Computer hardware and software
Best way to build a dedicated server for network storage.?
Question : Best way to build a dedicated server for network storage.?
I am trying to come up with the best way to add a dedicated storage that can be accessed from any computer on the network. I want this to be a small business file share system but we need to be able to store over 4 TB of data. So what is the best way to go about doing this?
storage server
Best answer:
Answer by johntrottier
You did not say how many users you had at the business, but given the size of your current data storage needs, I am going t assume between 50 and 100 workers
First – you need good hardware.
Get a machine designed from the ground up to be a server. It should have at a minimum
a. Hot swappable, redundant power supplies
b. Hot swappable hard drives
c. adequate processor power
d. room for expansion
e. an Integrated data backup system
f. a proven UPS system
HP, Dell or IBM can all supply the hardware, and no one ever got fired for specifying top quality hardware.
With the hardware in had, set up your system using a RAID configuration that insures rapid data access as well as redundant data storage. You will need a system that can accept a single component failure without data loss.
Now with hardware in hand, get you OS and set up your system. My recommendation is a Linux based system. Red Hat or Novell (Suse) can provide world class software and support as needed.
Both can provide additional software stacks on request
Hope that helps
one of the easiest ways to go about doing this is look for a NAS (Network Attached Storage) Device. There are many Small Business class devices that can be purchased *relatively* inexpensively.
there are several by storage vendors, Western Digital sells a NAS, but you can also get some from other companies like QNAP. those you just have to add in whatever size hard drives you want, configure it and go. they generally contain all the appropriate protocols you would want for access files, SMB, FTP, rsync, etc….
if you want to build your own system, i would look into some software like freenas. that is a flavor of BSD that is specifically intended to be used as a file-sharing NAS.