I want to put together a very cheap, yet very high capacity NAS.  Some of the advanced features of NetApps (like data replication over WAN, etc.) have really caught my eye, but the prices are just too much for my budget.

 

I plan on leveraging the low cost of IDE storage.  I have noticed the existence of third party disk shelves/JBODs that accept IDE disks in the front, but present a SCSI interface out the back.

 

So my question is, would it be reasonable for me to buy a very cheap, old NetApp head unit off of ebay (like an F740 for $400) and then attach several of these SCSI enclosures packed with IDE disks to it ?  Pesumably, four loaded enclosures at 4TB each (10 400gig IDEs) would give me 16TB, which is very attractive ...

 

Let's set aside the philosophy issue of sourcing third party parts and the advice netapp has regarding that - I am simply interested if this idea is _workable_.  The reason I am not looking at the native IDE NetApp units is that they are too new and are not available on ebay for hundreds of dollars.

 

Also, I have no idea if this is even acceptable to NetApp in terms of licensing - do they support ebay purchased gear in any capacity ?

 

Your comments and suggestions, even if tangiental, are greatly appreciated.