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* backup & storage solution(HDDs)** titlehttps: ***//vtluug.org/users/~rsk/files/uploads/A Backup/Storage -BackupStorage-solution -for -VTLUUG -services -and members** desc: ***We host several services for members and the general public, one of which is official reference material for Virginia Tech IT. Due to hardware failure and a lack of resources for the past few years, we no longer have the materials for an adequate backup solution to keep these services running: our purchase of hard drives here aims to rectify that.** mission: ***The Linux and Unix Users Group at Virginia Tech (VTLUUG) is dedicated to improving the computing skills of its members, supporting Linux and Unix use on campus, and serving the community through Free Software and open data. We host various services for on-campus students and members, including DNS adblocking, Linux shell servers, storage, password management, and more. Some of our services, like our wiki, are used by Virginia Tech IT Personnel.** storage: ***The Whittemore Server Closet, administrated by the ECE IT director, Bruce Buskill (bbuskill@vt.edu).** why/how: ***The new hard drives will go in one of our existing servers, building a storage array with a complete size of over 100 Terabytes (allowing for several drive failures without data loss). Getting this amount of storage from a cloud service provider like BackBlaze B2 would cost on the order of $660 a month, every month that we want to retain our data. In comparison, doing it ourselves provides a valauble oppurtunity for club members to learn system and data administration, and in essence pays itself back within a single month. Once the storage array is built, members of the club will be able to upload and download from it at will, as well as apportion parts of it for their personal projects, and we can set up automated backups for our service data, to ensure that there is never significant downtime due to data loss.**items***8x MDD 16TB 3.5inch Internal Enterprise Hard Drive<pre>Renewed Hard Drives, at a permembers_12-drive cost of $110 for 16TB, coming out to a low $6.874 perNov-TB, currently the lowest on the market per https://diskprices2024_Budget.compdf

the other lowest drives listed on that site that are Amazon Renewed (somewhat more reputable than a random used seller) are:* AI rig$7.785 / TB: ** https://vtluug.org/users/~rsk/files/14tb.png$7.679 uploads/ TB: https://vtluug.org/users/~rsk/files/12tb.pngand$7.785 / TB: https://vtluug.org/users/~rsk/files/14_2.png here is the listing page A-computer-with-an-adequate-power-supply-for the drives we our buying:https://vtluug.org/users/~rsk/files/16tb-AIcompute-task_23-Nov-2024_Budget.png</pre>pdf