Home server- extending raid 5...

jandarsun8 · Sep 21, 2009, 07:25 PM

Sorry for the long post, figured I'd explain as much as I could to get the best options or opinions on this.

I've got a home server running Server 2003 with two 80 gig drives mirrored for the OS and a little extra space and 4 160 gig drives in Software Raid 5 (I know it's slower then hardware solution but easier to recover imo without having the exact same hardware).

My problem, I'm running out space. I'm also worried about drives failing as they are 3/4+ years old. I recently starting getting some disk errors on one of the drives and I replaced it and re-synced the Raid setup but this has gotten me to rethink how this whole set up needs to be redone or at least add another drive or two to spread it out some and add some more space with the little amount of budget I have to work with.

This is an older board with IDE drives for the two drives mirrored with a Maxtor IDE add on card that is handling the other four drives. I'm limited on funds so redoing the whole thing isn't an option. Micro Center near me, has OEM 160 gig drives for about 35 a piece (where I replaced the one from) but I'm wondering if I buy another add in card that I can span another drive or two (keeping it around 100$). Being that it's software, I should be able to however I haven't messed with that many drives before.

Other question is that newegg has 1.5 T drives for 100 (about where my budget ends) so that's the other question. Better to save a little bit and buy a SATA card and go that route? I don't know how reliable the new drives are and I know these have lasted for a pretty damn long time while getting hammered on.

So I guess the question is, where do I spend what little I have to make the most out of what I have? Core files are backed up to DVD and external HD (daughters pictures, needed docs, pics) but to back up the whole thing... well redundancy is my main thing as I don't feel like burning 15/20 dvd's at one shot and external gets over written about once a week but doesn't cover everything.

Any thoughts on moving forward or anyone have issues spanning a Raid with multiple add on cards?

Thanks,
Jand

Sep 21, 2009, 07:25 PM	#1
jandarsun8 DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: US Posts: 173 Rep Power: 18 System Specs	Home server- extending raid 5... Sorry for the long post, figured I'd explain as much as I could to get the best options or opinions on this. I've got a home server running Server 2003 with two 80 gig drives mirrored for the OS and a little extra space and 4 160 gig drives in Software Raid 5 (I know it's slower then hardware solution but easier to recover imo without having the exact same hardware). My problem, I'm running out space. I'm also worried about drives failing as they are 3/4+ years old. I recently starting getting some disk errors on one of the drives and I replaced it and re-synced the Raid setup but this has gotten me to rethink how this whole set up needs to be redone or at least add another drive or two to spread it out some and add some more space with the little amount of budget I have to work with. This is an older board with IDE drives for the two drives mirrored with a Maxtor IDE add on card that is handling the other four drives. I'm limited on funds so redoing the whole thing isn't an option. Micro Center near me, has OEM 160 gig drives for about 35 a piece (where I replaced the one from) but I'm wondering if I buy another add in card that I can span another drive or two (keeping it around 100$). Being that it's software, I should be able to however I haven't messed with that many drives before. Other question is that newegg has 1.5 T drives for 100 (about where my budget ends) so that's the other question. Better to save a little bit and buy a SATA card and go that route? I don't know how reliable the new drives are and I know these have lasted for a pretty damn long time while getting hammered on. So I guess the question is, where do I spend what little I have to make the most out of what I have? Core files are backed up to DVD and external HD (daughters pictures, needed docs, pics) but to back up the whole thing... well redundancy is my main thing as I don't feel like burning 15/20 dvd's at one shot and external gets over written about once a week but doesn't cover everything. Any thoughts on moving forward or anyone have issues spanning a Raid with multiple add on cards? Thanks, Jand __________________