Results 1 to 6 of 6

Thread: Network Storage

  1. #1
    AUGI Addict .chad's Avatar
    Join Date
    2006-04
    Location
    is it lunch time yet?
    Posts
    1,129
    Login to Give a bone
    0

    Default Network Storage

    we are running into the problem that most companies hit as more and more work goes electronic - we are out of room (again) on our drives. i am looking for some advice on what to look for in terms of storage. our current 'server' is a dell desktop with a raid-1 (500gb - full - active project directories, CAD standards) and a secondary drive (750gb 1/2 full - old projects, library details, software patches etc ). we have been using the western digital 'my book' drives as a backup and we have a secondary pc setup as nothing but a backup.

    i was looking into something along these lines, but i really dont know anything about them or if it is even what we want. has anyone used one or have a recomendation on what to look for?

    thanks.

  2. #2
    Administrator rkmcswain's Avatar
    Join Date
    2004-09
    Location
    Earth
    Posts
    9,803
    Login to Give a bone
    0

    Default Re: Network Storage

    500gb isn't really that much today... You can get a 1TB 3.5 drive for a PC nowdays....

    Without knowing what exactly you are trying to accomplish, and more about your situation, it's hard to address your message with applicable answers....

    For example, if you were a one man shop with only one active project, then it sounds like you have plenty of storage and you need to archive some of it. But if you have 400 people working on 1200 projects, you are running a bit thin on storage space.. I suspect you are in between those extremes....?
    R.K. McSwain | CAD Panacea |

  3. #3
    AUGI Addict .chad's Avatar
    Join Date
    2006-04
    Location
    is it lunch time yet?
    Posts
    1,129
    Login to Give a bone
    0

    Default Re: Network Storage

    there are 6 of us in the office - figure 5-10 regularly accessed projects per person. our active projects go back as far as 2006, so we have 3 years worth of projects we need to get to on a regular basis. these of course range from schematic drawings to multi-building developments. once we can archive the 2006 folder we will gain quite a bit of space, but in 6months from that point we will be right back where we are now with no network space.

    in the current 'server' the drive bays are full, so adding a drive internally to it isnt really going to work well which is why i was looking at external devices. i know 500gb isnt all that much, i was looking for some guidance on that style of device - i have never used them and am not 100% certain what to look for.

  4. #4
    Certified AUGI Addict jaberwok's Avatar
    Join Date
    2000-12
    Location
    0,0,0 The Origin
    Posts
    8,570
    Login to Give a bone
    0

    Default Re: Network Storage

    Why not replace the existing drives, one at a time, with new, larger ones?
    Use DriveCopy or similar to duplicate existing data on the new drive.

  5. #5
    Certified AUGI Addict cadtag's Avatar
    Join Date
    2000-12
    Location
    Cairo - no, not Illinois
    Posts
    5,069
    Login to Give a bone
    0

    Default Re: Network Storage

    NAS boxes like that are handy, and of course bigger is better -- They'll show up on your windows network as just another server and if you've got minimal internal security needs, they are very helpful while waiting for the big and bad petabyte server.

    _BUT_ get at least two matching NAS boxes and set one up solely as a mirror of the first one, preferably invisible to normal users. Hardware eventually always crashes, & qa/qc on small devices like that is often poor. You really don't want to loose avery active project on the thing just because it glitched.

    Advantage to a NAS over simply replacing the drives on your existing server Pc is that you've got a second resource serving files, A desktop is not a server, and likely has less network througput than would be desirable for a server. Using an NAS for some of the projects will lighten the load on the desktop pc/server, and probably improve performance overall.

    You might even be able find one that can act as a print server,,, taking yet another load of your pc/server desktop.

  6. #6
    Member
    Join Date
    2016-01
    Location
    Hants / Wilts Border
    Posts
    25
    Login to Give a bone
    0

    Default Re: Network Storage

    I have a 2TB Buffalo Terastation on my home network. It is great for pure storage but like most of these types of devices the transfer rates are not the best. It would be great for your archived jobs but I wouldn't want to rely it for working on live projects. The Buffalo does have the advantage of having a built in back routine that can copy to a USB drive for critical failure.

    If I was setting up something for your 6 user situation I would buy a dedicated server (I bought a new HP tower for £350 last year), throw a raid controller card in it and 2 x 1TB drives in a mirrored configuaration then run a terastation for archives and backups.

Similar Threads

  1. Best Network Area Storage
    By synchief in forum Revit - Worksharing/Worksets/Revit Server
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 2011-07-03, 05:39 PM
  2. NAS Network File Storage and Revit
    By cwilrycx.109927 in forum Revit Architecture - General
    Replies: 6
    Last Post: 2010-07-07, 03:43 AM
  3. Network Storage for Revit projects
    By DoTheBIM in forum Revit - Hardware & Operating Systems
    Replies: 7
    Last Post: 2008-06-24, 06:00 PM
  4. Network Attached Storage (NAS)
    By Tom Dorner in forum Revit - Hardware & Operating Systems
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 2005-12-20, 07:45 AM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •