PDA

View Full Version : Raid Controller EXperts Needed

2chesapeakes
02-15-2011, 05:44 AM
Looking for suggestions on a raid controller. I would like to keep the cost of the controller under $300.00. Currently I have (4) drives in a raid 0 array for the OS. I would like to migrate these drives to the card so at least 4 sata ports are needed. I will also be adding two additinal drives for programs and storage and would like to run a raid 1 array on these drives. I can use the MB for the storage drives to keep the cost of the controller down.
Would a complete reinstall of the OS be required or could I just plug the drives into the controller and have it recognize the drives?

The reason for this added card is not necessarily for speed but more for redundancy.

My current setup is
Rampage II Extreme
975 EE
9 Gig memory
(4) - Ocz drives raid 0 for OS
(1) - DVD drive
(1) seagate 250 Gig storage / program drive


Thanks
ocgmj
02-15-2011, 06:34 AM
I just finished a new server in my office where I used this card: LSI MegaRAID (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816118127&cm_re=lsi-_-16-118-127-_-Product) works awesome. 6Gb/s transfer rate (if you have the drives) and the ability to do RAID 0/1/5/10/50.
2chesapeakes
02-15-2011, 07:48 AM
What HDD's did you use with the card. My Ocz Vertex are not listed in the interoperability matrix. I would hate to purchase and find out my drives won't work.
ocgmj
02-15-2011, 07:52 AM
WD Blacks 1tb. Sorry couldn't tell you about SSD.
Neuromancer
02-15-2011, 08:06 AM
What HDD's did you use with the card. My Ocz Vertex are not listed in the interoperability matrix. I would hate to purchase and find out my drives won't work.

I would be very surprised if they did not work. All storage devices must conform to ATA standard...

Where it might fall down is the card might actually bottleneck the drives. Since the Intel Controller is tied to CPU it can run a much higher total speed than a device that uses a dedicated proseeing unit.

I do not recall the exact speeds, but 800MHz tops out at about 800MBps. The newer 800MHz Controllers are dual core IIRC and can handle a much higher BW as a result. I have not looked into it in over a year though so it is possible that new controllers are out that increase BW at lower speeds as well.

If looking at 6GBps cards I would assume they would be required to have a newer controller otherwise scaling beyond 2 drives would not happen.

$300 would be a starting point for SSD capable RAID cards IME.