Expanding the storage of a HP Microserver

[blueacid]

Hi Guys,

I've an HP Microserver which is currently home to five drives; one 2TB system drive then four 2TB in a ZFS RAID-Z1 (so, raid 5-alike). The RAID array is filling up, so I'm looking to expand.

I've been googling around and I'm struggling to come up with the best solution. Would I be better to try and expand the existing microserver, through use of some sort of SAS controller and a drive shelf, a DAS (containing a SATA Port multiplier) using an eSATA PCI Express adaptor to connnect it? a stack of external USB2 hard drives, or even just a second microserver or similar?

I'm not too worried about the speed of access, but am concerned about keeping power consumption low.

Any suggestions? Is there something obvious here that I'm missing?

Thanks,
Blueacid

 

[droyden]

migrate to larger drives?

 

[blueacid]

I'll make a loss on selling the 2TB drives or leaving them gathering dust on the shelf; is there any other way to keep them also involved and add additional drives?

 

[413x]

you can get 2 3.5s in the optical bay, i know the part but cannot find it!

 

[celliott]

You want a Nexus Doubletwin, if you google there are a couple of suppliers you can still buy them from but they are becoming difficult to source.

 

[blueacid]

Ah, apologies for not being clearer; What I'd like to do is add a significant additional amount of storage. I.e. currently I've got the 6TB array plus the 2TB system (and non-redundantly stored data) drive. I want to add at least another 6TB, so I'm wondering how best to add four additional SATA drives, on top of the current five.

 

[PieMaster]

Second microserver and then (assuming the volumes need to be 'attached' to the first one) run iSCSI over a 2/4GBE team? Probably cheaper than looking at DAS units.

 

[Baggins_451]

I have a Startech 4 bay RAID enclosure connected to mine, it powers up and down automagically with the server which is handy as my servers live in the cupboard under the stairs

 

[darkblade]

Second microserver and then (assuming the volumes need to be 'attached' to the first one) run iSCSI over a 2/4GBE team? Probably cheaper than looking at DAS units.

Please would you expand on what is involved with 2/4GBE teaming (so I can google it further).
I'm guessing this is adding a dual or quad port network card and utilising the bandwidth for iSCSI. (I have a 2nd Microserver that could be linked in this way)?

From what I can see at the moment, the cheapest approach to add a 3 port USB 3.0 card to the Microserver, then add a Startech 4 bay SATA enclosures as the space grows. So 3 enclosures with 3TB drives would provide 36TB of raw storage.

 

[Deep]

Perhaps sell the microserver and build a computer which has lots of drives

 

[PieMaster]

Please would you expand on what is involved with 2/4GBE teaming (so I can google it further).
I'm guessing this is adding a dual or quad port network card and utilising the bandwidth for iSCSI. (I have a 2nd Microserver that could be linked in this way)?

Exactly that, realistically a dual port NIC should give you enough speed anyway. If you're running Windows then everything you need is free from Microsoft - http://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/download/details.aspx?id=19867 - and the initiator is included in the OS already.

There's presumably free equivalents for Linux too.

 

[paradigm]

8-Port RAID card + Sharkoon 5.25" to 6-bay 2.5" caddy + 6x 1TB 2.5" drives.

 

[enigmo]

This is similar to my current running 'projects'. Choices are:
- Second microserver, resulting in extra 6 HDs worth of space. Basic cost £100ish.
- External DAS connecting to current SAS controller. 20-24 HDs space. Cost £1000+
- Seperate second server based on Norco 4220 or 4224. 20-24HDs space. Cost £400ish.

All prices are without drives. Based on that alone I've already discounted the DAS as an option, even though in terms of size and management it's the best option. As I already have spare mobo and cpu n shizzle the Norco box is cheaper than a completely new build, but it still makes the cost per bay roughly equivalent to 4xProliants. I'm guessing that 1xNorco based on an i5 or i7 would be vaguely the same power consumption as 4xProliants, so it comes down to space as 4xProliants would take up more shelf room than 1xNorco box. I dunno. At the moment, 'Project Leviathan' is ahead in my book just for the bragging rights
For you, if you know you're only going to need an extra 6 or so bays for the next few years, then a second Proliant could work well. Not put that much thought into it, but I did also consider multiple proliants with a single 1U server sat on top acting as a storage management server, aggregating all the space together. But again, that was more for the technical experiment rather than what was actually needed.

 

[darkblade]

8-Port RAID card + Sharkoon 5.25" to 6-bay 2.5" caddy + 6x 1TB 2.5" drives.

Where are you proposing to put this caddy?
If you mean inside the server - then it's cheaper to get a 2-port raid card and install 2x 3TB 3.5" drives (which I've already done anyway).

It's expanding beyond this that the OP and myself are looking at

This is similar to my current running 'projects'. Choices are:
- Second microserver, resulting in extra 6 HDs worth of space. Basic cost £100ish.

- Seperate second server based on Norco 4220 or 4224. 20-24HDs space. Cost £400ish.

The microserver works out at the same cost per drive bay as the Norco if the 4224 is £400. So the Microserver works out to be a more scalable solution in terms of initial costs - you only need to pay for each set of 6 bays as you scale up vs having to pay £400 up front for the Norco.

It's when you start to look at the connectivity that it makes a difference.

Microserver & iSCSI
I happen to have a spare managed switch which would suit this.
A 2 port Intel NIC is ~£100 (£65 on ebay) - £100 for master, £100 for each server after that.
1st extra microserver cost = £100 for server + £200 for the NIC cards = £300 (and then £200 for each extra server after that)
£50 per drive bay (then £33)

USB
Startech 4 bay RAID enclosure £155
USB 3.0 card for the microserver £25 (provides 3 external USB ports, plus an internal one).
1st extra microserver cost = £155 for the enclosure + £25 for the USB card = £180 (and then £155 for each extra enclosure after that).
£45 per drive bay (then £39)

Norco 4224 & iSCSI
2x 2 port NIC £200 + £400 = £16 per drive bay. But you need to pay more money upfront and also need the space for a large server case. Plus this doesn't include the motherboard, CPU and RAM hardware. When you add the RAID cards needed, the cost goes very high​

USB 3.0 offers much higher bandwidth (or the existing USB 2.0 ports could be used to save costs).

Don't forget the cost of a dedicated managed switch for iSCSI

Have I missed anything?

If it is possible to get a cheaper 4 bay (or larger) enclosure - that would be by far and away the cheapest and fastest option.

 

[enigmo]

The microserver works out at the same cost per drive bay as the Norco if the 4224 is £400. So the Microserver works out to be a more scalable solution in terms of initial costs - you only need to pay for each set of 6 bays as you scale up vs having to pay £400 up front for the Norco.

True. And there's the possibility that the microservers might hold their value better. No-one realistically will pay the asking price; we're all waiting for cashbacks. But thanks to that, a £200 Proliant, bought for £100, could realistically still fetch £130 a year or two from now if perfectly looked after.

It's when you start to look at the connectivity that it makes a difference.
Microserver & iSCSI
I happen to have a spare managed switch which would suit this.
A 2 port Intel NIC is ~£100 (£65 on ebay) - £100 for master, £100 for each server after that.
1st extra microserver cost = £100 for server + £200 for the NIC cards = £300 (and then £200 for each extra server after that)
£50 per drive bay (then £33)

Ooh, well, since you seem to know and I've not looked into it much, does it have to be an Intel NIC? Does it have to specifically support iSCSI, cos I thought it was just regular TCP traffic. Why is the 2-port important?

USB
Startech 4 bay RAID enclosure £155

The cost of that external enclosure alone would put me off.

Norco 4224 & iSCSI
2x 2 port NIC £200 + £400 = £16 per drive bay. But you need to pay more money upfront and also need the space for a large server case.

Luckily, I have the space, and the plan would be for it to be the last server case I ever need. I have looked for alternatives that are more readily available in Europe (takes ATX boards and PSUs, SAS expander backplane supporting lots of drives) and can't find one. If I could it would be cheaper. The £400 Norco is barely half that in the States!

Don't forget the cost of a dedicated managed switch for iSCSI

So if I've got this right, using a managed switch, I can have multiple storage servers (Proliants in this case) acting as iSCSI initiators as long as they have the software installed, all pointing to one or several mount points on a target server?

Apologies in advance for the small thread hijack.

 

[darkblade]

Ooh, well, since you seem to know and I've not looked into it much, does it have to be an Intel NIC? Does it have to specifically support iSCSI, cos I thought it was just regular TCP traffic. Why is the 2-port important?

iSCSI has to run on software supplied by the NIC vendor. I've only looked at Intel at the moment, but I would assume that HP would do the same.
I would imagine (but can't confirm 100% because I'm new to this) that an enterprise NIC with supporting software has to be used - a cheapy job will not cut it.

2 ports are for increased bandwidth/load balancing.

It is recommended not to connect iSCSI to your LAN, but instead to run a dedicated network.

 

[darkblade]

Having a quick look, I've now seen a 4 bay raid enclosure with eSATA/USB3 £132.