Time for a new server ... opinions

[CCS]

I can't believe it, but I've already maxed out my Terastation. It's been on the job for a year. No complaints - I haven't powered it down since I got it running. But, no more room.

I'm thinking for my next server, I should consider building a more substantial dedicated server. I'm in the looking-for-advice stage.

What speed machine do I really need for this? What specs? For reference, my Buffalo unit is the 600GB model, but running under RAID5 I get 445GB of storage.

Option 1:
I could get another NAS and split the drives, or daisy chain them.

Option 2:
Build a server with whatever proc, mobo and RAM it needs, plus a gigabit NIC and a pile of drives. Then set up my current NAS as a backup.

Any opinions?

[jow]

And me
i've been looking at something like this-
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=250644

Or modding an old p4 pc i've here. Though this is about 6yr old and would cost roughly the same to get it up to spec.
Its got no Raid switch, no gigabit card and it bet the hhd is on its last legs.

[jacksc02]

you could always back up some of the stuff on the terastation and save yourself a heap of $$$$$$

[CCS]

I could, but I'd really like to have some sort of active backup system going too. Adding a server would allow that.

[jacksc02]

you dont need a massive ammount of processing power for a server, so you could always have a look on Ebay and see if there are any used servers and then buy some fresh drives for it

[pixelstudio]

hi there m8, we bought an 500gb buffalo server. but i was a bit disappionted about the speed... we have upgraded to a 1gb network but still... how did your terra-thingie do qua speed ?

[CCS]

I've got no complaints. Speed was better with the NAS, but previously I had been sharing folders on my PC mapped as drives. So, any network activity slowed my work, and vice-versa. Plus, like you, I switched to gigabit after putting in the NAS. So, from my point of view, it was a huge jump in speed. But I've been wondering if I wouldn't have better xfer with a dedicated "real" server. (Not a knock on the Buffalos at all.)