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Setting up custom pc for data storage.
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Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Long Island
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Hey guys, sorry if this is unexciting for some, and may have been talked about many times in this forum.
I have custom PC set up with a gigabyte board and RAID controller. My family plans to back up important data from my father's business. I want to set up a RAID 1 (for fault prevention) with two terabyte disks. I want to know what the best version of linux would be to use, I was thinking Fedora Core server edition, but I am welcome to your suggestions as many of you are extremely experienced in this field.
I have a 3o- something port sonicwall Switch/Router/Firewall and will plug it directly into this for access with our sisco aironets, which are also plugged into this.
Also, is it best to use a regular cat5 cable for this, or should I use a crossover cable?
Thanks for the help, any tips are welcome.
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I miss the days of the G5 and XPS Pentium 4 running side by side as high-end machines.
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Posting Junkie
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Houston, TX
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Why not buy an appliance? There are a number of 2 drive NAS enclosures that will do mirroring.
If you want something to tinker with, sure, go ahead and play with Linux. But for important business data? Eeep.
Either cable will do. But the motivation to ask this question makes me nervous about the above.
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Clinically Insane
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: planning a comeback !
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Filed under "why pick an easy solution if you can make it more complicated".
-t
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Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Long Island
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I am taking a linux class and I want to "tinker" with it.
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I miss the days of the G5 and XPS Pentium 4 running side by side as high-end machines.
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Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Long Island
Status:
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I also don't understand why it's such a big deal to put an old PC to use instead of buying something brand new when I already have all the parts laying around.
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I miss the days of the G5 and XPS Pentium 4 running side by side as high-end machines.
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Clinically Insane
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: planning a comeback !
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Originally Posted by Googer-Giger 
I also don't understand why it's such a big deal to put an old PC to use instead of buying something brand new when I already have all the parts laying around.
Tinkering and backup don't belong in the same sentence.
IMO.
-t
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Posting Junkie
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Houston, TX
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It's great that you're learning and tinkering with an old box.
That's not where you want to store important business data.
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Edmonton, AB
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Most ethernet ports these days are auto switching which means it won't matter which cable you use. If in doubt a patch cable should be the correct one for most applications.
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Clinically Insane
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Vacation.
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Yer should have yer important data backed up to two places anyways.
So go ahead and buy that NAS appliance. Then see Bess about which Linux is best to tinker with for the machine holding the "other" backup.
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Been inclined to wander... off the beaten track.
That's where there's thunder... and the wind shouts back.
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Moderator  Join Date: May 2001
Location: Hilbert space
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I would advise you have a look at FreeNAS: it's a FreeBSD distribution that provides a simple to install network attached storage solution. It is easy to install and you can configure it via a web interface.
If you know what a command line is, you should also have a look at Open Solaris + ZFS which provides you with a very, very flexible storage solution. You can use RAIDZ which is like RAID5 in terms of features but without the write hole.
However, I third the suggestion that you shouldn't mix backup (especially business backups!) and tinkering. It may very well be that you're better served with something like a LaCie 2 Disk which gives you a cheap hardware RAID1 (or RAID0 or JBOD, it's configurable) that is idiot proof, it just works. Depending on the version, they sport an ethernet port so you can directly plug it into your switch. There are hardware RAID enclosures from other manufacturers (Western Digital, whatever).
One thing: if you want to create a backup solution for your dad, you have to look beyond hardware. Mirroring harddrives ≠ data safety. It starts with software, a NAS is just a way to provide storage for the backup. Some simple questions you must answer:
(1) How much data of what kind do you need/want to have backed up?
(2) How often does the data change?
(Very often data can be broken down into projects. After a project has been completed, the data may not change at all.)
(3) How important is the data? The more important data is to you, the more redundancy you want.
(4) Always keep off-site backups of your data.
In terms of implementation:
(1) A clone is not a backup. (Please repeat after me: a clone is not a backup!) Cloning may seem very simple and while cloning may make sense in certain situations, they make for lousy backups. You want your backups to be incremental. There are different solutions depending on the actual configuration and data.
If you insist on cloning, use it in addition to real backups.
(2) Use Time Machine at least for some of the data. If your dad has a recent Mac, Time Machine is a fire and forget solution. It's certainly the first backup software that my father actually uses.
(3) Always try to recover data at least once!
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I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
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