Looking at an HP mv5140 as a file server

[DickDay]

I am a programmer and create applications using Microsoft Visual FoxPro. FoxPro is loaded locally on the workstation and the apps are all stored on the server. I create the apps on the server and edit them when needed. The only time these apps ever run are for testing purposes. We also run our in-house multi-user accounting system (written in FoxPro) on the server.

Normally only 1 to 2 users are on the gigabit wired network. I have 3 workstations, one Vista Ultimate, one Vista Home Premium and one XP-Pro workstation. I use no versioning software.

No one data file is more than 20MB and the total amount of space used, at this time, is less than 20gb.

Is there any reason to believe that the HP Media Vault 5140 could not be used as a file server in this environment?

Any other nas's you would suggest?

Thanks!

 

[thiggins]

Your requirements don't sound too demanding. You could use most any NAS. If you like the MV5140, go for it.

 

[DickDay]

Thanks. I know nothing about raid technology and cannot help but wonder if the raid logic doesn't randomly do some housekeeping from time to time. What does this do to a file that a user has open?

The reason for my concern is that I have been using Windows Home Server and it worked fine (with a single drive) for 10 months. I installed PP1 (the service pack that was supposed to fix the corruption bug), and since then, if I have any Foxpro files open when "storage balancing" is running, they become corrupt.

When I bought the HP 470, I understood that it could be used as an application/file server. I am now hearing that using whs as an application server is not supported, which is why I am looking for an alternative.

So, after reading many of your reviews (which are excellent), I thought that the 5140 would serve my needs since all I really want is a file server, remote access and network backups, all features of the 5140.

If there are better alternatives out there, I'd sure love to hear about them!

Thanks again, for great reviews and a really nice (and friendly) forum

DickDay

 

[thiggins]

The replication technology Microsoft uses in Windows Home Server is very different from RAID and does no "housekeeping" in the background.

I did a little Googling and found you have been pursuing this over on the MediaSmartServer.net forums (and maybe other places).

From the gist of the replies about using the MediaSmart as an application server, I think they were commenting on the MediaSmart's possible performance limitations in that role. A NAS or server should not corrupt files under any normal operating conditions. If a file is open, any maintenance routine should just skip it, not corrupt it.

 

[DickDay]

Correct. I am doing my homework

Yesterday, my HP 470 died, 2 months out of warranty. So I am now forced to decide whether to invest in getting the 470 repaired and hoping that the corruption was due to hardware problems, or just buy an nas since I really don't need, or use, many of the features whs offers.

Based on what I've just learned, I'll order a nas.

Thanks again for your help.