big cheap RAID options part II

Recall a while back I was asking for suggestions on big cheap RAID storage mainly for D2D backups ... thanks to everyone for your input.

I think I've finally landed on our end solution after looking at many options ... and perhaps surprisingly I chose a non-ghettotastic solution.

12 bay SATA enclosure ($850)
3Ware 12 port SATA RAID controller card ($750)
Internal SATA to External 4x Multilane Adapters and multilane cables ... need 3 ... ($215)
12 Seagate 750GB drives ($3000)
TOTAL = $4800ish

So under $5K and we've got a little over 8TB of RAID5 storage and since we're already familiar with 3Ware controller cards setup should be a snap.  That seems to nicely satisfy my requirements :-)

Comments

[Brian Marquis]

I've got a good backup script for Macs if you are interested in it. Maybe I should make it publically available.

[Shawn Ross]

Jason,

Consider looking into the Seagate ES series of 750GB drives. They are optimized for raid arrays, and have a higher vibration and MTBF rating. Granted the vanilla 750's have a 5-year warranty, but the ES do make a difference on RAID performance. If you're looking for speed, the WD RE2 500's are best (and have the same 5-yr. warranty). We went with the 750GB vanilla's (non-ES), and have been very happy with them (we mostly have very large avi's on them).

Here's a review of the ES: http://www.storagereview.com/articles/200611/ST3750640NS_1.html