Mac server hardware with raid?

[dimzen]

I'm going to make a new Mac server and want it to have raid.
But the isn't a "server-version" of the Mac mini and I can't see any Mac mini config with raid.

So I thought, why not a Mac Pro, it must have raid and the bonus that it has more CPU-power.
But I can't seem to find any info, that Mac Pro have raid or can be configured to have raid?

So is my only option to get an external raid and boot from it? :/

Btw.. I live in Denmark, so an Apple refurb Mac mini server-version isn't an option for me


Oops.. this post should have been in https://forums.macrumors.com/forums/mac-os-x-server-xserve-and-networking.123/ :S

 

[usna92]

I guess the answer to your question depends on what type of raid you are looking for. I see you were looking a MacMini server edition, which only lets you have a two drive raid setup to begin with, so I will assume that you were looking at a Raid 0 or Raid 1 configuration. If that's all you need, then you can configure any series of drives in a Mac Pro in a soft raid configuration using disk utilities in Sierra (and I am sure in older version of disk utilities as well). I have never setup a mirror configuration with more than one drive in MacPro so I don't know how that configuration would be arranged. You can arrange any number of disks in a JBOD configuration (for a large storage volume) or Stripped Configuration for speed. Some things to consider is that these solutions are not "professional" configuration in that they will only provide you speeds a SATAII configuration and because they are based in software, they would also not be as fast as a hardware configuration would be. These configurations do have the benefits of being internal to the MacPro and are cheap (included in software). It really just depends on what your needs are and what benefits you need from your setup. I am running a 6TB software raid in my MacPro as a large scratch volume with great success and little downsides, though my speed requirements are minimal.

 

[dimzen]

For a server, I would like Raid1
Is there 2 disks in the Mac Pro 2013? I can't find that info anywhere

 

[usna92]

Ohhh. You mean the nMP v. a cMP. Sorry, I don't know what's available for the trashcan. I suspect you would be back to the external raid situation connected though thunderbolt.

 

[chevelleguy3]

For the nMP aka "Trashcan", it would support RAID configurations via external Thunderbolt but not internal as it's a single SSD configuration.

FWIW, I would recommend using an external RAID setup on any of the machines you have listed. You'd be better off using the internal drive as the OS drive and using an external RAID setup for all of the storage.

What exactly are you wanting to use the RAID for?
[doublepost=1488828985][/doublepost]I've got a 2014 Mac Mini 3.0 i7 16GB RAM 1TB SSD as my server. The 1TB SSD is overkill but it's what I had to work with. It only has the OS and Applications installed on it. From there I have 3x 8TB LaCie 4big Cubes in RAID5 at 6TB each connected via FireWire800 and a 20TB LaCie 5big Thunderbolt drive. All of the "server" data is stored on the external drives instead of the internal SSD.

 

[dimzen]

For the nMP aka "Trashcan", it would support RAID configurations via external Thunderbolt but not internal as it's a single SSD configuration.

FWIW, I would recommend using an external RAID setup on any of the machines you have listed. You'd be better off using the internal drive as the OS drive and using an external RAID setup for all of the storage.

What exactly are you wanting to use the RAID for?
[doublepost=1488828985][/doublepost]I've got a 2014 Mac Mini 3.0 i7 16GB RAM 1TB SSD as my server. The 1TB SSD is overkill but it's what I had to work with. It only has the OS and Applications installed on it. From there I have 3x 8TB LaCie 4big Cubes in RAID5 at 6TB each connected via FireWire800 and a 20TB LaCie 5big Thunderbolt drive. All of the "server" data is stored on the external drives instead of the internal SSD.

Why raid 1? To get the redundancy if a disk should fail, as the server has to run 24/7.

I think the server only need about 150-200GB, so 1TB would be overkill for me

Hmm... so no Mac with 2 disks :/
I'm thinking about the Pegasus2 R2+, if I needed a external raid, but the LaCie 2big looks like a cheaper alternative

 

[ix400]

I am also thinking of buying a pegasus2 r8 barebone for my mac pro.

When I initially populate it with 4 disks and run it as a raid 5, can i add later on additional drives (same size) in order to expand the initial partition/volume? sort of a raid expansion?

or do i have to start a second raid 5 subset on the r8?

 

[Flint Ironstag]

I have one issue with Pegasus; they often require a hard power cycle after a major OS update, otherwise the host system will not recognize them at all. A pain for remote installations.

[edit] double post