Advice with setting up a Tranquil BBS2 NAS

[brook]

Hi There,

It's my first post on here, I apologise if it's a little long.

I'm about to buy a BBS2 for network storage, streaming hd video/music to my PS3, Xbox 360 and PC's.

My recent purchase (ts-409) was extremely slow when writing large files to it, so I sent it back.


In the BBS2 I plan on using 4x1tb drives with h/w raid5 so my files are safe in the eventuality of hard drive fail.

My OS of choice will be windows if possible, but I would go for something else if the transfer rates are high, hardware raid5 is possible and I can stream many video and music formats to my consoles. So, the question for me is which OS.


WHS
I was going to use WHS but I've been told I can't use hardware raid. Instead I should use the spare(5th) drive slot for the operating system and use software raid5 for the 4x1tb drives.

Windows Server 2008
Another option (I think) is to install windows server 2008 onto the 4x1tb(hardware raid5) drives and use the spare drive bay for backup or to copy files to the BBS2 directly (at better speeds hopefully)

Linux or Freenas
I know nothing about these whatsoever but I'm willing to learn if hardware raid5 can be set up, files can be transfered quickly and my streaming needs can be met.


Of course I can't ask anybody to make my choice for me but hopefully you can help me with some questions


- Can the BBS2 cope with 2008, can it serve my needs, will the transfer rates be high through the 1gb network, will the spare/backup drive option be possible and will file transfer to and from this drive be fast.

- The WHS, will software raid5 be as fast and safe as the hardware raid5. Will transfer speeds be high.

- Am I better off installing another OS.

Sorry for big post and mega loaded questions but I might as well get it out in one go

Cheers

Brook

 

[thiggins]

The QNAP TS-409 is an older-generation NAS with transfer rates less than half that current-generation products can provide (TS-439 Pro, for example).

Unless the BBS2 has a hardware raid controller (which I don't think it has), you'll be dealing with "software" RAID. This is the same as all consumer NASes.

WHS doesn't use RAID, but uses a folder duplication and "Drive Extender" mechanisms that provide data redundancy without using RAID. The result is high performance because there is no RAID overhead.

Unless you are willing to go through a learning curve, I would say that WHS would be a better way for you to go.

Please note that RAID is not a substitute for backup. Never trust important data to a single device.

 

[Osamede]

The Tranquil BBS2 is also sold with WHS installed - the hardware is exactly the same on both versions. So you can install WHS on the BBS2 of course.

But the RAID controller on the BBS2 is sort of a cheap halfway house - which is the most common "hardware" RAID controller out there actually. It isnt a true hardware controller.

In any case software RAID is a better choice really and that you would get anways if you use Linux Ubuntu Server or WHS as well.

Also note that the best bet with the BBS2 to specify when you buy that you want the version with 2 drives on the IDE and 3 drives on the extender (2+3) and not the 1+4. That 2+3 configuration version is deliverd with an external E-sata port. This means that then you dont even need to physically insert the drive in the case, just to have a fast connection. The 1+4 does NOT have the Esata port.

As for Windows 2008 sever, it'll work - but by the time you spend that money to buy both the hardware and software, I think you could for the same price just buy a QNAP 439, which will require no work and give you the same performance. The real value of the BBS2 is to save money by just utilising in a free OS like Linux. Otherwise I would question the hassle and cost. Your time has value too.

 

[brook]

Thanks guys.

Well, if the software raid is just as fast as the hardware on this device, then it makes sense to have a spare eSATA for my external drive. I've not paid much attention to eSATA in the past, but after reading a little about transfer speeds for external USB and eSATA it seems that the eSATA could be 2-3 times faster theoretically.

If I go for this 2+3 drive configuration, will I have complete control of the 5 drives, by this I mean can I put the OS on one drive and software raid the other 4 ?


Re. WHS and Server 2008.

The software is not a problem, I could use a spare licence for 2008 from work but I would have to purchase/obtain WHS myself.

The reason I'm considering 2008 is because I hear that transfer rates are faster than WHS and also there might be some other limitations with WHS, like the size of drives/arrays? But on the other hand, 2008 seems a fairy big OS to be throwing on a system this small.


Again, thanks for you advice.

Brook

 

[Osamede]

If I go for this 2+3 drive configuration, will I have complete control of the 5 drives, by this I mean can I put the OS on one drive and software raid the other 4 ?

Yes, correct.

Re. WHS and Server 2008.

The software is not a problem, I could use a spare licence for 2008 from work but I would have to purchase/obtain WHS myself.

The reason I'm considering 2008 is because I hear that transfer rates are faster than WHS and also there might be some other limitations with WHS, like the size of drives/arrays? But on the other hand, 2008 seems a fairy big OS to be throwing on a system this small

As far as I remember from the tranquil forums WHS was delivering transfer rates of around 40-something Mb/s on this unit.

As for Linux this is one report of 46 Mb/s:
http://www.tranquilpc.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=237

Server 2008 R2 in theory should be better but not sure about the older verson of Server 2008.

In either case, I doubt it would be slower than WHS aka Win 2003 server on this machine. And if it is free then hey, why not!

This thread also worth reading:
http://www.tranquilpc.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=147

 

[brook]

Thanks Osamede,

Well I've read through some posts on the tranquil site and it raised more questions for me, I would post them there but they haven't confirmed my registration yet. Anyway, the more questions asked here should help future BBS2 owners and purchasers of the atom330's with PCI raid cards

One thing I noticed about the BBS2 is that some say the speed of data transfer to and from the drives connected to the PCI SATA RAID card is not as fast as the drives connected to the motherboard. This means I'm a little confused about my best setup for speed and redundancy.

If I spread raid across the card and motherboards sata ports (ie raid5) surely this can not function at full speed. If I put data on the pci sata raided drives there will be a bottleneck.

I'm going to make a suggested setup for me, please don't laugh but I see it as the best option, please tell me if it's way off here.


So in the BBS2 "3+1" configuration where there is 3 internal ports on the PCI sata card and 2 ports on the motherboard, I was thinking of this setup.


2 motherboard sata ports = 2 x 1.5tb hard drives on raid 0
3 sata card ports = 3 x 1tb drives on raid 0 (i already own 3 x 1tb drive)


My plan is to install WHS or 2008 on the motherboard raid 0 drive and use some data sync program to sync the data onto the raid card raid 0 (2 x tb) overnight. This way I get the best speed from the motherboard raid 0 and a backup onto the bargain.

If the main raid fails I can replace the failed drive and re-install windows again and recover the data (in fact I can image the drive onto a spare drive before I fill it with data). If the second raid fails I can replace the failed drive, create the raid again and sync the data back.

I can use the eSATA or the 1gb network to copy data onto the NAS.

What do you think,

Cheers
Brook

 

[Osamede]

I've read through some posts on the tranquil site and it raised more questions for me, I would post them there but they haven't confirmed my registration yet.

I would note that they havent confirmed mine either - and I registred there about 6 or 7 months ago! Not coincidentally there are consistent feedback and reviews which note that while Tranquils hardware is good, their support ranges from poor to nonexistent. So caveat emptor.

As for the setup, it sounds cool to me. As an aside, I you might want to find out what that motherboard is they are using and double check that it is a native SATA and not SATA connected to IDE or something funny like that.