Network Attached Storage (NAS)

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I have the d-link DIR-655 as well, it's a great router... I'm also using 2 8 port d-link gigabit switches, with d-link gigabit cards in my 2 media pc's... everything runs great.

Are they Jumbo Frame compliant?

I just wonder how much faster is it to copy one 45GB BD ISO file from one PC to another using a Jumbo Frame Switch?

Let's say a non-Jumbo Frame switch can do 80 mbps.

Can a Jumbo Frame switch do 120 mbps?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I have the d-link DIR-655 as well, it's a great router... I'm also using 2 8 port d-link gigabit switches, with d-link gigabit cards in my 2 media pc's... everything runs great.

It is a great router.

Say, you have a total of 16 ports on you switches?

How many PCs do you have connected?

I was thinking that a 5-port switch would suffice.

 

[GlocksRock]

It is a great router.

Say, you have a total of 16 ports on you switches?

How many PCs do you have connected?

I was thinking that a 5-port switch would suffice.

I'm not in such a hurry to get files from one pc to the other that I can't wait an extra min. or two... the transfer speeds I get now are way better than I was getting on a 10/100 network, so I don't need to upgrade again just for "jumbo frame" technology, besides don't know if I would need to upgrade the router as well for all that.

In my bedroom I have the router, the 4 ports used on that are for the 360, PS3, HTPC, and one going to the wall that feeds into the office, where there is an 8 port switch connected to my main PC, my laptop, my girlfriends laptop, the wall from my bedroom, the wall going to my girlfriends bedroom, another one to the wall going downstairs, an extra ethernet cable sitting free for when I work on other pc's, or my work laptop, and one free port for whatever... the downstairs 8 port switch has connected to it my other HTPC, my elite 360, PS3, Wii, the wall from upstairs, a wire that I use to connect to another switch for when I host halo/lan parties, and two free ports for whatever I may need them for in the future.

 

[krzywica]

If your planning on upgrading your switch and needs less than 8 ports I would suggest this one.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16833316076

 

[GlocksRock]

These are the 8 port switches I'm using... I guess they are jumbo frame switches.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833127082

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

These are the 8 port switches I'm using... I guess they are jumbo frame switches.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833127082

So you get Jumbo Frames whether you like it or not!

 

[GlocksRock]

I guess so, but it still doesn't transfer over 80 something megs per second for me... but thats still as fast as transferring data between two hard drives through the motherboard. But they are great routers, especially for the price, and they make a 5 port version as well, but knowing you it may be best to spend a few extra bucks up front for the 8 port switch in case you need more ports in the future.

 

[GlocksRock]

So you get Jumbo Frames whether you like it or not!

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/content/view/30087/96/

Looks like the DIR-655 supports jumbo frames as well, so I guess I made wise purchases.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/content/view/30087/96/

Looks like the DIR-655 supports jumbo frames as well, so I guess I made wise purchases.

Cool, you just saved my some bucks there!

I was going to get a switch, but since the DIR-655 already supports Jumbo Frames, I don't need another one.

 

[Warpdrv]

Better Cases

Hey there.....

I started out with the Norco 4220, but ended up changing the case to SuperMicro 846TQ-R900B.... This is another rackmount server case, so you need a pretty deep rack for something like this.... Its really long and deep like the Norco, but quite a bit better quality to it IMO, then again it better be - it was almost $1K just for the case...

This is really the way to go if your looking for unlimited storage potential for years and years to come IMO...

 

[jinjuku]

With SuperMicro you definitely get quality.

I shudder to think what Dell would charge for an 8 way/16GB/8 bay sata hotswap with RAID and lights out management.

 

[krzywica]

With SuperMicro you definitely get quality.

I shudder to think what Dell would charge for an 8 way/16GB/8 bay sata hotswap with RAID and lights out management.

Well when we were doing our server migration project from 2003 to 2008 they were between 8k and 20k. And thats for a single socket quad core with 32GB of memory and only 8 Hard drives in a 4U chassis. Talk about overpriced.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Hey there.....

I started out with the Norco 4220, but ended up changing the case to SuperMicro 846TQ-R900B.... This is another rackmount server case, so you need a pretty deep rack for something like this.... Its really long and deep like the Norco, but quite a bit better quality to it IMO, then again it better be - it was almost $1K just for the case...

This is really the way to go if your looking for unlimited storage potential for years and years to come IMO...

The SuperMicro does look very nice and higher quality than the Norco.

I still laugh everytime I see the world "NORCO" because it is one of the brand names of the narcotic Hydrocodone.

But anyway, so the SuperMicro is $1,000 for the case (24 HDD bays + five 80mm fans + 900W PSU)?

You still have to add the MoBo,CPU, RAM, SATA RAID cards, + HDDs.

I can see $120+ x 24 2TB HDDs = $2880+.

So the total cost will be > $4K.

So what did you include in your NAS/Server?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Fans

My only gripes about these server cases (NORCO, SuperMicro) are the fans.

They only have five 80mm fans for 24 HDDs?

Won't there be a heat -vs- noise issue?

I guess your CPU can be cooled with a large CPU cooler, and your case fans can be replaced w/ larger fans?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/content/view/30087/96/

Looks like the DIR-655 supports jumbo frames as well, so I guess I made wise purchases.

I just did a comparison between the DIR-655 -vs- the SMC Networks SMC8505. I copied a BD ISO file (40GB) between 2 PCs/2 HDDs.

Guess what? The transfer rate was exactly the SAME! So looks like the DIR-655 truly supports jumbo frames.

 

[GlocksRock]

I just did a comparison between the DIR-655 -vs- the SMC Networks SMC8505. I copied a BD ISO file (40GB) between 2 PCs/2 HDDs.

Guess what? The transfer rate was exactly the SAME! So looks like the DIR-655 truly supports jumbo frames.

I think the hard drive read/write speeds are more limiting than the network bandwidth... if you really want to up your performance you need to get solid state hard drives, but they are very expensive and can't come close to the storage capacity of the regular platter based drives.

 

[its phillip]

this dude on the hardforum has an crazy 100 TB nas build

loud as hell too :O

not sure how much he's spending, but here are his specs:
* Case: Chenbro RM91250 9U 50-Bay Storage Center Server Chassis with 1620 Watt 3+1 Redundant Power Supply
* Motherboard: ASUS P7P55 WS SUPERCOMPUTER Motherboard
* CPU: Intel i7-860 2.8GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor
* RAM: G.Skill F3-12800CL7D-4GBRM Ripjaw DDR3 1600MHz 4GB Dual Channel Memory Kit
* GPU: Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5450 1GB GDDR3 1600MHz DVI/HDMI/D-SUB PCI-E 2.0 Graphics Card
* RAID Controller: Areca ARC-1680i PCI-E x8 SAS RAID Adapter
* SAS Expander: 2 x HP 36-Port SAS Expander Cards
* ODD: Lite-On DL-8ATS SATA Slot Load Black Slim CD/DVD Burner
* HDD: 52 x WD20EADS 2TB 32MB SATA 3Gb/s Caviar Green Drives
* UPS: APC Matrix-UPS 5KVA XR 208V/240V in 120/208/240 Out with 3 x APC Matrix-UPS SmartCell XR Battery Packs
* O/S: TBD - Maybe Microsoft Windows Home Server V2 (when it finally gets released) or Windows Server 2008 R2 - More about this later

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I think the hard drive read/write speeds are more limiting than the network bandwidth... if you really want to up your performance you need to get solid state hard drives, but they are very expensive and can't come close to the storage capacity of the regular platter based drives.

That's true. But I still don't understand why I was getting faster transfer rates going from one WD Caviar Green 1TB on one PC to another identical WD on another PC via the network versus from one identical WD HDD to another WD HDD inside the same PC (not network)!

Strange?

 

[krzywica]

(24 HDD bays + five 80mm fans + 900W PSU)?

Dual redundant hot swappable PSU's.

My only gripes about these server cases (NORCO, SuperMicro) are the fans.

They only have five 80mm fans for 24 HDDs?

Won't there be a heat -vs- noise issue?

I guess your CPU can be cooled with a large CPU cooler, and your case fans can be replaced w/ larger fans?

Yes you can replace the larger fans but your not going to increase airflow. Those aren't your ordinary run of the mill case fans. They have composite blades with extremely powerful motors on them....they push a hell of a lot of air and are noisy. But they are designed for a server room thats full of other noisy stuff away from noise sensitive environments. Its a rack mount case for a reason...it goes in a rack that belongs in a closet/server room.

I just did a comparison between the DIR-655 -vs- the SMC Networks SMC8505. I copied a BD ISO file (40GB) between 2 PCs/2 HDDs.

Guess what? The transfer rate was exactly the SAME! So looks like the DIR-655 truly supports jumbo frames.

Jumbo frames aren't really going to increase your throughput, only make large transfers faster. Think of it like if you are going to move. If you put everything in smaller boxes you will have to make more trips in and out of the house using more energy....if you use bigger boxes then you can get the same work accomplished with less effort. Jumbo frames really just reduces your CPU load bit lowering the packet calculation overhead.

 

[krzywica]

this dude on the hardforum has an crazy 100 TB nas build

loud as hell too :O

not sure how much he's spending, but here are his specs:
* Case: Chenbro RM91250 9U 50-Bay Storage Center Server Chassis with 1620 Watt 3+1 Redundant Power Supply
* Motherboard: ASUS P7P55 WS SUPERCOMPUTER Motherboard
* CPU: Intel i7-860 2.8GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor
* RAM: G.Skill F3-12800CL7D-4GBRM Ripjaw DDR3 1600MHz 4GB Dual Channel Memory Kit
* GPU: Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5450 1GB GDDR3 1600MHz DVI/HDMI/D-SUB PCI-E 2.0 Graphics Card
* RAID Controller: Areca ARC-1680i PCI-E x8 SAS RAID Adapter
* SAS Expander: 2 x HP 36-Port SAS Expander Cards
* ODD: Lite-On DL-8ATS SATA Slot Load Black Slim CD/DVD Burner
* HDD: 52 x WD20EADS 2TB 32MB SATA 3Gb/s Caviar Green Drives
* UPS: APC Matrix-UPS 5KVA XR 208V/240V in 120/208/240 Out with 3 x APC Matrix-UPS SmartCell XR Battery Packs
* O/S: TBD - Maybe Microsoft Windows Home Server V2 (when it finally gets released) or Windows Server 2008 R2 - More about this later

Probably around $15k. He's retarded though if he runs either OS that is currently listed as one just came out of Beta and the other is still in development. Also contributing to his tard status is the fact that he is using 52 WD green drives that are not designed for RAID use...... None the less a ridiculous and cool build.