Out of space. Upgrade tips needed.

[pentium]

I was fearing the day I would get that message but after almost a full year of use I finally got it.

Insufficient space on drive H:

That's right, my server has only 200 odd megs of total disk space left and there is nothing left for me to compress. Looks like it's time to upgrade.
The thing is that I don't know what to use. Since my Proliant 1600 is a Compaq I wanted to look into a Compaq array. There are a few on ebay but most of them are either expensive, missing their drives or expensive and missing their drives.
I saw this package on ebay and while it does look tempting I really don't want to dig deep for something that is not worth it. Add shipping to that and it will cost over $350.
With fiber channel I don't even know where to start. I have never used it (let alone seen it with my own eyes) and by the sounds of it you need to know what you are doing to even get it running. While it will allow use of larger drives it does seem to be really expensive. I also can't live with a single drive solution.
Currently I have setup user accounts so that one drive is dedicated to them and I also have to have a drive for my Hamachi clients. I find it far easier to manage user permissions per drive instead of per folder. A single drive not only means more work but also risks everyone losing their stuff should the drive fail.
All I need is at least 200 more gigs of space. What path should I take for upgrading?

[gdement]

Re: Out of space. Upgrade tips needed.

If you don't really need SCSI performance for it, then I'd be inclined to just get an ATA controller card and use inexpensive drives. I don't think they're as reliable, but it's probably a lot cheaper even if you add the expense of more backup storage.
I've been happy with a Promise FastTrak100, but that's getting obsolete now (can't recognize my 750GB drive). Serial ATA is more current and is probably a better way to go now, but I got scared away from SATA when I read about all the problems people were having with it on my motherboard. I figured PATA is just as good and much more mature.

[pentium]

Re: Out of space. Upgrade tips needed.

ATA storage is too impractical for what I need and SATA might work so long as I can have some sort of external array and the drives themselves are both reliable and they don't run super hot.

[willawake]

Re: Out of space. Upgrade tips needed.

http://www.3ware.com/

[shadow]

Re: Out of space. Upgrade tips needed.

Another big consideration is the price range. What are you willing to pay? Are you willing to buy and use second hand SCSI hard drives? I would recommend either good used SCSI hard drives (problem is, who knows how much longer it will last) or a SATA solution. However buying new SATA hard drives will be expensive. I guess it is significantly cheaper than buying new SCSI hard drives.

[pentium]

Re: Out of space. Upgrade tips needed.

That's why I had interest in an array that was already filled with drives. So long as the reseller has not been messing with the drives they should all be almost evenly worn.
Thanks for that link Will but I don't think I'll be looking for much in the way of new hardware. It would be like putting a dvd drive on a 386.

[shadow]

Re: Out of space. Upgrade tips needed.

It would be like putting a dvd drive on a 386.

Nice way to put it I guess.

[willawake]

Re: Out of space. Upgrade tips needed.

A single drive not only means more work but also risks everyone losing their stuff should the drive fail.

mirror is more "guaranteed" in the end than array.
array is not a backup anyway its just to make one fat drive out of multiple disks.
no jedi would trust completely in array....

[zandrax]

Re: Out of space. Upgrade tips needed.

I saw this package on ebay and while it does look tempting I really don't want to dig deep for something that is not worth it. Add shipping to that and it will cost over $350.
With fiber channel I don't even know where to start. I have never used it (let alone seen it with my own eyes) and by the sounds of it you need to know what you are doing to even get it running. While it will allow use of larger drives it does seem to be really expensive. I also can't live with a single drive solution.

Fibre channel is a network connection, but identfies a Scsi evolution too: it's really expensive and the Compay you linked features it because it's an enterprise class Scsi enclosure. In plain words, don't buy it unless your equipment can take advantage of.

Currently I have setup user accounts so that one drive is dedicated to them and I also have to have a drive for my Hamachi clients. I find it far easier to manage user permissions per drive instead of per folder. A single drive not only means more work but also risks everyone losing their stuff should the drive fail.
All I need is at least 200 more gigs of space. What path should I take for upgrading?

Your Compaq has an external Scsi port (the usual 80 pin LVD connector)?
You can look for a cheaper Scsi enclosure to attach: a 4 drive model such as this used Megadrive should be fine.
Used Scsi drives still cost 4 to 6 times their Ata couterparts, but they are more reliable: you should manage to get 4 72 GB 10K rpm drives for, say, $ 40-50 each. 10K rpm Seagate Cheetah and some Fujutsu models were workhorses years ago, so you can look for them.
BTW, your "1 person = 1 drive" policy is amazing: no Raid and no backups?
You trust a lot your drives ...

Zandrax

[shadow]

Re: Out of space. Upgrade tips needed.

mirror is more "guaranteed" in the end than array.
array is not a backup anyway its just to make one fat drive out of multiple disks.
no jedi would trust in array....

Yes, however a mirroring array can be quite good.
For example, how would you backup a 5TB array? You would have to splash huuggeee amounts of cash on a backup solution that will be able to back it all up safely. Like I do not even know of any good solution if you have a large amount of storage (like my example) to backup.

[shadow]

Re: Out of space. Upgrade tips needed.

You can look for a cheaper Scsi enclosure to attach: a 4 drive model such as this used Megadrive should be fine.
Used Scsi drives still cost 4 to 6 times their Ata couterparts, but they are more reliable: you should manage to get 4 72 GB 10K rpm drives for, say, $ 40-50 each. 10K rpm Seagate Cheetah and some Fujutsu models were workhorses years ago, so you can look for them.

This sounds like a pretty good solution to your specific problem.

[pentium]

Re: Out of space. Upgrade tips needed.

BTW, your "1 person = 1 drive" policy is amazing: no Raid and no backups?
You trust a lot your drives ...

Well, when it comes to backups it's just one very large drive that nobody on the network can access except me (when I am at the server) and the backup/recovery software. It was either that or get a VS160 DLT drive. Guess what was cheaper?

I saw that megadrive and it would also fit the bill perfectly. The problem like you stated, is getting the drives. Well it is better than nothing.

EDIT: Hold the phone, I think I have several 68 pin to SCA adapters somewhere.
That might be nice.

[willawake]

Re: Out of space. Upgrade tips needed.

Yes, however a mirroring array can be quite good.
For example, how would you backup a 5TB array?

well this is one of the sysadmin problems. what actually is the live data. no need to daily backup archive data.

[pentium]

Re: Out of space. Upgrade tips needed.

Wow, shipping for me will be $90. I knew it would not be cheap.

Who lives close to the seller and who wants to hold on to it for me until I can get a little more cash?

[zandrax]

Re: Out of space. Upgrade tips needed.

Wow, shipping for me will be $90. I knew it would not be cheap.

Who lives close to the seller and who wants to hold on to it for me until I can get a little more cash?

Asks for a slower (and cheaper) shipping: I found a 12 drives Sun enclosure which shipping fee is around $55. It's absurd: at roughly the same price you can get a cheap enclosure with a non-cheap shipping or a bigger and heavier one with standard ground shipping.
BTW, the Sun enclosure is only an example: don't bid on it, it's too slow for your needs (it seems an old Fast 20 unit with 50 pin conectors: I doubt it supports recent drives and it's way too slow).

Zandrax

[pentium]

Re: Out of space. Upgrade tips needed.

Well I asked the seller of the Megadrive if we could get cheaper shipping and so far he is one of those silent sellers.

[zandrax]

Re: Out of space. Upgrade tips needed.

Well I asked the seller of the Megadrive if we could get cheaper shipping and so far he is one of those silent sellers.

Damn. There are few enclosures available on ebay now and the Megadrive is the best one among them

Zandrax

[bgavin]

Re: Out of space. Upgrade tips needed.

mirror is more "guaranteed" in the end than array.

I used to think so, until I had a Netware server go apeshit and scribble all over the drives. Both of them were identically screwed.

The bill from OnTrack was about $2700 for the data recovery.

IMO, the only safe backup is an external backup to Tape, backup server, etc. I keep a current GHOST image of the system partition, and a daily backup of data files. I always partition for System and Data so they are kept segregated. This allows restoration of even a stolen machine from scratch in a short time. It also keeps me in billable hours with the clients...

[pentium]

Re: Out of space. Upgrade tips needed.

I know I am waking the dead here but how would this do?
I keep on forgetting if SCSI 2 was 50 or 68 pin though.

[Scenic]

Re: Out of space. Upgrade tips needed.

http://bambooz.pytalhost.net/badcaps...Connectors.gif