Well, I’ve gotten to thinking. I’ve decided that:

  • I don’t have anywhere to keep / power a NAS server
  • I can’t afford it
  • I don’t really need 750GB of RAID 5 storage

So whats my alternative? Upgrade my desktop, and put a bunch of disks
in there, using RAID 1 (mirroring). After an extensive (read: 5
minute) search, I came across the ASUS P4P800-E DELUXE I865PE P4 SKT478
motherboard. It will allow me to have 2 x 2 disk RAID 1
arrays. So I can buy one now, and another later. It also
has AGP 8, 4 RAM slots, and is compatible with my existing processor.
So I can buy the motherboard, an extra 512MB of RAM (Though i’m not too
sure if that will work ok – i probably need to get matching sticks),
the 4 bay SATA hot swappable drive cage, and 2 x 250GB seagate drives
to begin with. I should be able to add another 2 drives down the
track. That still adds up to over $1k though. Prices as
follows:

  • Motherboard – $191.40
  • Drive cage – $291.50
  • 2 x 512MB Corsair TwinX RAM sticks – $286.00

All from auspcmarket. Plus I need to add the 2 250GB drives,
which are $199 each from MSY, or $207 from pluscorp. This comes
to a total of $1167, which is still pretty expensive.
A possible alternative to the 4 bay drive cage is this –
http://www.eyo.com.au/details_E-SNT-125B.html which is relatively cheap
at $39 plus shipping. The only disadvantage is that 4 drives take
up 4 5.25″ bays, as opposed to the 4 in one drive cage, that only takes
up 3 5.25″ bays.