[Beowulf] RAID storage: Vendor vs. parts

[Alvin Oga]

hi ya steve

On Tue, 22 Feb 2005, Steve Cousins wrote:

> I'm in the process of getting a couple 16 Bay 6.4 TB RAID units.  The
> vendors who have given me quotes have a SATA-SCSI version for around
> $14,000 each.  I can get a similarly equipped StorCase unit for around
> $11,000. With the StorCase I envision that I'd be more on my own if
> anything went wrong.  However, with the cheaper price, I'd be able to buy
> a spare RAID controller to have on hand in case one of them failed and
> still save a couple grand.

let's say $300 for 300GB (sata) disks ==> $4,800 for 16 disks ...
	- pata disk is $150-$200 for 300GB disks

	- i'd put 2 or 3 raid controllers in it instead of 1 ..
	unless there is an absolute requirement that there is only
	1 disk subsystem that has the capacity of 6TB on "one disk"
	
i'd prefer to have 2 6TB systems for the same $$$ than to have one
name brand or commercial system

backup of the 6TB or 100TB/rack of data is more important in my book than
"brand name"

> Does anyone have experience with any or all of these?  Is it worth the
> extra money to have a "burned-in" device supported by some company?  

a good burn in tests will lasts about 30 days .. of 24x7x30 continuous
disk exercise ... 
 
it's not worth the "burn in time" and it'd be more important to find
out how and what their rma process and timing is for replacing bad
parts/subsystems ( 4hr turn around vs 4 day turn around etc )

after it passes, and it ships to you, all burn in tests is sorta void,
since the disks and cages could shift a few tenths of mm, and the cards
and disks wont be seated properly again ... things move(shift) in 
"cheap cases"

c ya
alvin