|
|
||||
|
|
||||
|
|
||||
|
|
Notes on Choosing Drives and RAID
Configurations for Kustom Computers Firstly there are some
rules that you must abide by, if you want a working computer. : These rules
are necessary due both to the physical design of all or most Kustom
computers, as well as to the way that a computer works. : 1. You can normally
have a total maximum of 5 drives on your Kustom computer. 2. A maximum of 2 of
these can be 5 1/4 inch drives (DVD-RAM drive size.); therefore a maximum of
3 of these can be 3 ½ inch drives. (Floppy-disc-drive size.) 3. A maximum of 3 of
these 5 drives can be hard-discs. Hard-disc-drives are usually fitted to 3 ½
inch drive bays; but can also be fitted to 5 1/4 inch bays. 4. You MUST have at
least 1 hard-disc for the computer to work. : Your first hard-disc drive
counts as 1 of the 3 ½ inch drives you can have. 5. If you want a RAID
configuration then it is necessary to have 2 or more identical hard-disc-drives. (Explanation of RAID:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAID
) Size of Different Drives 3 ½ inch drives include floppy-drives,
zip drives, universal card readers, as well as almost all hard-disc-drives. 5 1/4 inch drives include DVD-RAM,
DVD-ROM, CD-RW, CD-ROM, Blue Ray, etc. Minimum and Maximum Number of Drives You don’t need to have more than
1 drive by necessity; that being a single hard-disc-drive (HDD), in your
Kustom computer for it to work. However having only 1 HDD and no other drives
would make inputting data rather tedious in some circumstances; as you’d only
be able to do so either via the keyboard or via the internet. It’s always
useful to have a DVD-RAM drive fitted. A DVD-RAM drive will play and record
both CDs and DVDs. A universal card-reader is sometimes a good idea to have
fitted also; as you can then record data on any flash-memory card and
transfer it between computers or between your peripherals, such as digital
cameras, and your computer. Floppy-disk-drives are useful at times; but
aren’t used that much these days due to their small data-containment-size and
their relatively slow read-speed. Remember; you
normally can’t have more than 5 drives on your computer due to space
requirements, one of these 5 drives must by necessity be a HDD. You can,
however, connect external drives to your computer by means of USB, fire wire,
and eSATA. These external drives include everything from USB flash memory
“keys”, external card-readers, and mass-storage devices, to external
hard-drives themselves. When connecting multiple USB drives, though; do be
conscious of one limiting factor; that being power. : If the USB devices have
their own external power supply then the current-drain on the computer’s USB
power is negligible. If the USB device(s) is powered by the computer itself
then remember that power is always limited in some way; there is no infinite
source. Even if you were to upgrade the internal Power Supply Unit (PSU),
there is still a current limit on the amount of power that a USB port can
deliver. Bare this in mind. (Fire wire is able
to supply the same current as USB at up to 35-50 volts; therefore allowing
more wattage to be delivered at higher voltages. (Refer. Ohm’s Law; P=IV.)) Which Drives Should I Choose? That’s entirely up to you.
Whatever you choose should be based upon your needs and the use to which you intend
the computer to be put. : For instance, if you intend to use the computer for
storing many movies and digital photos on, then it would be a good idea to
have at least 1 rather large HDD for that purpose in addition to a smaller
HDD as a system-only drive. At the time of writing, Hitachi among others has
just launched a terabyte (1000 gigabytes) HDD for around £250-300. One of
these would be excellent for storing your digital media on, while a smaller
primary HDD – 40GB for example – would contain all your system files;
therefore in the event that your system disk has to be reformatted you don’t
end up having to re-input many gigs of data. A DVD-RAM is always useful to
have fitted no matter what you use the PC for. The quotation
request form is quite that concise, and does have a dedicated section where
you can specify the number of drives and what type you want; also you have a
section at the end of the form in which you can add anything that you want;
so if you want to specify 2 x 1TB HDDs in RAID1 configuration, plus a Blue
Ray drive, a DVD-RAM, and a floppy-drive, then you can do just that, as well
as to state that you’d like 2 fire wire ports to be added if indeed that’s
what you want. If you’re a
small-businessperson perhaps, and you’d like to use a Kustom computer in your
office, then you’ll probably not need a massive amount of disc space as data
storage is accomplished on the company’s server, so aside from the DVD-RAM
and perhaps a floppy-drive it’s an idea to have a pair of 40GB HDDs in RAID 1
configuration, just so that your important data which does reside on your HDD isn’t so at risk of loss
due to a disc-failure.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
