Hey folks. I'm searching for a RAID controller. Here is exactly what I want, in terms of board layout and specs: Suitable for use with 4x 64GB SSDs SATA2 Black PCB Compatibility with Vista Ultimate 64 4x front facing SATA ports *optional, but preferred* 2-4 rear IO eSATA ports The card posted above is the Rosewill RC-218 - and although it may seem ideal at first glance it is only a 4-channel card; which means that it can only run 4 of the 6 ports at once (4xinterior & 0xexterior - or - 2x2). Since I'll be using 4x64GB SSDs with the board at all times, that makes the extra eSATA ports entirely useless. If that's not possible then a 4-channel card with no external IO will do - but it must be black, 3gb/s, and have front facing ports. I don't have much experience with RAID controllers, so any advice for things to look for and things to avoid are greatly appreciated. Thanks a lot in advance!
Honestly, to run those puppies, this is trash. Dump the black PCB requirement, do a stealth plate and a sharpie around the edge of the PCB, and possibly a bent stealth cover like on ORAC3. Worry about speed, RAID levels and reliability. For what you plan to do with this, look at a card that has replaceable RAM that it can use as RAID cache. This is NOT a part to cheap out on. Lemme see what I can come up with here quickly. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816115048 This bitch don't play... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816116042 Another fine choice, note both have dedicated RAID processors... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816101204 A little different, this is software based but has all the externals as well... (multicable arrays, it's great stuff) These are all gonna STOMP the Rosewill. If anyone's seen Tad around, he's the go-to man, but if he's gone I can try and fill in...
Thanks a lot Kayin. As I mentioned - I don't plan on using the Rosewill card, it looked like crap, I just like it's layout. The 2nd one you linked looks to be the best choice of the lot. However, I forgot to add some more caveats. I have a PCIe LaCie eSATA card - so if the RAID controller has no eSATA ports it cant be PCIe. I don't mind making another mirrored plate for this card, so I can loose the black PCB rule. I'd also prefer that the card has 4-8 separate ports - mostly for aesthetics - so I can use my modded SATA cables [edit] Actually the HighPoint RocketRAID 3510 looks to be quite ideal. I'd like separate ports, but the copper accent doesn't hurt my judging hehe - methinks I'll look into that. THANKS [/edit]
Another brand worth considering is Areca - really excellent controllers for the money (although you can go up to ridiculous budgets for a 4-port RAID card with them).
I'll look into that thanks Krikkit. @ Kayin - if you're referring to the carbon rod, no-mate... I think I tossed it.
Adaptec 5805 bit higher up there, but worth it. extremly fast card. http://www.adaptec.com/en-US/support/raid/sas_raid/SAS-5805/
Thanks mate, but that's a tad overkill. I'm only running 4 drives - I don't want to pay to support up to 256. This is as pricey as I'm willing to go. The Highpoint Rocketraid 3510. I'd prefer that the card not exceed more than 50% of the drive costs. which means I'm keeping it under $400.
I did some reading around and I've read very good things about HighPoint. I've decided to go with the Highpoint Rocketraid 3510 - I'm sure it'll make the drives FLY. I'm thinking RAID0 =). Thanks to KayinBlack for pointing me in the right direction from day 1... sorry I'm too stubborn to listen - lol.
All I'm worried about is helping you make good decisions. Your project is a hell of a lot more impressive than mine, and I don't wanna see you bugger something. If you wanna see what hard drive arrays are, though, this is what I'm dropping in my next system. http://shopping.yahoo.com/p:Adaptec AHA 3940AUW:1991111969 AND http://sanwork.com/adaptec-aha2940u...adapter-aha2940uw-item-p-8098.html?language=1 I have both cards on hand, as well as 5-device cables and about 4 drives ATM... As OS buggering is a big problem with extreme OCing, I'm moving to a pair of cards that can handle 45 disks total, including the ability to add a pair of drive racks with the pair of external cables. The stuff comes in the local thrift store often enough I pick up some nice deals. 45 drives not counting the board connections. Those will host the Blu-Ray drive, among other things...
I have some experience with enterprise class sata & sas raid controllers. I applaud your choice for a proper raid controller with it's own I/O processor and dedicated memory (PrometheusCU & your SSD's deserve this!). 256MB should be enough as well. I take it you are aware this card has only one internal x4 sata connector so you'll need to get an octopus cable for it, and there is no eSATA port at the back (and it is PCI-E x8, so it won't fit in a x1 slot). One other thing to keep in mind though, from the specs page, this card supports a battery backup unit (BBU) for the raid controller's memory. Some vendors (like LSI) will not allow you to enable write-back mode without a BBU. In write-back mode writes will be acknowledged to the OS at the moment the data is in the raid cache, instead of once they hit the disks (write-thru mode). As fast as SSD's are, the onboard 256MB of DDR2 on the controller is a lot faster still. So it pays off to be in write-back mode. The reason that some vendors don't let you enable writeback without BBU is that if there is data in the RAID memory, and you lose power to the system, this data is lost. When this has been acknowledged to the OS as written, you get data corruption, and possibly non-booting arrays. I don't know the highpoint product line so I would check with them if you can enable writeback without BBU. If not, you'll have to shell out some more (looks to be just over $100) to get the full performance potential from this card.
Very interesting. Thanks a lot for the info murtoz I do know that it lacks eSATA, and it's 1x but those features are somewhat tied. I already have a LaCie eSATA controller that runs 1x, so I'll be using that - the 3510 will be going into my third x16 slot. I am a bit bummed by the fact that I'll need a SAS cable - but I'm sure I can mod it to spec. Thanks for the info on the BBU's, I'll be looking into this - sounds promising.
