Separate NAS + Media server or an all-in-1 solution?

[Fuzzy]

To clarify, I do see some justification for RAID for the recordings and especially RIPs, just not if that requires a separate box to do it on. like I said, I ran RAID on XP when it was really easy to use, and I'd given though about using FlexRAID on my current system (just haven't actually gotten around to doing so). But that's not what this discussion was originally about.

[blade]

If you're not planning to backup important data from the Sage server to the NAS then I would consider going with 1 machine.

If you have important files on your Sage server that you want to backup to the NAS then go with separate systems. For example I store family photos and videos on the Sage server and back them up to a separate unRAID machine.

[patja]

I run one box with esxi and separate VMs for Omnios with ZFS and Sage. And a couple other unrelated VMs. Works great, and ZFS is balm to my wounds from the 90's when it seemed like I was doing a warranty return of a Seagate hard drive every 6 months. I have 2 external USB hard disks that I rotate for offsite backups, using ZFS "send" of snapshots.

I use Windows File History to copy files over to ZFS once a day from 5 windows machines, and then control retention of past versions through ZFS snapshots. The nice thing about the ZFS snapshots is that Windows now sees them as file history previous file versions with zero setup/config on the Windows side, which was an unexpected delight of cross-platform integration. And ZFS gives me much more control over snapshot retention (and storage requirements) than the few blunt config options Windows provides.

[Steve20A]

I have two x 2TB Raid 0 drives on the Sage-only machine, with a third 2TB Raid 0 drive ready if I need to expand Sage storage. Every night, Robocopy copies all changes to two external 2TB drives, for local backup. (I'll add a third if I ever put the 3rd 2TB Raid 0 drive into service.) In roughly 6 years of running Sage, I've had one Raid disk failure and limped along for a day until I could replace the drive.

While I agree that none of the recordings is so important, if I lose a recording that the wife expected to be there, she isn't happy, so... the Raid setup and backup is worth it.

Steve

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by Zadkiel

I totally agree with Fuzzy, stuff I record and download to SageTV/Plex is not worth the expense or hassle of RAID.
I do have a QNAP NAS on my network for my important stuff and it also runs Plex and my Security Cameras.
I did have a very passing thought of adding a share to SageTV, but with 6x3TB drives in my SageTV server, I just did some cleanup of the kids shows they don't watch anymore. Thought gone.

Maybe one day, we can get a QNAP app for SageTV?

what motherboard do you have that handles 6 x drives? Mine handles five max, and two of those are boot and DVD drive

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

what motherboard do you have that handles 6 x drives? Mine handles five max, and two of those are boot and DVD drive

Most AMD boards have the SB950 south bridge, which contains 6 SATA ports, and many add on an extra controller for more.

[medwynd]

As a followup, this is the build I ended up going with. I got a pretty good price on the storage. Everything else was pretty average in price. I'll be adding a cache drive that is a WD Green 2TB as soon as I move the data off it onto the new array.

Summary:
E31241V3, 16GB ECC RAM, 16TB Data Storage, 4TB Parity Drive, 500W PSU

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1241 V3 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($248.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Supermicro X10SL7-F Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (Purchased For $249.99)
Memory: Crucial 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($119.39 @ Directron)
Storage: Western Digital Red 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive (Purchased For $83.75)
Storage: Western Digital Red 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive (Purchased For $83.75)
Storage: Western Digital Red 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive (Purchased For $83.75)
Storage: Western Digital Red 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive (Purchased For $83.75)
Storage: Hitachi Deskstar NAS 4TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (Purchased For $105.00)
Storage: Hitachi Deskstar NAS 4TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (Purchased For $105.00)
Case: Antec Nine Hundred ATX Mid Tower Case (Purchased For $79.99)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (Purchased For $24.99)
Other: SanDisk Cruzer Fit CZ33 16GB USB 2.0 Low-Profile Flash Drive- SDCZ33-016G-B35 ($4.99)
Other: LimeTech Single unRAID® Server Plus Registration key ($89.00)
Total: $1362.34
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-01 00:24 EST-0500

[medwynd]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

To clarify, I do see some justification for RAID for the recordings and especially RIPs, just not if that requires a separate box to do it on. like I said, I ran RAID on XP when it was really easy to use, and I'd given though about using FlexRAID on my current system (just haven't actually gotten around to doing so). But that's not what this discussion was originally about.

I store all my rips, home movies, and pictures to my current media server. I do yearly backups from there that I move offsite. If I was just doing tv recordings then I wouldn't probably go this route. In reality all it is costing me more for a little extra protection is the cost of the unraid license and a parity drive.