DASes and Drobos
I need to plop on a few Terabytes at home.
I am looking for a Direct Attached Storage device. I already have a home server, but due to lack of space in the case and the fact that it’s doing a great job being an NFS and Samba box that I don’t need a NAS. I’d like something I can just eSATA right to my existing box.
I am about 85% sure that I need a Drobo S to fill my needs. However it is quite expensive, so before I decide to commit I want to ask around.
I know some people have built alternatives to the Drobo, but I’m not looking to replace my ubuntu-server OS (since it’s rocking) or run a speciallized OS. I want a box I can just plug in and get Drobo-like behavior. I want to be able to use drives I might have laying around, and be able to just replace them when they die, and if the drive that died is a small one I want to be able to plop in a larger one and Just Work(tm).
From talking to people like Scott James Remnant and others at Debconf I know it should be possible to build such a beast with btrfs that will do what I want, the question is, how does one set this up? Ideally just add on a dumb expansion bay with a bunch o’ drives that does what I want. Has anyone tried to make a drobo-like setup with btrfs yet?
plug in, crank it to eleven
