Insane computer requested by customer ... thoughts?

[thecomputerguy]

I got this email from a customer, I know he is serious about this purchase and researching this will be well worth my time. I am wondering if anyone here has experience with the things I am not too familiar with.

His request as follows:

Hardware Requirements for new workstation

1. Hardware RAID not Software RAID

2. Prefer a RAID 10

3. Was thinking SATAIII for the RAID Drives

4. OS would like to be possibly on a SSD but must be separate from RAID array

5. Currently using approximately 2TB of space but would like to convert DVD to data drive as well so Would need maybe more than 5TB

6. Would like the raid drives to be similar to dell with the hotswap bay feature as well as a light to indicate what drive has failed. I have seen some bays for 2.5” drives I can look up to show you some examples if need be

7. Of course with all of this I do not want it to be extremely loud.

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My thoughts ...

I'm thinking a nice intel based motherboard. I really like EVGA boards for their quality and reliability. I have an evga motherboard in my own computer and I love it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188097

A good mid range i7

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070

16GB of RAM which is capable of running at the speeds advertised

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233230

Case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129098

SSD BOOT

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148442

Things I am unclear about ...

I need a RAID card that supports RAID 10. I like adaptec products but I am having problems finding a good one that will support an x64 OS with 6GB SATA.

As far as hard drives go I need to find a RAID card before I can begin to consider HD's.

Any thoughts?

 

[thecomputerguy]

I haven't gotten a budget from this customer but based on what hes asking for I'm thinking $2000ish+ is where he is at.

 

[thecomputerguy]

Also ... thoughts on hotswappable hard drives with LED indicators for read/write errors.

 

[compnet]

Also ... thoughts on hotswappable hard drives with LED indicators for read/write errors.

Thoughts are that case won't work. I think you need a server case for this. A good server with a good raid card and all those drives will be well over 2 grand.

 

[dbdawn]

I know some folks that need hotswap cages and lots of storage use the Norco 4020 chasis. I know that they have HDD activity lights as well. Might be worth some research?

 

[tminer]

Look at the supermicro tower servers i've done two fairly recently at about $700 for the barebone, hardware raid, which includes (6) 3.5" hot swap bays with indicator lights. The second one implemented an SSD in a custom mount in one of the 5.25" bays.

 

[thecomputerguy]

Look at the supermicro tower servers i've done two fairly recently at about $700 for the barebone, hardware raid, which includes (6) 3.5" hot swap bays with indicator lights. The second one implemented an SSD in a custom mount in one of the 5.25" bays.

Got any links?

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

 

[thecomputerguy]

He wants to have the ability to play games too so something like a mid range EVGA video card around $300-$400 will be in there too.

 

[16k_zx81]

Personally I dont like the idea of adding any degree of complexity to a desktop computer. If there's a way to offload the RAID work to another machine and keep the desktop simple, that offers some significant benefits.

The more complexity you build into a single machine, the more there is to go wrong, and the more time consuming / expensive / difficult it is going to be to fix.

Big, complex computers are a lot of fun for Geeks, and have inherent appeal, from a 'horsepower' perspective, (yeehaw!!) but we can fix them when things go wrong (and they often do on these type of boxes)

Not sure why he needs RAID10 built into the desktop, but my immediate thought is a separate device for storage that handles the RAID. I reckon that desktop also would generate a bit of heat running RAID10, and so its conflicting with his preference for quiet computing, which could easily be achieved with less hardware in the desktop chassis. (IE SSD or SSD + HDD)

Keeping the desktop simple, and offloading the RAID to a separate box allows the desktop itself to be a much simpler, (and therefore a more reliable), proposition.

Not sure if this would work for your customer, as Im not clear on his needs (some more detail would be helpful), but just thought I would put it out there in case its useful to the thinking process you're engaged with in putting together a solution for him.

Make sure he has spare disks (identical model and firmware etc) for the RAID setup in case any of them break. If you are using a card, a spare card is not a bad idea either.

im not an expert on RAID, but my understanding is that you would not want to embark on this kind of setup without spare hardware, and this will of course bump the cost. Not to mention the expense of setting it up and maintaining it.

Have you appraised your customer of how finnicky and difficult RAID setups can be to manage? Is he aware of what he's entering into?

This type of setup might be good in a commercial environment with an IT department on hand, but sounds like a mess waiting to happen for an end-user.