Last fall for my "new" home server (mainly files and MythTV), I took an existing tower with 1 drive and added a SATA controller & 4 WD Black 1TBs (& did a fresh install). I configured software RAID 5 for a 3TB RAID. This was the cheapest approach I found - main cost of course was drives, and is your choice for needed size/quality/features. I looked at external cases for the drives but found nothing reasonably priced. If you find something, please let me know! Thankfully my case could fit them. I infer your case can't fit the drive(s)? I also looked at devices, such as ReadyNAS and Buffalo, but found for the price, the server approach offered me a lot more value and flexibility - just a lot more of my time to initially setup. But you may just want a ReadyNAS? My buddy bought one of the HP Windows Server NAS units. He said it was easy to setup and use, and works great. But he paid more than I did for less storage and flexibility, but I already had the server.... I used an old PC for the main server and an older PC for the backup server. My configuration is a bit reversed of yours - my backup server (currently toasted) has "regular drives" (vs RAID you are seeking) and I put the RAID in the main server (RAID for reliability, backups for recovery of any "accidents"). Also, in case you are wondering about backup software, someone on this list recommended BackupPC to me; it is a great backup product with tiered backups I wanted (e.g. full backup, incremental backup, and keeping N of each). From: tclug-list-bounces at mn-linux.org [mailto:tclug-list-bounces at mn-linux.org] On Behalf Of Randy Clarksean Sent: Saturday, January 09, 2010 1:19 PM To: 'tclug-list' Subject: [tclug-list] SATA External Storage I am looking for suggestions on a "cheap" storage system. I would like it to be + RAID 5 or 6 capable + easily used as backup for Windows / Linux + form factor does not matter (i.e. 2U vs. Tower does not matter) + want to use "cheap" SATA drives + sits on network or attached to dedicated server + capacity of 1+ TB minimum (nearly 500-750 GB of useful information for backup at present) Yes . I know I want everything and do not want to pay anything. This is for a home office type environment, not a production or high availability server environment. Everything runs over Gigabit network. I have too much information to back up via burning a DVD, etc. I have looked at Dell and HP storage solutions and they are a BIT pricey to say the least - even used. I have a Dell SC1425 with ESXi on it that I can easily attach it to as needed. Thoughts or suggestions appreciated. Thanks in advance. Randy -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mailman.mn-linux.org/pipermail/tclug-list/attachments/20100109/4a6540ee/attachment.htm