Dec.5, 2011
In our previous post "3D Printing - A Threat or An Opportunity For Mold Industry" Antonius Köster, owner of a small-sized CNC milling factory in Germany has a big concern of the management of the data. "In 1994 we had enough storage capacity for up to 1GB. Now we have 22 TB data stored, that is 22,000 GB." Especially with the market growth from 3D scanners and 3D printers, this data storage and management is becoming an issue for the future.
3ders.org has made an investigation of data storage device market.
In köster's case, he may have the following choices of data storage device:
| Option 1: |
Option 2: | Option 3: | Option 4: |
|
| Data storage device | - big tower PC/workstation/server - 1 x 8 ports SATA/SAS**** RAID* controller - 8 x 3TB SATA/SAS disk |
- existing PC/server + External storage JBOD - 1 x SAS RAID* controller - 24 x 3TB SAS disk |
- external RAID* storage NAS 1Gbit - 16 x 3TB SAS disk |
- external RAID* storage iSCSI 4 x 10Gbit - 16 x 3TB SAS disk |
| Max. Storage | 21TB net |
69TB net |
45TB net |
45TB net |
| Pro | cheap |
relative cheap, hot swap disks, redundant power supply and fans |
stand alone, hot swap disks, redundant power supply |
stand alone, hot swap disks, redundant power supply, reduntdant host, speed to 10Gbit/s |
| Cons | no hot swap disk**, no redundant power supply*** and fans, no redundant host |
external PC/server is needed, no redundant host |
high price, speed limited to 1Gbit/s, no redundant host |
high price |
| Server info |  |
 Supermicro |
 Thecus |
 Infortrend |
| Server suppliers |  hotswap disks: €834.90  hotswap disks and redundant power supply: €1,575.34 |
Supermicro - CSE-846E16-R1200B-JBOD Price: €1,957.55 |
Thecus - N16000 Price: €5057.50 |
Infortrend - ESDS S16E-R2240 Price: €8,990.45 |
| Controller suppliers  |
1. Areca - ARC-1880x (PCIe 2.0 to 6Gb/s SAS RAID adapter) Price: €590.24 2. areca.com.tw Price: €800~1000 |
1. areca.com.tw Price: €800~1000 |
already build in |
already build in |
| Disk suppliers |
1. Hitachi Ultrastar 7K3000 (2TB & 3TB 3.5-INCH ENTERPRISE HARD DRIVE) 2. Seagate Constellation® ES Hard Drives (2TB & 3TB) 3. Western Digital WD RE4 (max. 2TB) |
|||
| Data storage software | 1. Open-E - DSS V6 (Data Storage Software) 16TB Price: €1,073.86 2. Open-E - DSS V6 (Data Storage Software) Unlimited TB Price: €2,084.88 |
1. Open-E - DSS V6 (Data Storage Software) 16TB Price: €1,073.86 2. Open-E - DSS V6 (Data Storage Software) Unlimited TB Price: €2,084.88 |
already included |
already included |
Notes:
*RAID: RAID stands for "Redundant Arrays of Independent Disks". It is the use of multiple harddisk drives in an array that behaves like a single large fast one. It allows the storage subsystem to exceed the performance and capacity.
In RAID5 you lose one disk in size but one defect disk can be handled , RAID6 you lose two disks in size but two defects disk can be handled.
It is better to use higher priced enterprise harddisks for 24/7 RAID usage with better hardware and vibration handling which can result in less timeouts and failures than cheaper consumer desktop harddisks. Most harddisk components are produced in Thailand, but the floods will cause a shortage of harddisk. This has driven the prices 150-300% up last months and it will last at least until half way 2012.
**Hot swap: means replacing computer system components without significant interruption to the system (without shutting down the system).
**Redundant power supply: It is a power supply that includes two (or more) units within it, each of which is capable of powering the entire system by itself. If there is a failure in one of the units, the other one will seamlessly take over to prevent the loss of power to the PC.
****SAS stands for Serial Attached SCSI. SAS drive can have higher performance than a SATA drive. SAS enables multiple devices (up to 128 or 256 SAS2) of different sizes and types to be connected (3Gb/s or 6Gb/s SAS2) simultaneously with thinner and longer cables.
If you have any questions about data storage, feel free to ask us.
Posted in 3D Data Storage
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