The 10,000 rpm Western Digital Raptor series SATA drives scream. I love them and are using them in a RAID 1 configuration (with a hardware 3ware RAID controller) for a couple of servers.
The Raptors are about twice as expensive as the Maxtor, but for a server application they are still cheaper than SCSI.
My primary server uses a pair of the 36 gig Raptors for drive C and a pair of 74 gig Raptors for drive D. All connect to a 3ware 8506-4LP hardware RAID controller, runing RAID 1 on each pair of drives.
Our server only needs about 5 gig of storage at present, so the 74 gig volume will suffice for quite a while.
I'm building a second server which will be used solely to backup the main server. It will have a pair of Maxtor 300 gig SATA drives running software RAID 1. The plan is for a rotating, automated nightly backup and a weekly archival backup of the main server shared volume onto it. One of the SATA drives will be removeable and be taken off-site each Friday night.
I can ditto Jim's post regarding the Raptor's. I have two of them in a RAID 0 array and can definitely see the difference in benchmarks and games appear to load a lot faster. Only thing I would recommend though is that one image the array every now and then...there is no redundancy in RAID 0 ...if one drive goes, the whole thing goes.
I decided against a Raid 0 array for the reasons you mentioned. If one drive goes they are both gone. And I do not like Drive Imaging reliability nor do I like tape backups. And I am not wanting to do Raid 0 + 1 for my home and moderate gaming needs due to the number of drives needed, etc.
From my experience it is the ultimate lazy mans backup solution. You just unlock one of the mirrored drives, and take it off site and pop in another drive. Similar to a tape backup only using bootable hard drives.
It may not be as fast as Raid 0 but with those Fast Maxtors I think I will have an awesome system that is constantly and easily mirrored with 100% off site backup.
The case arrived today. It has no UV, just LED. I'm gonna add sound activated lights. It's a cool lookin case. My kids think so anyway.
I like this company because they allow you to order only the pieces you need, unlike others out there.
For example, I left out the floppy drive (obsolete). I left out the graphics card, hard drives, and burner. Installing the ones I want. But I accepted their Intel motherboard, power supply and their 1 GB Corsair memory (which has blinking leds along the edge of the modules indicating memory usage :D-->.)
By the way, I am going with XP Pro over 2003 Server. I use both so I can compare how they both behave. This was a tough decision. But it came down to one thing......there is tons of support for XP vs 2003 Server. And you can "modify" XP more than 2003 Server.
Pretty nice. It's always good when the kids like something we make (:
quote:I like this company because they allow you to order only the pieces you need, unlike others out there.
For example, I left out the floppy drive (obsolete). I left out the graphics card, hard drives, and burner. Installing the ones I want. But I accepted their Intel motherboard, power supply and their 1 GB Corsair memory (which has blinking leds along the edge of the modules indicating memory usage Big Grin.)
I've never bought a ready-made PC. I just finshed building 8 machines for work. I did 2 a night over the long weekend. I ended up with $800-$900 units for closer to $500 each and they are exactly as I want.
Wow! Please come over to my house. I am sloooooowww as molasses, contemplating each wire practically. I treat it as more of a hobby.
Maybe I should be building ships in a bottle instead. :D-->
I also am striving for quietness. Not easy with these hot parts. Totally silent PC's are what should be the norm. Someday soon it will be I think. Last one I built for my office has 7 fans and it was no $500.
I prefer the X Connect for less cable clutter. Are you sure the X Connect series has light(s) inside or is it just "UV Blue" as it states. I really like the fact that it has the see through sides. But I wonder if those fans are LED lit? I hope so. If it has lighting I will definitely place an order! It will match my acrylic case perfectly.
Click the Image Gallery at the bottom of this site.
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Jim
The 10,000 rpm Western Digital Raptor series SATA drives scream. I love them and are using them in a RAID 1 configuration (with a hardware 3ware RAID controller) for a couple of servers.
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igotout
Jim - wow! Those are THE fastest. But expensive and small compared to the Maxtor mentioned above.
My understanding is that these Maxtors are almost as fast as the Raptors and hold up to 300 GB! But no question, the Raptors are the finest out there.
Raid speeds them both up.
Depends on the need and pocketbook I guess.
Day to day hard drives are much better (and less likely to crash and burn) than they used to be for all of us. And cheaper too.
My original point was to mention that it appears that SATA adds nothing at this point except looks and ease of installation.
But I am sure this will change in the future.
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Jim
The Raptors are about twice as expensive as the Maxtor, but for a server application they are still cheaper than SCSI.
My primary server uses a pair of the 36 gig Raptors for drive C and a pair of 74 gig Raptors for drive D. All connect to a 3ware 8506-4LP hardware RAID controller, runing RAID 1 on each pair of drives.
Our server only needs about 5 gig of storage at present, so the 74 gig volume will suffice for quite a while.
I'm building a second server which will be used solely to backup the main server. It will have a pair of Maxtor 300 gig SATA drives running software RAID 1. The plan is for a rotating, automated nightly backup and a weekly archival backup of the main server shared volume onto it. One of the SATA drives will be removeable and be taken off-site each Friday night.
So tell me what you're building?
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Bistro
I can ditto Jim's post regarding the Raptor's. I have two of them in a RAID 0 array and can definitely see the difference in benchmarks and games appear to load a lot faster. Only thing I would recommend though is that one image the array every now and then...there is no redundancy in RAID 0 ...if one drive goes, the whole thing goes.
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igotout
Me? I am just building a little home computer server at this time.
It is going to look something like this: Bushido
I decided against a Raid 0 array for the reasons you mentioned. If one drive goes they are both gone. And I do not like Drive Imaging reliability nor do I like tape backups. And I am not wanting to do Raid 0 + 1 for my home and moderate gaming needs due to the number of drives needed, etc.
My choice is this:
DupliDisk 3 - EX Raid
From my experience it is the ultimate lazy mans backup solution. You just unlock one of the mirrored drives, and take it off site and pop in another drive. Similar to a tape backup only using bootable hard drives.
It may not be as fast as Raid 0 but with those Fast Maxtors I think I will have an awesome system that is constantly and easily mirrored with 100% off site backup.
What are your thoughts?
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Bistro
Looks pretty slick to me...
Careful though with the lights in that case...avoid using UV..prolonged direct exposure is harmful to the eyes.
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igotout
The case arrived today. It has no UV, just LED. I'm gonna add sound activated lights. It's a cool lookin case. My kids think so anyway.
I like this company because they allow you to order only the pieces you need, unlike others out there.
For example, I left out the floppy drive (obsolete). I left out the graphics card, hard drives, and burner. Installing the ones I want. But I accepted their Intel motherboard, power supply and their 1 GB Corsair memory (which has blinking leds along the edge of the modules indicating memory usage
:D-->.)
By the way, I am going with XP Pro over 2003 Server. I use both so I can compare how they both behave. This was a tough decision. But it came down to one thing......there is tons of support for XP vs 2003 Server. And you can "modify" XP more than 2003 Server.
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Jim
Pretty nice. It's always good when the kids like something we make (:
I've never bought a ready-made PC. I just finshed building 8 machines for work. I did 2 a night over the long weekend. I ended up with $800-$900 units for closer to $500 each and they are exactly as I want.
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igotout
Wow! Please come over to my house. I am sloooooowww as molasses, contemplating each wire practically. I treat it as more of a hobby.
Maybe I should be building ships in a bottle instead.
:D-->
I also am striving for quietness. Not easy with these hot parts. Totally silent PC's are what should be the norm. Someday soon it will be I think. Last one I built for my office has 7 fans and it was no $500.
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Tom Strange
YOU GUYS ARE SUCH GEEKS!
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Tom Strange
...but I do like reading your stuff!
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pawtucket
John,
I remember. You add new meaning to meticulous.
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Goey
Gee, I wish I could afford all of this nifty super fast stuff that I don't really need - because, well I just don't really know.
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Bistro
Bought an Ultra X connect 500w power supply(modular psu) last night. If you want quiet, this is a good one.
(Ex-Wayfer Computer Geeks Unite!)
:D-->
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igotout
PAW, I gained a new appreciation for MACS when you were here.
:D-->
Nice power supply Bistro. I just might order one of those. I wish it had LED fans.
I'm not a computer geek, guys. More of a computer hobbyist. And there are far more expensive hobbies like hot rods and airplanes and women.
:D-->
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Jim
Since 1970. And you know what? Since I left TWI, I don't have to feel guilty about being a geek.
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Bistro
Ask and ye shall receive: They make them with LED and clear sides
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Tom Strange
Relax boys! I didn't say it was a bad thing to be a GEEK!
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igotout
I prefer the X Connect for less cable clutter. Are you sure the X Connect series has light(s) inside or is it just "UV Blue" as it states. I really like the fact that it has the see through sides. But I wonder if those fans are LED lit? I hope so. If it has lighting I will definitely place an order! It will match my acrylic case perfectly.
Click the Image Gallery at the bottom of this site.
X Connect Power Supply
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