Currently have PMS running on Win10 Server and have 8TB Raid 1 NAS (4TB available).
Performance is ok but notice a little lag sometimes waiting for HDDs to spin up but write speed is not wonderful.
NAS is used for PMS libraries but also personal files. I want to these to be safe including the PMS libraries as it has home videos and photos.
I don’t want to use a cloud service as my ISP limits my monthly bandwidth. Cost of storage isn’t a huge concern
I was thinking of following
Win10 Server setup 2x 4TB drives Raid 0 and store all files on here. Is Windows storage space ok for software raid??
NAS setup 3 or 4 4TB drives Raid 5(3) or 10(4) and routinely backup from Win10 server to NAS.
There’s a pile of different arguments on the various RAID configurations, however software implementation typically lags behind hardware. As far as longevity, the basic rule of thumb for spinning discs is 5 years. With RAID, it’s also important to try not to get the entire batch of discs at the same time from the same lots. More often than not, when they fail, they do so in batches. This tends to be a recipe for RAID disaster.
@mdnitoil said:
There’s a pile of different arguments on the various RAID configurations, however software implementation typically lags behind hardware. As far as longevity, the basic rule of thumb for spinning discs is 5 years. With RAID, it’s also important to try not to get the entire batch of discs at the same time from the same lots. More often than not, when they fail, they do so in batches. This tends to be a recipe for RAID disaster.
Don’t worry about getting HDD from different batches in today’s world. If a HDD is going to fail it will to it right from the start. what you need to do burn in your drives and fully stress test them before using them. This usually takes about 24h per drive for testing.
As for your performance problems your should test your network using iperf to make sure your network is OK. Then test your Nas performance locally. Using software vs hardware raid doesn’t matter. And actually hardware raid is getting used less and less. Software raid has features that hardware raid can never do. Like checksums and multiple disk arrangements.
For longevity expect most drives to last about 5 years if you keep their temps around or before 40c. Also don’t ever spin down your drives, that is going to severely limit their lifespan. Drives like to spin let them do it. The power savings isn’t enough to even make up the difference of having to buy a drive sooner.
@SweetAndLow said:
Also don’t ever spin down your drives, that is going to severely limit their lifespan. Drives like to spin let them do it. The power savings isn’t enough to even make up the difference of having to buy a drive sooner.
Varies depending on the drive model, but for these WD Reds, certainly yes. Spin-down is a bad solution to a non-existent problem. You’re better off letting them stay spinning.
