Sanity check please

  • Quick sanity check request from OMV veterans.


    I currently have 3 NAS rigs running at home:
    1) ReadyNAS NV+ (10 years)
    2) WHS on PC w/ external 8bay SansDigital TowerRaid (5 years)
    3) Brand new OMV on HP StorageWorks x510


    WHS is currently my media server running Plex. WHS is EOL and deprecated. Plex no longer can be upgraded on WHS OS and it's out of sync w/ Roku Plex rendering it useless. I need to retire the WHS.


    ReadyNAS is my Logitech Squeeze server for music. For now, the ReadyNAS is functioning but deemed EOL by Netgear and will no longer get updates. Leave it as is for the time being, it will serve as backup NAS.


    I just built and OMV installation on the HPx510 (initially was another WHS rig someone gave me). It is a 4 bay headless box w/ 1bay as OS disk and other 3bays filled w/ 1TB configured in a RAID5 volume. Since the x510 only has 2GB RAM ZFS is out of the question.


    My plan was to consolidate data onto the READYNAS and OMV-NAS until I can shutdown the WHS. I want to take the 8bay TowerRaid eSATA device off the WHS and plug it into the OMVx510.


    Question(s):
    I could plug the new TowerRaid into the x510 and create a new RAID5 volume over those 8 disks, but that would leave the other existing 3disk RAID5 volume in place. I don't know why I would want to do that.


    I could plug the new TowerRaid into the x510 and add the 8 disks (or less) to the existing OMV RAID5 volume growing it in place.


    I could move all the data off the OMV-x510, delete the existing RAID5 volume, add the new TowerRaid and create a new RAID5 volume from scratch across 11drives(+-).


    At this point I only have the OMVx510 rig up and running for 2 weeks, I'm just getting used to it and not 100% confidant in it. It hasn't been battle tested yet.


    Amazon has WD Red 3TB drives for $99, I plan to get a few, load some external chassis and help me move data around.


    Should I keep my existing RAID5 volume or start over? I don't have enough experience w/ OMV yet to know which would be easier/safer.


    Any other suggestions; wait for 3.0?, beware of Debian on external eSata?


    TIA


    ----------------------------------------
    OMV-NAS on HP x510
    2.19 (Stone burner)
    Linux 3.2.0-4-686-pae


    HP StorageWorks x510
    Pentium Dual-Core CPU E5200 @ 2.50 GHz
    2GB SDRAM
    eSATA port
    Silicon Image SiI 3531 SATA Controller


    WHS (Dell Optiplex GX620) + Sans Digital TowerRaid TR8M+(B) (8x1TB JBOD)


    Netgear ReadyNAS NV+ (4x1TB)

  • Hello Cosmo,


    I did some research for you and it appears you can use the TowerRAID TR8M-B along with the Silicon Image Sil 3531 1x port PCIe external eSATA controller that came with it. The kernel 3.2.0-4-686-pae does include the sata_sil24.ko driver needed. I would like to note that this model only supports up to SATA II (3 Gbps) 2TB drives and a maximum capacity of 16TB. Here is the specs and other information on that model: http://www.sansdigital.com/towerraid/tr8mb.html The WD 3TB Red drives you were looking at will not work in this unit since they are SATA III (6 Gbps). I assume this is the drive you are looking at: http://www.amazon.com/Red-Desk…-Disk-Drive/dp/B008JJLW4M


    Let's review your questions.

    I could plug the new TowerRaid into the x510 and create a new RAID5 volume over those 8 disks, but that would leave the other existing 3 disk RAID5 volume in place. I don't know why I would want to do that.


    If you're still interested in using this unit, The 1st thing I would recommend is backing up any data you want to keep from this unit to your ReadyNAS or a USB drive. You can use your PC/MAC/Linux system to store the data as well. I'd recommend a USB drive in this case so you can access the data easily from any other device. You could attach it to your ReadyNAS and create a new share and store the data there as well. I've never used a ReadyNAS system so use whatever you feel comfortable with.
    Next I would destroy the existing RAID array / partitions and make all of the drives JBOD from your WHS system if possible. Add the PCIe card and TowerRAID unit to your HP x510 unit. You should be able to see the JBOD drives under storage -> physical disks in OMV. If you do not see the disks you may want want to flash the BIOS on the Sil 3531 using this package: http://www.siliconimage.com/docs/UpdFlash_v336.zip More information can be found on their support page located here: http://www.siliconimage.com/support/

    I could plug the new TowerRaid into the x510 and add the 8 disks (or less) to the existing OMV RAID5 volume growing it in place.


    You would need to format the drives as suggested above. I would use these drives as a separate RAID instead of adding them to your existing RAID on the HP x510 in my opinion. There is nothing stopping you from doing that but my concern would be if the internal controller or the PCIe controller dies. It would be either a big headache or loss of all data either way I think. Rebuilding 11 drives of data would take a long time. ;)


    I could move all the data off the OMV-x510, delete the existing RAID5 volume, add the new TowerRaid and create a new RAID5 volume from scratch across 11drives(+-).


    Again I would use the external unit as a separate RAID but that is my opinion.


    At this point I only have the OMVx510 rig up and running for 2 weeks, I'm just getting used to it and not 100% confident in it. It hasn't been battle tested yet.


    Definitely take your time poking around and testing settings to make sure they meet your needs. I would suggest trying out some of the plugins like Plex since you use it with your Roku devices ( I use the same setup ) and see if it meets your needs. Copy some data over to test it out. Never just jump into something without trying it 1st. ;) Of course the OMV forums will try to answer your questions the best we can.


    Amazon has WD Red 3TB drives for $99, I plan to get a few, load some external chassis and help me move data around.


    See my concern above if either the HP x510 or the TowerRAID supports SATA III drives. The TowerRAID definitely does not support SATA III drives.


    Should I keep my existing RAID5 volume or start over? I don't have enough experience w/ OMV yet to know which would be easier/safer.


    I would suggest playing with OMV 1st and getting to know the interface a little. Once you feel comfortable with it, I would try an install from scratch with a plan on the HDD usage. What do I want to store? Does it need to be backed up? How much space do I need? Do I have enough space to grow? These are things I like to keep in mind when building my OMV NAS.


    Any other suggestions; wait for 3.0?, beware of Debian on external eSata?


    OMV 3.0 is not going to be released anytime soon. You should be safe enough with the current release. If you have any questions just ask :) As for any other suggestions, I think I covered what I could from your questions. Please feel feel free to add any more questions and let us know how it worked for you.


    Thanks!

  • shadowzero, Thanks for the awesome, comprehensive write up. Your analysis and input is spot on.
    I was initially planning on buying the QNAP TS-451 but thought I'd save $1000 and 'roll my own' NAS.
    I'll think I will take it one step at a time and see how it goes. Between the ReadyNAS and external USB drives, I should be able to have backup until I figure out what works best. I really appreciate your comments. Cheers!

Jetzt mitmachen!

Sie haben noch kein Benutzerkonto auf unserer Seite? Registrieren Sie sich kostenlos und nehmen Sie an unserer Community teil!