I am a member of a family business, and we have begun to take our business a bit more seriously. We are looking into a way to hold all of our information into one central area. I have never had a need for anything like this, so I have no idea what to look for. Do I want a server or do I just want something that sits under a desk at my home? Do I want the server at my house or is there a place that will store servers for us? Any tips and information would be great.
Looking for a mass storage device
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Lexluethar
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The answer really depends on how 'serious' you are and your budget. It also depends on your storage needs (do you need 1tb or 10tb of data?).
If you want to go cheap you can create a file server running server 2012. You can do this by building / buying a beefy desktop and have a RAID controller in it with a RAID 5 or 10 configuration. This would be the cheapest enterprise solution. You would essentially install server 2012 on a RAID 1 configuration on local storage, then I would install your drives that will storage your data off the RAID controller. This solution, including the license for windows will probably run around 1500 to 3000. The Standard version of 2012 will run around 650 alone. Then another grand or more for the hardware.
The more expensive but serious setup would be using a SAN like a Dell Equallogic to accomplish this. the Equallogic is a device with dozens of drives in it configured in a RAID configuration. It's nice because it makes management easy, if you lose a drive you get an alert and the device will automatically rebuild the array. Opposed to the first solution i said, you would have to rebuild that array yourself. EqualLogic PS6500 Series | Dell
A SAN solution is going to cost you
If you want to go cheap you can create a file server running server 2012. You can do this by building / buying a beefy desktop and have a RAID controller in it with a RAID 5 or 10 configuration. This would be the cheapest enterprise solution. You would essentially install server 2012 on a RAID 1 configuration on local storage, then I would install your drives that will storage your data off the RAID controller. This solution, including the license for windows will probably run around 1500 to 3000. The Standard version of 2012 will run around 650 alone. Then another grand or more for the hardware.
The more expensive but serious setup would be using a SAN like a Dell Equallogic to accomplish this. the Equallogic is a device with dozens of drives in it configured in a RAID configuration. It's nice because it makes management easy, if you lose a drive you get an alert and the device will automatically rebuild the array. Opposed to the first solution i said, you would have to rebuild that array yourself. EqualLogic PS6500 Series | Dell
A SAN solution is going to cost you
dexmckinzie
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I recommend a Bipra 100GB hard drive as it has alot of storage and it is only $36.99 at amazon.
Joe C
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Sounds like a NAS might be what your looking for (Network Attached Storage)
You can buy one already to go with it's own software. The Asustor AS5002T NAS has a very good review in Maximum PC, and would be good for a Small Home Small Office application.
You can also build your own NAS, with open source software
Should I Use a DIY PC for My NAS or Buy an Enclosure?
How to Build Your Own Network-Attached Storage System | PCWorld
Joe C
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