We're going to replace an older Solaris7/Netbackup/TapeRobot server with a new Centos box using backup-to-disk-to-tape (probably using Arkeia). The specs are up in the air, but generally:
- CentOS/RHEL friendly (3Ware SATA? SCSI?) - 2U/3U/4U-ish form factor - hotswap RAID5 - dual PS, hotswap a plus - USB2.0 port(s) (*)
To give you an idea of where I'm starting to look, take a gander at this page:
http://www.serversdirect.com/system_dept.asp?dept_id=SD-043
Obviously we'd like to keep the price low, but realize that a major cost will be the 400GB drives. We may only start with 4 or 5 of them and add more as time goes (LVM), depends on how the costs break down. We've even looked at a Dell 2850 as an option, fyi.
Anyone have some good ideas? My main concern is choosing a motherboard with a disk controller that's robust, tried and true with the current standard kernels (or maybe the unsupported branch, but I'd like to stick to the stock RPMs).
thanks! -te
(*) for those wondering, we like jacking in cheap external USB 1TB lacie drives, syncing data over to them using rdiff, and carrying offsite