Storage Enclosure System vs NAS

[sfnetwork 514]

Hi Yeah i was not going to worry about there raid thing i am going to use FR so wondering why did you like san digital one and not Rosewill RSV-S8 which the cheaptest of all 259.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816132016

 

Thanks

reliability...

I saw a lot of "not detecting", etc... in feedbacks and reviews... that would scare me...

And I personally was looking at the Sans Digital not so long ago... And I heard and seen good feedbacks about those and they have been around for a while.

Again, don't blame me if it sucks lol I never tested it...

Edited October 12, 2013 by sfnetwork

[Airbender 113]

reliability...

I saw a lot of "not detecting", etc... in feedbacks and reviews... that would scare me...

And I personally was looking at the Sans Digital not so long ago... And I heard and seen good feedbacks about those and they have been around for a while.

Again, don't blame me if it sucks lol I never tested it...

Hi No worries i am not buying yet i have to save up , i read the feedback on so many of them and all have bad feedback but most of them talk about raid and so on

if i can build it for cheaper i would but i am new to the whole JBOD Enclosure and eSata and speed and so on

 

is it possible to build one ?? just wondering

[Overseer 66]

I'm running the 8-bay Sans Digital enclosure to go along with my WHS 2011 server. Have a mixture of 1.5TB to 4TB drives in it and have had no issue. I am not using FlexRaid but Stablebit DrivePool and right now my pool is at 22TB with no issues. I haven't had any issues with drives overheating within the Sans Digital box. I am sticking mainly with WD Red drives which have been top notch with me.

[Airbender 113]

I'm running the 8-bay Sans Digital enclosure to go along with my WHS 2011 server. Have a mixture of 1.5TB to 4TB drives in it and have had no issue. I am not using FlexRaid but Stablebit DrivePool and right now my pool is at 22TB with no issues. I haven't had any issues with drives overheating within the Sans Digital box. I am sticking mainly with WD Red drives which have been top notch with me.

 

what model of sans digital is yours ?

 

i am lookiing at this one

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816111168&nm_mc=EMC-IGNEFL101013&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL101013-_-EMC-101013-Index-_-ServerRAIDSystems-_-16111168-LM2A

[Overseer 66]

what model of sans digital is yours ?

 

i am lookiing at this one

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816111168&nm_mc=EMC-IGNEFL101013&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL101013-_-EMC-101013-Index-_-ServerRAIDSystems-_-16111168-LM2A

That is the one I own, which I got through Newegg as well.

 

The drive trays slide out the front of the enclosure so there is no need to remove the cover. They are not screwless drive trays, you have to use screws to secure the drives, but the enclosure comes with plenty of screws for that. The drive tray numbering starts from the bottom to the top of the enclosure.

 

The fan in the back has a blue led light and is kinda bright in a dark room, but just a matter of replacing with a different 120mm fan. The fan is a little loud but not at all distracting.

 

The included eSata cables are pretty sturdy and stay connected to the enclosure. No accidental disconnects or cables popping out.

 

The enclosure uses a regular computer power cable, no power-bricks.

 

As noted within the comments on Newegg the eSata card comes preconfigured for hardware raid but there is a firmware that you can download from the card website to reconfigure as non-raid. However, you can still run as JBOD if you don't do that.

 

I bought this several months ago to upgrade my 4-bay Sans Digital enclosure (TR4M- and I've no complaints. Pretty solid case.

 

Newegg is having a sale now on a WD Red 3TB drive for $124.99 which I'm gonna get to get me up to 25TB. That'll fill up all my 8 drive bays and then I'll put the 4-bay enclosure back in play for future expansion.

 

Using DrivePool with WHS2011 is pretty straightforward. Add a drive to the bay, open the dashboard, add the drive to the pool, and that's it.

 

Long story short, I am satisfied with the case and would recommend it to others.

[Airbender 113]

Hi thanks alot good information 

[MrKazador 5]

I use Snapraid for my software raid, its very simple and basic. Doesn't even have a GUI, CMD line only. To pool all my content together I use Junction folders and to make it all easy, Link Shell Extension can create Junction folders with a couple clicks. it takes a little work to set it all up at first but after that, its real easy to maintain. Did I mention its all free? Before spending cash on software it doesn't hurt to try it out...

 

http://snapraid.sourceforge.net/

http://schinagl.priv.at/nt/hardlinkshellext/hardlinkshellext.html

 

Instead of buying a NAS or similar device, you could probably build a mediaserver for about $300.

Edited October 13, 2013 by MrKazador

[Airbender 113]

I use Snapraid for my software raid, its very simple and basic. Doesn't even have a GUI, CMD line only. To pool all my content together I use Junction folders and to make it all easy, Link Shell Extension can create Junction folders with a couple clicks. it takes a little work to set it all up at first but after that, its real easy to maintain. Did I mention its all free? Before spending cash on software it doesn't hurt to try it out...

 

http://snapraid.sourceforge.net/

http://schinagl.priv.at/nt/hardlinkshellext/hardlinkshellext.html

 

Instead of buying a NAS or similar device, you could probably build a mediaserver for about $300.

 

Hello MrKazador,

 

Long story short most of the guys who replied they know my issue and some know it in detail so this post is next update on past issue 

if you interested or want to know more you go here

 

http://community.mediabrowser.tv/permalinks/15381/what-would-you-do

http://community.mediabrowser.tv/permalinks/15372/cloud-storage-of-your-choice

 

Thanks again

[JeremyFr79 228]

Check around your area for Surplusers, here in Seattle you could get a very nice server for less than those enclosures, if you live near a major city, finding good used/cheap servers shouldn't be too hard.  It's what i do, I get all my stuff from these guys.......www.3rtechnology.com

[Airbender 113]

Check around your area for Surplusers, here in Seattle you could get a very nice server for less than those enclosures, if you live near a major city, finding good used/cheap servers shouldn't be too hard.  It's what i do, I get all my stuff from these guys.......www.3rtechnology.com

Hi

Thanks but i dont want server case Thanks for reply

[Overseer 66]

Check around your area for Surplusers, here in Seattle you could get a very nice server for less than those enclosures, if you live near a major city, finding good used/cheap servers shouldn't be too hard.  It's what i do, I get all my stuff from these guys.......www.3rtechnology.com

Bookmarked. Thanks for the link.

[JeremyFr79 228]

Bookmarked. Thanks for the link.

No problem, I've purchased several from these guy's and they're awesome, all machines are thoroughly tested, 30 day warranty, etc.  Been extremely happy with them and their prices.

[Airbender 113]

No problem, I've purchased several from these guy's and they're awesome, all machines are thoroughly tested, 30 day warranty, etc.  Been extremely happy with them and their prices.

 

Hi i just bought it for $269.99 - Mail n Rebates $30 so if even i dont get the rebate check still good deal for a system that can hold 32TB worth of data

[JeremyFr79 228]

Hi i just bought it for $269.99 - Mail n Rebates $30 so if even i dont get the rebate check still good deal for a system that can hold 32TB worth of data

To each their own, glad you found something that works for your needs, I'm an I.T. Professional so my home setup tends to be above and beyond what most would do.  I prefer the manageability that running a windows domain gives me especially since I have so many clients etc in the house.  Hell I even built my own firewall/gateway for my network lol, just how I am.  Right now I have 4 physical servers running, several more VM's, and will be building a 24 drive external array to run of my main video server which will then give me nearly 100tb of additional storage.

[syggy 1]

Being an IT Pro has upsides and downsides: one of the major downsides is that you tend to want to build everything by yourself from scratch, playing around with weird linux distributions and quirky open source tools. It can be a lot of fun using all this stuff and tinkering with it, but at the end of the day it also should work and cause little to no maintenance. This is where commercial solutions usually shine.

I have bought myself a Synology NAS over a year ago and would never step back to homebrewn solutions. Manageability, RAID, many built in features like torrent downloaders, iSCSI support and interface bonding - and everything works at first try at the click of a few buttons. I played with the thought of building a custom ESXi machine with HW RAID and such things but simply finding supported hardware for all my needs proofed to be a nightmare. So I just bought the Synology, some generic HW for the ESXi (Asus MB, Core i5 CPU, 32GB of RAM) and connected it via iSCSI to the NAS - voilá! Worked out of the box, is reasonably fast and works extremely reliable. The whole setup (DS412+, 3TB drives + Server HW did cost me around 1500€.

I had a lot of spare hardware lying around, using an old WD Raptor as a bootdisk for the ESXi (overkill, I know...), for networking I use a Cisco SML 2008 manageable switch which also works like a charm.

I also avoid linux for generic home use as much as possible - it is fun to play with but it is soo easy to get lost and stuck, searching obscure forums for help and fail a few meters before the finish line. And when you think you have found the holy grail the developer just stops working on the project... But I have to say I love it for dedicated appliances like firewalls or other security boxes.

 

Coming back to the topic - it is all about TCO - total cost of ownership. Commercial solutions like NAS boxes cost more to get but have little to no maintenance costs (I'm speaking mostly about time here in the private field). Homebrewn solutions tend to be cheaper to acquire but require lots of maintenance (again - time)

For me saving hours and weekends that I can spend with my family and also enjoying the system as a customer (read: watching stuff on the TV) weighs much more then the few 100€ more that I had to spend.

[JeremyFr79 228]

Being an IT Pro has upsides and downsides: one of the major downsides is that you tend to want to build everything by yourself from scratch, playing around with weird linux distributions and quirky open source tools. It can be a lot of fun using all this stuff and tinkering with it, but at the end of the day it also should work and cause little to no maintenance. This is where commercial solutions usually shine.

I have bought myself a Synology NAS over a year ago and would never step back to homebrewn solutions. Manageability, RAID, many built in features like torrent downloaders, iSCSI support and interface bonding - and everything works at first try at the click of a few buttons. I played with the thought of building a custom ESXi machine with HW RAID and such things but simply finding supported hardware for all my needs proofed to be a nightmare. So I just bought the Synology, some generic HW for the ESXi (Asus MB, Core i5 CPU, 32GB of RAM) and connected it via iSCSI to the NAS - voilá! Worked out of the box, is reasonably fast and works extremely reliable. The whole setup (DS412+, 3TB drives + Server HW did cost me around 1500€.

I had a lot of spare hardware lying around, using an old WD Raptor as a bootdisk for the ESXi (overkill, I know...), for networking I use a Cisco SML 2008 manageable switch which also works like a charm.

I also avoid linux for generic home use as much as possible - it is fun to play with but it is soo easy to get lost and stuck, searching obscure forums for help and fail a few meters before the finish line. And when you think you have found the holy grail the developer just stops working on the project... But I have to say I love it for dedicated appliances like firewalls or other security boxes.

 

Coming back to the topic - it is all about TCO - total cost of ownership. Commercial solutions like NAS boxes cost more to get but have little to no maintenance costs (I'm speaking mostly about time here in the private field). Homebrewn solutions tend to be cheaper to acquire but require lots of maintenance (again - time)

For me saving hours and weekends that I can spend with my family and also enjoying the system as a customer (read: watching stuff on the TV) weighs much more then the few 100€ more that I had to spend.

I think that could be debated, for me everything is off the shelf servers and windows OS, my firewall/gateway is PFSense running on a Dell PE1950,  Setup really wasn't that bad for everything, further I save bandwidth/time by running my own WSUS server, making updates across the network much more efficient and saving a ton of bandwidth since updates are only downloaded once to the server instead of 10+ times.  Like you I don't have time for Linux and just want things to work.  My main video server didn't cost me a dime minus drives I added to it, but I already had those in another server I had built and since de-commisioned, my other 3 physical servers cost me a total of $210, and all but my DC are still current machines hardware wise.  You'd be hard pressed to ever build a setup like mine for what I've put into it money wise.  All servers are running 2Gbps bonded connections and the network from there is 1Gbps to everything, and I'm on a 130Mbps down/25Mpbs up WAN connection.  To say that it all runs smooth as butter is an understatement.  I guess I'm just one of those that live in the "go big or go home" categories lol.

[syggy 1]

Well, like everything this is a matter of value. How much time and/or money can you put into reaching a certain goal. Can you overreach it with your defined budget or will you be short of budget before ever reaching your goal. Of course - we are all a bit nerdy and usually have lots of stuff that we can refurbish into new solutions. I'm also quite a fan of "fits just right" solutions and not just throwing power, time and money at the problem

One problem that I find quite interesting is that I put quite a lot of time into research before ever buying or building stuff. This can save you time in the long run, but also gives you the odd feeling that maybe there was even a better solution if I would have tried harder and put more effort in researching the topic. But we get a bit esoteric here

[Airbender 113]

Hello

 

Comming back to this post again so now my system is up but i notice strange speed between hard drive in my pc and Storage Enclosure System

10 GB files takes up to 8 Hours or more to go from one drive to anther drive very strange to me

 

 

 

 

[johnchimpo 7]

Running a JBOD or RAID? What is the network connection like? Disk drive specs?

[Airbender 113]

Running a JBOD or RAID? What is the network connection like? Disk drive specs?

Hello i got this one :Sans Digital 8-Bay eSATA RAID 0/1/10/5/JBOD Tower Storage Enclosure w/ 6G PCIe Card TR8M+B (Black)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816111168 all my drives are 2TB and 3TB and 4TB all Sata 3 6G and as far the card it is e-sata as far network goes eveything i have is 1GB Nic on all my pc's and switches and router

 

Thanks

[Airbender 113]

Hello

 

Left my pc on all night long and now i see it is still transferring the files it been over 8 hours

 

 

if i cant fix this speed issue then i will have to return this unit and get my money back

[gthrift 57]

Are you using the supplied esata card?  Can you connection the unit to a different esata port?

[Airbender 113]

Are you using the supplied esata card?  Can you connection the unit to a different esata port?

Hello

 

No my MB came with JOBD e-sata port but they are not port mulitplier i already tried so i have to use e-sata card that came with Sans Digital 8-Bay. i also noticed that the light change from solid green to amber on top port 5,6,7,8 as it goes off and then come back as green and then amber and then green. Meanwhile i notice my pc is running very slow so it is on Raid 1 with 2 SSD.

 

Thanks

[Airbender 113]

TR8M+B
8 x Hard Drive Trays
Power Cord
2 x eSATA Cable
RR622 Dual-Port eSATA 6Gb/s PCIe 2.0 x1 RAID Controller
Screws (1 set)
Quick Installation Manual & CD

[johnchimpo 7]

To troubleshoot I would recommend removing all but one drive from the enclosure and test writing to it over esata since it sounds like you're just using it as JBOD you shouldn't need to be using a RAID controller.