Hi we're LearnOutLoud and we're currently running out of space on our 1.2 terabyte server filled up 90% with audio files. We'll be expanding in the coming years with the audio files that we'll be adding and we're looking for the best option for storing our audio files. We're talking with Steven here about getting an 8 drive chassey with 8 500GB drives for a total of 4.0 terabytes with a RAID setup giving us about 3.5 terabytes to work with. It will cost us in the $3000-$5000 range and we're just not sure if we want to put that up at the moment, as this growth will be over time and we may not even need all this space. What we'll be storing on this new server would be just audio files (audio books that are purchased on our site). They are not accessed very heavily so we don't need to concern ourselves too much with processing speed or bandwidth. We're looking into some other solutions for storage such as Amazon S3, Media Temple, and some other ones. We don't need a lightning fast expensive content delivery network like Limelight Networks, as their storage costs are way too much. We want something we can grow and pay as we grow. Any ideas?
Why dont you consider using cheap dedicated boxes with RAID1 ? LOW CPU and RAM specs will do...just get dual 500GB HDDs...you could get each at well below $80 on bulk orders. This will allow you to distribute files over various boxes and when you dont require a box, just drop it. box1 : dl1.yoursite.com box2 : dl2.yoursite.com and so on...