[HCoop-Discuss] Final Hardware List

[Davor Ocelic]

On Sun, 13 Dec 2009 16:17:17 -0500
Clinton Ebadi <clinton at unknownlamer.org> wrote:

> Adam Chlipala <adamc at hcoop.net> writes:
> 
> > While the subject contains the word "final," the body of the
> > message makes it sound like there are still some decisions to be
> > made.  Am I right to be waiting for a more final message before
> > trying to order anything?
> 
> I just need to find rails and we can get the listed hardware unless
> anyone objects.
> 
> (I'll probably figure out the rail situation tomorrow--I was /quite/
> ill yesterday suffering the effects of either food poisoning or
> something similar and am still a bit sore and hazy right now).

Btw, Dell doesn't offer those rails as an option for the server?

In any case, I'm dropping in just to say I find the setup quite
nice, with the following notes:

1) Software RAID and going for 1 TB disks seems alright, and
we're still within budget because the current price (with 750 GB
disks) seems it'll be a bit lower than initially calculated.


2) Why take the Seagate disks when they have bad customer ratings
right next to them on Newegg page?

Seagate's quality dropped enormously lately - at least on the
SATA disks - and the customer reviews only confirm it.

I have a bad experience with them as well. About a year ago I 
really wanted to buy a 500 GB Seagate, but chose Western Digital
in the last moment due to poor Seagate disk reviews (people reporting
failures after 4 months of work and a problem known but not admitted
by vendor). Then a month/two later I went to buy another 500 GB disk
(for the RAID array) and said OK, scrap those reviews, they were more
than a year old, and IF anything was really not working in the first
place, Seagate must've fixed it by now.
Well, after 4 months, SMART errors started piling up...

So long story short, I suggest 1TB WD disks with 5 years warranty,
same price and best customer reviews of all offered by Newegg.
The shipping is also free like for Seagate:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136313

Drop a note if you disagree, otherwise we proceed with WD disks.

-doc