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I currently have HP ML350 G6 with 2x300 GB raid disks.

Server main purpose is: - Exchange server - Office network (25 users) - File storage

Now one problem is that one department has a need of archiving files (lets say it is an active archive which is used on a daily basis).

I was checking disk prices and trying to figure out a proper solution for this. This is what I came up with...

  • Any disk has to be setup in raid to protect from data loss
  • I need at least 2x750 GB (raid)
  • Since I plan to leave Exchange and system files on original server disks, are there any other alternatives for file storage in this configuration instead of adding additional disks.

What about diskstation or some other external storage solutions? Do I need to pay attention for 7.2 or 10 K disks when used for file storage (speed issue?)

ewwhite
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John
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2 Answers2

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Everything depends on office requirements and activity, what do they do, are they writing new files all the time, do they need 120MB/s speed while copying files or not, etc.

For average office use 7200 RPM disks are enough, you can add two of these and build one more logical device on RAID1 array.

For efficient use it's better to populate drive bays and build 4 or 6-drive high capacity RAID10 array, which will improve performance up to 2x/3x times and also will add more reliability.

External storage will be inefficient investment - it costs more money. Regarding USB drives - It's not recommended due to performance penalties - USB2 is half-duplex interface.

GioMac
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If I were in your situation, I'd expand the drive array...

You have an HP ProLiant ML350 G6 server with six drive bays. This system has an HP Smart Array P410 RAID controller.

Depending on whether you have a battery-backed cache unit on the controller, one of the cleaner options is to add 4 identical 300GB 15k SAS drives to the array. They're cheap today. If you have a RAID cache battery, you can do this while the system is running. The benefit will be that you can expand the underlying array, gain the performance boost that comes with 6 disks, make the array more fault-tolerant and make the best use of the system's space.

Once grown, you will have unallocated space available to the operating system. From there, you can carve out new partitions and allocate data for your other needs.

ewwhite
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  • are you talking about RAID 2? – John Sep 19 '13 at 09:01
  • This would be a RAID 1+0 configuration. You'd end up with 900GB of usable space. – ewwhite Sep 19 '13 at 09:22
  • ok, got it. do all 6 disks have to be identical? – John Sep 19 '13 at 12:27
  • Yes, they should be the same model. See the HP "Spare Part" number on the disk label. Go to eBay and buy the same thing. (300GB drives aren't really made anymore) – ewwhite Sep 19 '13 at 12:44
  • I was able to find 4 more identical disks so I could go with your suggestion. What happens if any of the disks fails and I am not able to get the identical disk as a replacement? – John Sep 30 '13 at 10:28