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Cheap backup server new/used
ShardHostSarah
Member
We're looking at some cheap FTP backup servers to offer some free value added services. These don't have to be amazing hardware, but we're looking for the best TB/U ratio without silly power requirements.
We looked at HP 380 G5s however the SFF drives didn't make it viable. Does anyone have any good recommendations? We do not mind looking at used as we will be replicating the data across multiple servers.
2u is preferable under 3A; however larger can be considered.
Comments
Why not get a NAS? I use a Synology and it's the best bang for the money. Power usage is well under 1A also. Comes with an FTP server installed by default (along with rsync, mail, httpd, and more).
I can also recommend Synology or QNAP NASs as a good way forward. Sometimes you can find them with the disks already in, and it works out cheaper.
A couple of weeks ago, when I was looking to buy a backup server I also considered Synology, however as I could not find it under 600-700$ I gave up on it.
Just couldn't find a NAS at a price cheaper than a 2nd hand server. Also may wish to repurpose this later as an R1 server.
Do you need the horsepower of a DL380 G5? There are some cheapy Atom motherboards on ebay, combine them with a 4u case with SATA backplane and you should be good to go.
We back up to a Atom D525 with two drives in RAID1 at gigabit speeds; the Atom doesn't break a sweat. Uses 0.4 amps of power.
Don't forget the RAID card.
We have a cheap dual core opteron CPU in the backup server with 2x2TBs of HDDs. More enough at this point. The CPU is old one, does not have problem at all to handle the FTP server. As far as I know it is ~65W, not sure in Amps
My point - depending on your budget, a new Atom or some old hardware with enough space for HDDs, might be a better choice than NAS.
Managed to find a 3u SM 15 bay servers, in the price range we were looking for. Thanks for the advice. Now to find a cheap source of 2tb sata drives
It's intentionally "only" Linux's software RAID1 to overcome that limitation
@mitgib and @quirkyquark use Hitachi Deskstars with deep sector error recovery disabled to good results.
why not get ovh server? its has tons of space and has less costs
This is to go in our own racks on our backend network.
Doubtful they would be cheap enough, but are only $800 new with sas expander
You can score the chassis for $200, expander is another story (probably $200 as well)
Fran
I was avoiding any mention of other than new sources
Norco produce some nicely priced chassis ideal for NAS use. http://www.norcotek.com/