Eric Thanks for the summary, and thank-you to everyone for their ideas. Based on NewEgg prices, here is some more information: Option A Single Disk IDE Drive - 500 GB and backups, keep OS on existing drive = $69.99 Use existing controller and just add another drive. No redundancy Option B RAID10 with 500 GB backup capacity and redundancy, keep OS on existing drive = $179.97 2 500 GB SATA2 Drives, new SATA2 controller Option C RAID10 with 750 GB backup capacity and redundancy, keep OS on existing drive = $239.97 Two 750 GB SATA2 Drives, new SATA2 controller Option D RAID5 with 1,000 GB backup capacity and redundancy, keep OS on existing drive = $239.97 Three 500 GB SATA2 Drives, new SATA2 controller I am leaning towards Option C based on less power consumption with fewer drives. However, I have to rethink my budget... After some more reading, I am a little confused about the debate between RAID5 and RIAD10. I am interested in the group's opinions on which is better - RAID 5 or RAID 10 and why? What experiences have you had regarding installation, maintenance, and fixing problems? I am running Debian testing. Thanks! Mark On Sat, Jan 17, 2009 at 6:35 AM, Eric Shubert wrote: > Mark Phillips wrote: > > I am running out of room for my backups. I use backuppc and I have > > almost filled a 150GB drive with backups from 7 computers, and I need to > > add another 2 computers to the set. I have an old Dell Poweredge 1300 > > server (Pentium III 550 Mhz, 500 MB RAM, PCI 33.3Mhz) that I could turn > > into a backup server. I am looking for suggestions/thoughts on how to > > set this up. I need to keep the cost down as much as possible; under > $150. > > > > My initial thoughts: > > > > * Keep current 72 GB drive for OS (debian testing, about 68% full) > > * Add two 500 GB SATA drives and a PCI SATA controller ~$130 > > * Software RAID and LVM for the two drives > > * Move current 150 GB of backups to the RAID > > * Backuppc now runs on this machine and slowly fills up the RAID > > > > My questions: > > > > 1. Should I keep the 72 GB drive for OS, or put it on the RAID? > > > > 2. I can add another CPU (P III 550 MHz) processor to the box - is it > > worth the effort to find one? I found one source for $5/CPU, I just need > > to find the heat sink and mounting hardware. Will this improve > performance? > > > > 3. The box has a built-in SCSI 68-pin Ultra2/wide bus/controller, but > > SCSI drives are more expensive, at least from a cursory google search. > > Is this correct? I don't think I can use SCSI drives within my budget > > constraint. > > > > 4. Would upgrading the memory to 1GB improve performance - top shows: > > Mem: 646676k total, 639300k used 7376k free, 64548k buffers > > This would add another ~$60 to my cost. > > > > 5. Should I look at hardware RAID cards - they seem very cheap, so > > perhaps software is better? > > > > 4. Does this plan make sense, or is there a better way to proceed for > > about the same cost? > > > > Thanks! > > > > Mark > > > > Good replies, all. To sum things up, I think a SATAII PCI card (2 or 4 > port) and 2 drives is all the HW you need to add to the backup box you > currently have. Set up the drives with SW RAID-1 (mirrored) and you're > good to go. Migrate the data to the raid device, and keep the OS on the > existing drive. > > With KeepItSimpleStupid in mind, I recommend using RAID-1 as opposed to > RAID-5. With the price of drives these days, the additional space you > get with RAID-5 isn't worth the headache you'll get when there's a > problem. With RAID-1, each drive can be mounted (and used) individually > if necessary. Not so with RAID-5. > > -- > -Eric 'shubes' > > --------------------------------------------------- > PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us > To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: > http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss >