Recommend a Hardware PCI-E 4+Port RAID5 Controller!

Burned_Alive · 18 May 2008 at 17:59

Looking to setup a Raid5 array with 4 500gb or 750gb drives, ideally it would be hardware based (so onboard parity processing), but if these are ridiculously expensive then a standard solution will do, what do you reckon? Its basically to be used for non system, non critical storage

Burned_Alive · 19 May 2008 at 13:36

From what i've seen there's no point going for a PCI card as it bottlenecks the system

Burned_Alive · 19 May 2008 at 14:16

Right now im looking at the Highpoint RocketRaid RR3510LF, bit steep at £190 but seems to be the best solution, although seems i will have to sacrifice the second PCI-E 16x lane in order to run it (I have an Asus P5E).

Burned_Alive · 19 May 2008 at 17:15

jbloggs said:
The reason I suggested the Adaptec PCI option was simply because a PCI-E/X alternative (hardware) RAID cont will be around £200...

If you are willing to spend that, also have a look at the Areca ARC-1210...I had the ARC-1110 (PCI-X) which was a very nice SATA RAID cont....

Fair enough, im really just looking for advice on the best overall solution, like is there really any point spending £200 on the card, if there's only a minor performance benefit over a budget card, etc

Burned_Alive · 19 May 2008 at 19:28

I dont really want to tie it into the motherboard

Burned_Alive · 19 May 2008 at 21:02

Yeah i'm umm and ahhing really, particularly for the price those seem to be going for...... think i might try one and see how it goes, then trade up if needs be

Burned_Alive · 19 May 2008 at 21:06

Although, they dont seem to be supported in Vista...

Scratch that, included in the operating system

Burned_Alive · 20 May 2008 at 10:45

Unfortunately there doesnt seem to be any Perc5/i available and I'm not really willing to wait around for one, I'm tempted by the Adaptec AAR-2410SA, but also being lured to the speed of the Highpoint RocketRaid RR3510LF, decisions decisions!

Burned_Alive · 20 May 2008 at 13:52

Might be worth noting that the Adaptec AAR-2610SA is also available for pretty much the same price

Burned_Alive · 20 May 2008 at 15:47

Just grabbed a brand new Adaptec AAR-2610SA for £35 + delivery, cheers guys

Burned_Alive · 20 May 2008 at 23:26

Schoolboy error, oh well, we'll see how it turns out!

Burned_Alive · 21 May 2008 at 13:01

Have you been able to find a suitable version of the RAID Manager Software?

Burned_Alive · 22 May 2008 at 00:01

The adaptec is a true hardware card and its what ive gone for now anyway, if i change it for anything it'll be for a Highpoint RocketRaid RR3510LF.

Burned_Alive · 22 May 2008 at 17:34

The card itself actually retails for £200+, the reason its available so cheaply is because these are surplus oem cards

Burned_Alive · 29 May 2008 at 22:04

Might have to change my plans now anyway because of a change with my graphics cards setup, it's looking like i might only have a PCI-E 1x slot left free, any ideas?

Burned_Alive · 29 May 2008 at 23:00

Only just bought a new system

Might just have to settle for a decent host based card like the Highpoint 2300, reviews seem to suggest it is faster than the adaptec anyway.

Burned_Alive · 2 Jun 2008 at 16:57

Got the HighPoint RR2300 up and running with with 4x750gb Samsung F1s in RAID5 seems to be managing average 122mb/s read/write speeds with a 13ms access time, pretty happy with that!