Cheapest 4-port RAID card for ESXi?

BillHicksRIP

BillHicksRIP

BillHicksRIP

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Anyone know of a reasonably priced 4-port RAID card that's compatible with ESXi? There's loads of compatible cards on the Whitebox list but am just wondering if there's a go-to one for the home user without spending hundreds on one.
 
BillHicksRIP said:
Anyone know of a reasonably priced 4-port RAID card that's compatible with ESXi? There's loads of compatible cards on the Whitebox list but am just wondering if there's a go-to one for the home user without spending hundreds on one.
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Depends purely what you need from the card.

Dell Perc 6/IR (8 port, around 80 quid from ebay but you need to get cables at around 20 quid per set - one set = 4 drives) or LSI SAS3041E-R (4 port at around 80 USD, the 8 port is the SAS3081E-R at around 96USD, both need cables). You would need to check the ESXi compatibility list and these only enable raid 0 and raid 1 but all three, to my knowledge, use the same controller and so should be able to be chopped and interchanged if needed.

The Dell perc 6 could be had for under 200quid last time I checked on ebay. Again, you may need cables. Just be careful you get a Perc6 and not a Perc 6/IR like I did if you want full raid ability. Some come with battery backup as well.

I am using two SAS3081E-Rs and have a Dell Perc 6/IR at home but don't use ESXi so cannot comment on compatibility.

Regards
RB
 
ThorpedoUK said:
Are you looking for SAS or SATA (or both)?

I just bought a 3ware 9650SE SATA II 4-port RAID controller for a DL320 G6 and quite pleased with performance!
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I used one of these with an old system about 2 years back. Performance was brilliant, shame the server was useless.
 
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