 1/2 hour, and be ready to roll. You
should be able to put together a 1.5TB server for a $3-4K pretty easily.

BTW: Since you're a Solaris person, we are now running zfs on a 10TB
Open-E iSCSI R-3 box, and it absolutely smokes. With a powerful enough
x86 Solaris server, you could see near 200MB/sec write speeds with 15 IO
streams. Not sure about NFS speeds though. Not a lot of experience
with that. But using a Solaris system as the head node, and an iSCSI
SAN back side works really well.

Jon

Jonathan,

These are indeed hot swappable. You can buy these chassis with hot swap
SATA sleds, and the 3ware cards support auto detection when a drive is
changed out. Also, not much need for tech savvy with the Open-E
solution. it's quite easy to set them up.

However, your price point is very limiting. you are going to be stuck
with a consumer product with perhaps some flaky limitations. I'm hoping
you'll be lucky though. Post to the list what you end up with, and how
it works.

Jon

JJ wrote:
div class="moz-text-flowed" style="font-family: -moz-fixed"Jonathan,

Thanks for your detailed response. It looks like you've found a nice
solution - although it still doesn't seem to give hot-swap
functionality. Also, we have all standalone boxes (no rack for rack
mounting). If I felt I had more tech savvy, I might go in for this
sort of solution. I'm also kind of limited to the 1-1.5K price
range. I may end up regretting this choice on the "reliable" front,
but I think I'm going to have to try the intel box and see what happens.

Thanks again.

-Jonathan


Jonathan Loran wrote:
How much money can you spend? I have been through a whole lot of
iterations trying to find reliable cheap storage, and this is what
we've been doing lately:

Get an x86 server class system, such as these:

http://www.siliconmechanics.com/

You can pretty much build anything from a 500GB to 15TB server in one
chassis out of these. Install a decent 3ware RAID card. The newer
3ware cards are actually very good.
Then get a DOM (Disk on Module) from these guys (Silicon Mechanics
will sell you this as well):

http://www.open-e.com

The Open-E solution turns your commodity x86 box into a SAN or NAS
server, with a simple web interface. They pre-install the 3ware 3dm2
web management interface with their product, so you can monitor drive
failures, handle drive replacements, schedule RAID verifies, etc.
You can set up the device in about 1/2 hour, and be ready to roll.
You should be able to put together a 1.5TB server for a $3-4K pretty
easily.

BTW: Since you're a Solaris person, we are now running zfs on a 10TB
Open-E iSCSI R-3 box, and it absolutely smokes. With a powerful
enough x86 Solaris server, you could see near 200MB/sec write speeds
with 15 IO streams. Not sure about NFS speeds though. Not a lot of
experience with that. But using a Solaris system as the head node,
and an iSCSI SAN back side works really well.

Jon



/div

--


- _____/ _____/ / - Jonathan Loran - -
- / / / IT Manager -
- _____ / _____ / / Space Sciences Laboratory, UC Berkeley
- / / / (510) 643-5146
- ______/ ______/ ______/ AST:7731^29u18e3

JJ wrote:

Hello,

I've been looking for an inexpensive networked storage solution using
4 500 GB SATA hard disks in a 4 bay enclosure that supports raid-5,
giving me 1.5 TB of storage.

I've perused the following possibilities:

StorCenter Pro NAS 150d/2TB from Iomega
terastation pro II from Buffalo Technologies
SS4000-E from Intel

They all seem comparable, but I'm leaning toward the Intel model
because I can buy the enclosure separate from the disks.

Here's the problem though. All of these seem to be marketed to the
Windows market, and I want a solution that will work for Linux/Unix
wokstations. I want to set it up and be able to use NFS to mount the
disk just like I would mount the exported disk on a linux or unix
machine. I'd like to be able to choose (by ip address) which machines
are allowed to access the disk, and set up users and groups.


Hi Jonathan,

Take a look at the Infrant ReadyNAS NV+ (
http://www.infrant.com/products/prod...dyNAS%20NVPlus
). I don't have this model but I do have a ReadyNAS and it works fine
with Linux. The NV+ has hot-swapable drives. My only complaint with
the Infrant boxes is that they are slower than I'd like, although this
applies to all of them in this price range.

Good luck,

Steve



These boxes all mention NFS (or DFS - in the case of the tetrastation
pro II), but that's the extent of it. I've emailed the various
companies for more information, but haven't heard a peep. I assume
because these boxes are actually running a linux 2.6 kernel that I can
do what I want, but I'd like confirmation before I order.

Has anyone actually set one of these systems up and used NFS to mount
it as an external disk from a linux or unix workstation?

Any opinions on which one would be best?

Thanks.

-Jonathan