SSD vs HDD vs Hybrid SSD? RAID? Need to upgrade / advice? Storage Options

[Zero_Kool 5]

Thanks for reading my post....

 

My recent 120GB kingstion v200 ssd failed last night which runs MB3 ;(

 

I was in the process of backing up the ssd when it failed.....ran toolbox for the discontinued drive but nothing see's it?

 

I am stuck on deciding if I should go with another SSD? or a cheaper 1TB WD blue drive for $50?

 

What is the best RAID setup?

 

I currently have a 4TB samsung external drive with most media on it aswell...

 

I was thinking of running whole new configuration and / or VM's?

 

What is the best setup to go with?

 

Brainstorming.....

 

 

[Mdaloha77 5]

Depends on money, but for quick easy setup go with another single ssd - for OS and MB. If you like your data on external drive, buy another one and synchronize between them.

If you got lot of many and time you can start play with NAS like synology, qnap etc.

[Zero_Kool 5]

Thanks for the reply.... I am confused on how to synchronize between multiple external drives.....also, is there a best way to test my failed ssd or what do you recommend for a replacement?

 

Money is always a factor but for the right setup....I am willing to break the wallet open.

[Mdaloha77 5]

with 2 hdd is synchronization easy

if is ssd dead is dead...for condition of ssd consult with s.m.a.r.t(speedfan is free), replacement...another samsung or intel ssd - and simply just dont buy cheapest sh.t.

[AgileHumor 123]

What OS will you be using?

[Zero_Kool 5]

that depends.... I have some options.... windows server 2012, 2008, Windows 7 Pro, 

[AgileHumor 123]

I use Windows 8.1 (2012 R2 kernel), YMMV on 7.

 

I have an Windows software mirror combining:

• 2 x SSD on a BIOS Raid 0
• 4TB SATA

The theory is most read operations will use the disk with the least queue depth (SSD) but have a backup OS partition when the SSD finally go (if SSD disk not there, the SATA is second on boot order so the system will boot without interaction)  I've turned on write caching to the SATA disk to ease write performance issues of the SW mirror.

 

I use the rest of the 4TB as part of the OS (previous versions) for pictures and documents...as well as backups of the entire system disk (so I get backup every week for history of 4 weeks for my system volume). 

 

For my media storage I initially used to use 4 x 4TB internal drives setup with Windows Storage Spaces using mirror/dual copy/RAID 1, not parity/RAID 5 which is it's too slow in SW (no RAID card) limiting 160/Mbs drives to 25/MBs.  Mirror/dual copy is great for speed, but wastes half your disks.

 

I've since switched for media storage to an external 4 disk array with 6TB controlled by a LSI 8 drive controller so my RAID 5 write speed is 200/MBs,  The theory is I have enough disks to justify the expensive RAID card as buying twice the disks as my upgrade project would require would be more expensive.

• SAS9280-8E Sgl Raid 8PORT Ext 6GB Sas/sata Pcie 2.0 512MB
• StarTech.com 1U Rackmount 4-Bay 3.5 inches SATA SAS External Trayless Hard Drive Enclosure - 3.5 inch External HDD Enclosure w/ SATA 6 Gbps
• Monoprice 1m 28AWG External Mini SAS 26-Pin SFF-8088 Male to Mini SAS 26-Pin SFF-8088 Male Cable, Black (108184)
• + 4 x Hard Drives

This solution gives me 18TB of usable space with parity on this external 4 disk shelf....and the RAID controller has capacity to add another 4 disk storage shelf for another 24TB (with 6TB disks) of space in the future.

 

More details on my media server/media player prior to the new RAID card: http://mediabrowser.tv/community/index.php?/topic/4115-ot-new-server-build-opinions/#entry64719 

[Zero_Kool 5]

Thank you for sharing your setup, it is very intriguing. It gives me ideas, also expandable. Can you post a pic of your setup?

[hurricanehrndz 149]

I personally use the unRAID project, but I'm into Linux. If that's not an option it might not be worth it

[Chris Jones 13]

My set up is a samsung SSD for the OS/programs and 2x2TB + 1x4TB Western Digital Red drives for storage and i use StableBit DrivePool to pool them all together which allows the pool to expanded over time and you can choose how many copies of files are created (e.g. my important documents have 3 copies, movies/tv shows have 2 etc.). Cheaper/easier to set up than RAID which seems like a pain to manage, also you have to rebuild the array if a drive fails. With drivepool you can just access the individual disks to get your stuff back.

[Zero_Kool 5]

Thanks Chris, are your drives external?