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I have a similar setup:
MSS full of drives (all replaced with WD GP)
Addonics Mini-Tower with eSATA PM (mst5x1pm) connected to eSATA port on MSS
2nd Addonics Mini-Tower with ESATA PM (mst5x1pm)connected to eSATA to USB2.0 connected to USB on MSS
3rd Addonics Mini-Tower with ESATA PM (mst5x1pm)connected to eSATA to USB2.0 connected to USB on MSS
http://www.addonics.com/products/raid_system/mst4.asp
http://www.addonics.com/products/io/aau2esa.asp
The first enclosure connected via eSATA is part of the drive pool. The second and third enclosures connected via USB is used for backup of the MSS, not part of the drive pool. Hopefully with PP1 the backup of the MSS will take up less space than a direct copy. I can get 8TB of drives (almost 7.5TB usable) of storage with another 8TB for backup. I do not use duplication on the MSS.
A couple notes: the Addonics case has 5 ports on the PM. I connected the last port to another eSATA case through the back plate on the Addonics and the MSS did not recognize the fifth drive - my experience is the eSATA port on the MSS is limited to 4 drives. Also, my experience, don't use the USB port on the MSS to connect more than one drive as part of the drive pool. My experience, USB drives are noticeably slower, but work well enough for backup of the MSS though and you can turn off the enclosures connected to USB since you did not connect them as part of the drive pool - saves some energy.
Categories: Setup and Installation
Current Configuration:
MSS - 3.5 TB of hard drives ( 4 hard drives )
1 CFI 4-Bay enclosure (esata) with 4-1 tb Western Digital GP Hard Drives ( For backup purposes only)
I want to exapnd with drive space for the MSS drive pool so I want to add another enclosure. Originally I planned to slap on a eSata port muliplier to the eSata connector on the back of the MSS so I can slap on a few enclosures but I was told that would not work due to the specs on that port in the back of the MSS. So my first question is how can I use that one eSata port to connect more than one eSata enlosure.
If theres no way of doing that then I thought of buying another CFI enclosure ( but USB ) and moving the 4 WD GP Drives in my current CFI to a USB version one and then using the eSata CFI enclosure to expand the drave space in my MSS. But how much slower would my backup be with a USB connection? ANd if its that much slower, should I buy cheaper and slower drives for my backup purposes?
Thanks a bunch...I think that answers my questions..Ill switch my current 4 1TB Western Digitals to a USB enclosure for backup and use my CFI eSata enclosure for the expansion of the MSS drive pool..
Now with the USB enclosure, I know you have a 4 bay one,...but I was really looking to buy a CFI 8 bay one for all my backup needs. Do you forsee any problem with connecting a 8 bay USB enclosure to the MSS for backup?
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Here's another option from HomeServer hacks. He found a similar box.
http://www.homeserverhacks.com/2008/02/add-external-4-terabyte-drive-array-to...
Thanks Mitch, but that's the same brand JesD mentions in his post and probably the same enclosure JesD already has, if you click the link in HSH you'll see it is a CFI enclosure offered from NewEgg. Also, most of these case are made by the same company, often only the insides and the frame cover are different.
JesD:
What case are you looking to purchase? The only 8-bay enclosures I can find are IDE connections. That's a lot of wide cables inside the case which will restrict airflow. The reason I went with Addonics over the CFI enclosure is airflow. A local Mac group (www.amug.org), who reviews devices, rated the Addonics with better airflow. Using WHS Disk Management the drive temps are lower in the Addonics with one fan than the WHS with two fans, simply because there is more flow - the Addonics doesn't have a backplane.
As a note: you can only get a reading from eSATA drives, once connected to USB you don't get drive information for temp or warning. You won't know the temperature of the 8-bay case with only a USB connector. For me since I went with a case I was already using for eSATA I am confident the temperatures of the drives should be similar under load.
Heres the one I was looking at..
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816855005
I am rethinking doingan 8bay...I could get away with a 4 or 5 bay since all my MSS info is folder duplcated and does not get backed up, of course
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