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jdl8422

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 5, 2006
491
0
Louisiana
I am looking to build my own external RAID setup and have it function as another set of internal ones. Is it possible to buy a computer case and put in a raid card and a power source and just run SATA cables to my mac pro? sorry if it sounds stupid. Thanks
 
You might want to look into ATA over Ethernet, if you have a spare computer with a lot of SATA ports lying around - you could get higher throughput with port teaming. A couple of cheap Intel NICs might be good... I'm currently waiting on some, so I have yet to comment on AoEs effectiveness.
 
I am looking to build my own external RAID setup and have it function as another set of internal ones. Is it possible to buy a computer case and put in a raid card and a power source and just run SATA cables to my mac pro? sorry if it sounds stupid. Thanks

Doesn't sound stupid at all. In fact many companies do this for a living. Mostly this is best done via something called eSATA (where the "e" I guess stands for external).

An old computer case is a great idea! The PSU is already there and everything!
 
My main concern was exactly what do I need. Do I just need a RAID card and a power supply to power the hard drives? It just seemed like it was a little more advanced than that. I'm not completely lost on the subject, just never did it before. thanks for the help.
 
My main concern was exactly what do I need. Do I just need a RAID card and a power supply to power the hard drives? It just seemed like it was a little more advanced than that. I'm not completely lost on the subject, just never did it before. thanks for the help.

Nope, not really, it's pretty simple.

  • Hook up the power to all the drives in the old case.
  • Make sure the fans work and the PSU is adequate.
  • Install the RAID or SATA card in your Mac.
  • Buy and connect an Internal To External Port Bridge
    Here's one:
  • Maybe double up on this and put one in the old PC too
    to keep the cables and connections neat and tidy.
  • Then just run the data cables and turn on the power. :)
 
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