[Discuss] service, R-U Computing, and kari

[Bill Leuze]

At 06:48 PM 2008-07-30, you wrote:
>kari!
>
>i can't seem to find your number, or i'd give you a quick call.
>
>i've had a small problem with R-U Computing, in that they sold my employer
>two 10000 rpm hds for a little under $400 a piece ~ they're velociraptors,

Yeh, that's a bit steep. The 300GB 10Krpm SATA-2 V-raptors are $299 wholesale (same price as listed to order on the WD webiste) and the older 150GB SAT-1 v-raptors are $187

>and i've come to think they're very unnecessary for a simple RAID 1,
>two-disk array.

Well, for a server, If I can't afford a SAS controller with 15,000rpm drives, I'd definately go with the 10K SATA drives from WD. 

That being said, you can get more speed and storage space with less money and just as much redundancy  by using 4 500GB 7200rpm hard drives in a RAID 1+0 array. This is obviously more complex though and you need a big enough tower (and power supply) and enough fans to adequately cool this down


>a more techno-savvy co-worker suggested my boss get rid of two 500 gig
>3-year warranty maxtors and find somethings with 5-year warranties.

I'd recommend the WD RE2 http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=399&language=en
or the slightly newer  WD RE3 http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=489
Not enough difference between the 2 to worry about but RE3 has ever so slightly faster write seek time according to specs. These are 5 year warranty drives. and designed to be more reliable than your general purpose cheapo drive. These are listed as $150 on the WD website but are significantly cheaper wholesale (and therefore at places like future shop if they carry them).

or as you say, if all you want is a file server, then get a dedicated hardware NAS. $450 is a pretty good price (if it is any good that is) What I see in a 4 drive system starts at around $500 (plus drives). But some of those boxes are pretty small and tight and I like more space and fans (2 drives in a 4 drive bay works well though).

I hope Kari can help you out, I almost never come into town.

By the way another NAS solution that works quite well is from open-e. http://www.open-e.com/ You need your own hardware (as in case, mobo RAID controller and hard drives), then you download their Linux based OS and flash it onto a USB stick and voila - instant NAS. Their for sale stuff is about $1,000 but the Open-E DDS light is free, only limitation is 1 TB max (and no support or upgrades) - you can make it NAS, or iSCSI or both on separate partitions. Configuration options are, well, lots of options, even failover backups to a second DDS-lite unit.

Good luck with your venture

Bill


>i don't think R-U Computing did him a proper service by not asking what he'd
>be using it for. i think the velociraptors are better suited for gaming...
>that or an "enterprise" larger than anything we folk in nanaimo ever see.
>
>i know you charge well for both your services and i assume the same goes for
>your products, but if anyone, especially you (someone i trust implicitly),
>could be a more efficient help, i'd feel more comfortable dealing with
>competence.
>
>we almost called you in, here at lewkowich, but i figured it out
>(thankfully) at the last moment.
>
>i'd like to either give you a call or have you call us.
>
>the number is 250-756-0355.
>
>it's a better deal to do business with people i and my work can trust. R-U
>Computing wants to deduct 15% on unopened hard drives i only saw yesterday.
>they had to order them in. unfortunately, they were not aware of better
>options, nor it seems did they seek to find suitable products for my
>employer. for $800 (the cost of the two velociraptors), we could get a $450
>four-drive RAID array that simply connects to the network (without need of
>the server), and two $89, 500-gig drives with 5-year warranties... AND have
>lots of change. this would be through ncix in richmond.
>
>just a thought... but i'd like to hear from you, even quickly, even via
>e-mail, to get your two cents.
>
>thanks.
>
>and i welcome everyone else to offer better suggestions for next time i
>entrust my employer's time, money, and energy to others when it comes to
>technology.
>
>cheers,
>
>tim
>
>-- 
>;t;j;h
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Bill Leuze
947 Berry Pt.
Gabriola Island, BC
Canada, V0R 1X1