eSATA Not Working-RAID Enclosure

grush

Moving this thread to the Alienware Owners Club Forum.
   
Bev.

First, if you can return it, I would do it ... and get a real Synology NAS instead. It's just a little more and it's a full standalone machine.

Try it without Intel-RST installed. Without Intel-RST it should use the Microsoft HDD driver or Intel ChipSet driver.

Thanks Bev, I wasn't aware that there was a separate Alienware forum. I googled it but it didn't show anything official.

As I am poor, I would have a difficult time paying three times the price for a Synology box. I would not want to use drobo either as I'm wary of propriety solutions. I very well may return this unit though and try to get something better.

Single/Normal eSata is great (one channel per drive). Multiplexed eSata boxes has always been an iffy thing.

To save some money ... If you don't mind your externals being only USB-2.0 then $200 doesn't seem to bad to me.

www.newegg.com/.../Product.aspx

and ordered three 3TB drives.

You could buy some external enclusures. There is one eSata on back. You can buy a $10 cable/bracket and use the other (red) eSata port off the motherboard for Port#2 of Silicon Image eSata controller. Put one or more drives inside machine on real SATA-II ports.

Where-ever you use them, you will have to check for 3tb drive support. Also check that support on external enclosures.

I don't really need NAS, I just want to run a 3 and eventually 4 disk RAID 5 setup to back up all my stuff and media server. I need four or more bays. USB 2.0 is just painfully slow. I guess I could get a USB 3.0 card, but I only have one pci-e slot left and want to leave that open for the future.

As I am poor,

3 "consumer-class" NAS compared :

www.dslreports.com/.../Three-NAS-Appliance-Options-Compared-121349

I don't really need NAS,

That what I'm trying to share with you ... you really do especially for media server.

When you have a single machine on your network, you fill it with drives. Maybe connect a couple of externals out the back if you have fast ports (ESata, USB 3.0, etc).

When you grow beyond that ... have yourself the headaches and build a self-contained standalone storage server ... something that can scale. It's better to have a central location for all the media, data from other machines, Acronis images of machines, etc.

It could be a NAS.

It could just be a Windows machine ... but it will need to be a large tower with lots of drive slots. Even then, you max-out the available SATA connections.

It could be a real Windows Server (or Windows HomeServer).

It could be something like FreeNAS (like above, but not running Windows).

What I'm working on now is backups. Do I double everything (expensive and not ideal because it's onsite) or use cloud (looking at CrashPlan Unlimited). One (of many questions) is how long would it take to get 10tb uploaded on slower (1mbs) broadband up-steam?

Thank you Tesla for all the wisdom you're trying to impart through my dense head. I guess I could get a NAS and cut off sharing when I don't need it.  I'm trying to keep things as cheap as possible as I was layed off from my job a few months ago,  without losing too much reliability. A few years ago I got a 320gb external drive...filled that up in a few months, got a 1.5 tb external, which I've been relying on which is now just about full. Recently the original 1.5tb internal my computer came with crashed. I was able to restore much of the data as thankfully it took a little while for it to go out completely. It was the first time a hard drive ever went bad on me and I've been using computers since the 80's PC days when my first computer had a "huge" 20mb drive. I tried subscribing to my ISP's cloud backup. Took days to backup a few gb's of data so that was no good. I was going to get a 3tb or 4tb external drive for backup but then I got to thinking what if that went out and starting thinking about RAID. Recently Newegg had a special on a 4-bay Iview unit for under $100. It's probably crap I know, but most of the reviews aren't too bad. So I got that and waiting for my third 3tb drive to be delivered. I'm still paranoid about what would happen if there was a fire or something in my house. Eventually I want to get a backup for my backup and store it off-site. So I'm still trying to figure everything out. Too bad I can't run a large storage server facility that's replicated to another location. Do you know of any consumer NAS that use RAID 6 yet? I only have one eSATA port, are eSATA hubs viable and reliable?

Recently the original 1.5tb internal my computer came with crashed.

These are all valid concerns. HDDs crash all the time. Good you are thinking about this. It would take months to re-rip all my discs. Some of my other data and source-code is un-replace-able.

Cloud backup is only sure way to protect against fire, flood, theft. Check out CrashPlan Unlimited. Pay them the $100 a year instead of buying local backup harddrives. They have another way that backs to second off-site location (for free ?), but you would have to have full control over it and build it up with nice gear.

Keep OS and installed programs separate from data files and media (with partitions). Acronis Image your OS and programs to separate drive. Keep a second copy of your media (separate drive). After you get "caught-up" in the cloud ... you can free the local backup space for more primary storage space... yes, it will take months.

RAID sounds fine until there is a failure. I'm thinking that two simple copies of everything is easier. Eventually, the cloud holds the second copy.

Recently Newegg had a special on a 4-bay Iview unit for under $100. It's probably crap I know, but most of the reviews aren't too bad. So I got that ... are eSATA hubs viable and reliable?

I got it working! I went to the Dell site and tried installing the eSATA driver again. The computer recognized the drive before it finished the install. I don't know what is wrong because the driver hadn't been updated since last install. I'm going to give it a try before I return it.

Now for the future I notice you have a Samsung SSD. I know some controllers are better than others. Do you have a suggestion for best value for the price SSD? Also I noticed on your Aurora that you're using BIOS A09. Isn't A11 the newest?

Thanks again for all your help!

I got it working! I went to the Dell site and tried installing the eSATA driver again. The computer recognized the drive before it finished the install. I don't know what is wrong because the driver hadn't been updated since last install. I'm going to give it a try before I return it.

If it works ... cool . I just saw too many problems at Newegg with various multi-port eSata boxes ... above my comfort level. I built a tower media server instead from spare parts (closet hidden but also runs XBMC). I'll still need to do what I said above because space goes quick as the years drift by.

I notice you have a Samsung SSD. I know some controllers are better than others. Do you have a suggestion for best value for the price SSD? Also I noticed on your Aurora that you're using BIOS A09. Isn't A11 the newest?

I had it narrowed down to Samsung 830 (MLC and own controller) and Intel (Sandforce I think). Dependability and long-lasting are my biggest factors. I already knew it would be really fast. Between seeing how this works (and the mSata caching drive in a new UltraBook I have access to) ... I might never use a spinning drive as main C: OS drive in a computer again. My computer is over 2 years old and it runs like a whole new computer now. I kinda just had to make a decision (got tired of reading reviews). Sure it's crazy money ($200 for 256gb) but I've hardly done any upgrades to this computer since I bought it. Dell and others picked Samsung to OEM. Warranty is good and I saw no major complaints. IMHO, 830 is closer to 840 Pro than cheaper plain 840.

Since these MB have no Dual-BIOS ... they are pretty easy to brick (kill). Everything works great so I don't fix it.