$150 Raid Controller

[ripken204]

I want to buy a RAID controller for my file server.
Basically I need more ports, I also need RAID1 ability which shouldn't be an issue.

$150 is really the max I am really willing to spend, 4 ports is all that I need on it.
It MUST be compatible with Ubuntu 8.10
It would be nice if it worked with Leopard.

I will have a bunch of 1-2TB hdds connected to it.

also, needs to be PCI-E 1x or PCI.

 

[Ockie]

I don't get it, don't get me wrong here. But you want to spend $150 max and stick 100-300 dollar drives on it?

You should look at spending the proper amount for a good controller or look at another solution such as WHS.

 

[ripken204]

i dont want WHS, i am very happy with Ubuntu, I use it for many things aside from just a file server.

what controller would you suggest getting instead then?
and if all i am doing is raid1, why would i need such an expensive controller?

 

[Tolyngee]

Dunno if you can find an 8506-4, but I know the 3ware 8506-8 (8 ports) cards have been going for ~$50 shipped lately. Can't get much cheaper than that. My experience is that they're rock solid stable.

I have no experience with them with drives over 750GB, though. So, especially with a 2TB card, YMMV. Check around if there's known issues.

 

[Tolyngee]

Oops, I do have 1TB GP WD drives attached to mine, so I'd say 1TB drives are also fine.

 

[TeedOff]

You don't mention what interface you need, so I'll throw this at you:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815121009

Its PCI-X, but works fine on regular PCI too. I never noticed any bottlenecking, but my throughput requirements are not high. It is just a bunch of ports...you could do software RAID1 on Linux no problem.

 

[Adidas4275]

whats wrong with the dell perc5/i can be had for $100 on ebay no issues

 

[ripken204]

^^ what model?

i need PCI-E 1x or PCI

 

[Tolyngee]

TeedOff - that doesn't do RAID. It's just a bunch of ports. He wants raid-1 capability, too.

Hmmm, Ebay has no cheap 8506-8s for sale anymore.

I have four I am not using.

If you really need one, I'll put one up for auction...

Or just watch for the next few days. They keep going up on there, and you'll find one for~$50.

Examples:

http://cgi.ebay.com/3Ware-Escalade-...ryZ56091QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/3Ware-Escalade-...ryZ56091QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/3Ware-AMCC-Mode...ryZ96881QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem