Just up the number. So 28968. Be sure it’s set in the config file besides the port forwarding so the satellites know the port number to communicate on.
Also you can run multiple windows nodes on a single PC. Requires configuring a custom windows service, setting up a batch script on a task scheduler job to restart your nodes weekly to update.
I myself plan to setup a RAID configuration because I don’t want to manage 15 to 20 nodes. I plan to expanding storage from a single box to multiple boxs on a single server. Having a single node on a single IP is also the way I prefer my node to be run as well. Less complex, the better for me. I be doing all of this in windows.
Ok, which do you plan to do? Just setup multiple nodes for each HDD on the PC or the RAID setup?
Multiple Nodes requires setting up and configuring each node for each HDD on the PC, requires adding custom windows services for each node, making a batch script to auto restart them weekly, port forwarding each node. You get to use all the disk space of the HDDs. As for monitoring, you have to manage multiple node services, dashboards, logs, updates, ect…
RAID configuration would use windows storage spaces, it’s simply a software raid solution built into windows, there is a few downsides to it and that’s on the home/pro editions, the size is limited, so if you want to be able to make it larger you have to install windows server alongside the existing OS or install it as new. You lose some storage space when using RAID with HDD redundancy. I plan to use the mirror option as the parity has really slow writes, don’t want to use RAID without redundancy because I want to data to remain available during a HDD failure. As for expanding storage from a single box to a second box and so on, I plan to use HP SAS Expanders with LSI SAS 9201-16e 6Gb/s 16-PORT SATA+SAS HOST BUS ADAPTER LSI00276 SFF-8088.
I looked into FreeNAS but decided against it because of the memory required. I read some negative reviews of Windows storage spaces so I ruled that out. Have you considered UnRaid? If I go that route I could get a better build than what Synology or Qnap provide for about the same cost. Only negative is that I would not get any of their bundled software.
I been running it (Windows Server) for over a few years now without any problems. I did give freenas a try but was unable to get it up and running for some reason. I needed something physically bigger then a Drobo 5N, I figured out server chassis give you plenty of physical slots so I built myself my own NAS. I pickup a Rosewill RSV-L4500 case which gave me 15 bays, you can get 23, 30, 45, 60 bay units from 45drives if you have the money. As for OS, I just wanted something easy to setup, to manage, works with existing hardware, that worked with an old desktop PC. The storage pool option in windows server which is windows storage spaces worked out. I had to use the mirror option vs parity because of the bad write speeds I got from parity. I also went with windows simply because all the Apps I have run on that OS. There is also a way to setup a storage network using iscsi at least I think so, I have not played with it much so I am not sure. I plan to add more storage to the server by adding another server chassis full of drives and connecting it directly to the server by SAS Expanders and Host Controllers. This way I avoid having to buy a whole new computer plus I want to have a single server anyways. Recently I added a 2nd network card so that there is redundancy and traffic can access the server even when I transfer large files, 2 Gbps.
The good news is, you can try out the setup I am doing because you can install windows server as a trial.
A test I did on using a SAS Expander & Host Controller, I figured out I bought too old of a host controller, so don’t use the model in the picture. Click to see picture of how I connected it as a test. This is how I plan to expand to a 2nd chassis and connect it to the server. Drives will appear physically connected, I can add them to the storage pool or make a new one.
