6/1     I want to put together a reasonably large (~250GB), reliable, and
        cheap disk array for important files and documents on a FreeBSD box
        which currently only has a couple of IDE drives in it.  I'm thinking of
        running vinum on a bunch of external drives--any recommendations on
        dependable, not-too-expensive disk racks/cases?  Speed's no issue,
        so what about scsi-2 vs. USB vs. Firewire?  Any opinions welcome.  -John
        \_ John, you can use any of a number of scsi<->ide external raid array
           units which handles raid in hardware and exposes a single 'drive'
           to the unix system.  Typical box has 8 slots and handles raid5.
           You aren't specific enough about your needs and budget, but from
           what you say I might slap a bunch of 80/100/120 gig drives in a
           box and do raid5.  If the data is important enough, I'd mirror it
           too.  Do not buy 3ware cards.  --raid guy and 3ware victim
                \_ Good tip, thanks.  I just need something that's fault
                   tolerant if a single disk goes--don't need hot-swap, which
                   is why I was thinking vinum (this'll all get backed up
                   anyway.  The prices below (~$500-600) are what I'm looking
                   for--got any specific tips on disk boxes?  I can't find any
                   decent ones in stores over here, and don't really know what
                   to look for online.  Thanks!  -John
                   \_ You might get an old "K2" raid box off ebay or something
                      like that.  External hw raid boxes might be out of your
                      price range if you've only got $600 for one, but a used
                      one might go for that.  An alternative would be to get
                      a 4 or 6 disk 3u case with hot swap support for ide and
                      then just build your unix box from that.  It'll be less
                      expensive and probably still get you what you want.  I
                      think you can get a case *and* disks for under $1000.
        \_ Why not just buy a pair of 250GB EIDE disks and mirror them?
        $258 for a 250GB hard disk....
           \_ The best price/storage ratio is currently around 120G, for $100
              a piece.  $300 for a 240G RAID 5 solution across 3 disks.
              Add in $300 for a 3ware escalade 7500-4LP ATA RAID controller if
              you don't want to do RAID in software.
              \_ nononononono! do *not* buy 3ware!!!! ever!!!  my company has
                 lost multiple terabytes to 3ware's crappy cards and drivers.
                 Do Not Buy 3Ware!  --3ware multi-terabitten victim
                \_ 3Ware cards worked fine for me.  we blew a bunch
                   of money on a raidzone, we had horrendously bad
                   luck, blew hours and hours of my life, i would
                   like to talk tons of crap about raidzone! - danh
                   \_ I've got a dozen 3ware based boxes.  I'm in the middle
                      of a multi month project to move all this data to
                      reliable hosts.  After that the 3ware boxes are going
                      to ebay or the trash or Hell.  --3ware victim
                \_ What would you suggest for similar price/functionality?
                   \_ see my comment above to John about K2 boxes and 3u
                      hot swap ide cases.
        \_ 1 TB IDE-to-SCSI hardware RAID is < $5000 . Uses 6 200 GB
           disks. I am sure there are smaller versions for less. --dim
           \_ Where can I find one of these?
           \_ I thought FreeBSD's SCSI support was much better than IDE.
              If you're willing to pay for RAID you'd do as well to go
              straight SCSI.
              \_ because scsi drives cost several times more per meg and
                 most people don't need scsi?  it just has to work.
              \_ The interface *is* SCSI. The disks are not. It connects
                 to a SCSI card and uses a SCSI driver, hence IDE-> SCSI. I
                 got mine at Western Scientific. --dim
                 \_ I believe the person meant "scsi->scsi" when they said
                    "straight scsi".  IE: not IDE drives.
                    \_ No shit, but he also said "FreeBSD's SCSI support".
                       It *does* use the freaking SCSI driver, genius!
                        \_ hey dim, back to reading comp 1A for you.  you're
                           the only one here who didn't know what everyone was
                           talking about.
                           \_ I think that would be you. Take your own advice.
                        \_ Actually, I was questioning the 1TB IDE-to-SCSI
                           part.  I guess he meant IDE disks, SCSI interface,
                           which I would call SCSI-to-IDE.  Using IDE to
                           access SCSI disks is the worst of both worlds,
                           which I think everyone agrees on.