RAID controller for simple WHS machine - I'm going crazy!!

A

altano

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Aug 30, 2011
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I'm looking for a RAID controller and am just horribly confused after two days of research :(

Hardware I have already picked out:
  • Intel S1200KP mobo (mini-ITX w/ 1 x PCI Express 2.0 x16 add-in slot)
  • Intel Xeon E3-1260L (LGA 1155)
  • 4x2TB Samsung F4 EcoGreen (HD204UI)
  • 1x2.5" OS HD
  • 1xBlu-Ray drive
  • Lian-Li PC-Q08 case, which will limit the card to 185mm/7.28" in length
The motherboard comes with 2xSATA2 and 2xSATA3 ports. I'm starting with 6 SATA devices and would like to expand to 8 in the future, so I need a RAID controller or HBA card.

I would like to optimize for:
  • Running my 4x2TB HDs in RAID-10.
  • Expanding from 4x2TB to 6x2TB in the future. I would like to just expand the existing array, although that isn't required. Bonus points for being able to expand to 5x2TB running in RAID-1E as a baby-step. Double bonus points for being able to upgrade to 5x2TB in RAID-1e w/ 1 hot-spare.
  • Robustness to part failures and moving to a new machine/motherboard in the future.
I don't want to worry about:
  • Performance - I just want to rip Blu-Rays, stream HD content, back up some machines to my WHS... nothing intense. I've opted for lower-power/cooler parts at the sake of performance elsewhere in this build already.
  • Unlimited expandability - I will want to go to 6xHDs for my RAID array in the future, but that will last me a VERY long time.
  • Cost - it isn't a concern, but I also don't think there's any reason for me to purchase anything fancy.
The current candidates I've come up with:

Intel SASUC8I: Re-branded LSI 1068e, $155 new off Newegg

IBM BR10i: Re-branded LSI 1068e, ~$50 off ebay

IBM M1015: Re-branded LSI 9240-8i but w/o RAID-5, ~$100 off ebay

I'm leaning towards getting the IBM M1015. This is a pretty cheap option, gets me RAID-10, should perform well, supports SATAIII and isn't using an already-outdated PCI-Express port like the LSI 1068e. The LSI controllers sound like they are extremely widely supported and should this card fail or should I want to upgrade motherboard/CPU in the future, I probably won't have trouble moving this card to that new setup. I may even be able to snag a used LSI 9240-8i retail off ebay for just over $100. Am I way off the mark?

So, I'm left with the following questions:
  • Is the IBM M1015/LSI 9240-8i a good fit for my needs and existing parts?
  • Would I be better off getting the cheapest 6-port HBA and just use the onboard Intel ICH10R given my limited needs, fast CPU, and the awesome history of future-compatibility with the ICHXXR onboard RAID controllers(tomshardware.com)? If so, what is an example of such a card?
  • How will I know when a drive fails? Some RAID cards advertise an alarm/buzzer. Is this standard? The host machine is headless, so I definitely want something like this.
I'll go positively batty if I spend another second researching newegg, hardforum, and servethehome! :eek:

Thanks in advance.
 
LSI offers tools that can detect when a raid array degrades, and on my 9260 at least, it beeped louder than you can imagine. I don't know what software you would use for the IBM card.
 
Both IBM cards can be flashed to the stock LSI firmware, so I assume I can make use of such software.

Thanks, that's good to know!
 
I just bought an LSI 9240-8i used off ebay for $130. I think this'll be more than I'll ever need and was a great deal.

Thanks everyone!
 
I'm going to invoke the "no such thing as a stupid question" defense here (RAID isn't my area) and ask a stupid question. If I picked up a card like this, is it possible to migrate drives that already have data on them, or would I need to setup the array and then transfer the data? If it's the second, I'm guessing it is possible to add drives to an existing array to expand it (so start with two drives, then add additional drives as I freed them up by copied data from them to the array)?

I currently have a home server running Server 2008 R2, and I've started to worry about data protection. Currently running it with FlexRAID, but was considering a hardware solution instead.
 
Forceman said:
I currently have a home server running Server 2008 R2, and I've started to worry about data protection. Currently running it with FlexRAID, but was considering a hardware solution instead.
Click to expand...

Why are you considering switching from FlexRAID? Wouldn't switching to something hardware based kind of limit expandability to an extent and also limit the ability to pull drives and have them read by other machines? I'm just curious about your experience with FlexRAID and why you want to move away from it.
 
Joe S said:
Why are you considering switching from FlexRAID? Wouldn't switching to something hardware based kind of limit expandability to an extent and also limit the ability to pull drives and have them read by other machines? I'm just curious about your experience with FlexRAID and why you want to move away from it.
Click to expand...

I don't know - it just seems kind of kludgy (especially getting it to work as a service) and I'm not sure I really trust it if I lose a disk. I have all the same drives anyway (just worked out that way) so the move is feasible, just not sure if it is worth the effort.
 
Thanks for sharing your experience. I'll be watching this thread to see how your possible switch works out.
 
Arrrrrgh. I just cannot get the 9240-8i to work in Windows Home Server 2011 (Windows Server 2008 R2).

The device POSTs fine. I was able to configure it in the Web BIOS to a RAID 5 array.

Once in Windows, with drivers version 5.1.112, the error "Controller encountered a fatal error and was reset" pops up from the MSM. If I delete the virtual drive and leave it in an unconfigured state, I still get the error in Windows as soon as I log in. If I try to use the drive and ignore the error, the machine blue-screens within 10 seconds of initiating the transfer.

I tried drivers version 4.33, 4.32.0.64, and 4.31.1.64, and with those drivers Windows reports "The device cannot start. (Code 10)" and the MSM cannot see it at all.

I also flashed the firmware from version 2.120.14-1094 to 2.120.54-1235 and then tried versions 5.1.112 and 4.33 and still received the same error.

I just got an RMA part (advance replacement for $49!) and THAT doesn't work either. I just get a "The device cannot start. (Code 10)" error (no critical error).

Is this a compatibility issue with the 9240-8i and Win2k8R2? My motherboard? What? Should I just give up and buy another card? I've now spent $180 on this card if you include the overnight RMA.

Having to switch to RAID has already annoyed the fuck out of me, and I haven't even gotten to the point where I'm using it yet.

For starters: has anyone gotten this card to work with either WHS 2011 or the Intel DQ67EP motherboard?
 
Actually let's be less ambitious: has anyone gotten an LSI 9240 card to work with any LGA 1155/Sandy Bridge motherboard?
 
You say you want to go 6x2tb in the future - if we figure 1 parity drive that's 10tb usable. If you just go with 3tb drives now you can go 4x3tb - and with 1 parity drive that's 9tb usable.
edit: I see you say raid 10 - so that's 6tb usable in the 6x2 configuration and also 6tb usable in the 4x3 configuration, both raid 10 - so in that case you have the same amount of space even.

And you don't have to worry about a raid card.
 
ChrisBenn said:
You say you want to go 6x2tb in the future - if we figure 1 parity drive that's 10tb usable. If you just go with 3tb drives now you can go 4x3tb - and with 1 parity drive that's 9tb usable.
edit: I see you say raid 10 - so that's 6tb usable in the 6x2 configuration and also 6tb usable in the 4x3 configuration, both raid 10 - so in that case you have the same amount of space even.

And you don't have to worry about a raid card.
Click to expand...

But I also have an OS drive and a Blu-Ray drive eating up 2 SATA ports on my motherboard, so that leaves 2 free SATA ports. Not enough.

I also swapped out the S1200KP Intel board with the DQ67EP because the S1200KP, despite being a c206 chipset board, does NOT support Intel's AMT tech or the KVM over IP. The only Xeon E3 board that does is the DQ67EP. Now I can't find a RAID card that works on the DQ67EP. Which is really ticking me off because the KVM over IP is bullshit, check-box software that barely works and is flaky garbage.

This whole build has been a nightmare. I'm contemplating biting the restocking-fee-bullet and sending almost everything back and starting over again, going microATX this time and saying fuck it to the smaller case size. That would simplify everything. I could just get an mATX supermicro board that has onboard RAID with 6+ SATA ports, plenty of SATA slots, built-in IPMI, enough fan headers for 3 fans, support for ECC memory, etc. All guaranteed to actually work together.
 
i would send the board back. the IBM M1015/LSI 9420 works fine with the supermicro boards popular here, which i see this SUPERMICRO MBD-X9SCM-F-O recommended quite often. now that i look back, not sure why you even went with that intel board.
 
In my experience the M1015 (with "IR"-firmware") is very picky, the only types of non server motherboards I've gotten it to work with is actually Fujitsu Business PC series (Intel Q-chipsets and Phoenix BIOS FWIW). My Intel DG45ID didn't like it at all without flashing it to a HBA.
//Danne
 
altano said:
I just bought an LSI 9240-8i used off ebay for $130. I think this'll be more than I'll ever need and was a great deal.
Click to expand...
Well an LSI 9240-8i for $130 is a way better deal than IBM m1015 for $100. Sometimes the IBM m1015 can be found for $50 on Ebay.
 
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