Adaptec Raid Cards

[nitrobass24]

Ok so im going to be buying a new card for a lil project I have.

I was looking on eBay and I saw the ASR-31205 and the ICP5125BR

The PCB's seem to be the same and I cant really tell any difference.

First off does anyone have any of these?
What is the ICP cards all about?
Is there any difference concerning performance between these 2 cards?

BTW Ill be running a 8 drive 10k SAS RAID0

 

[sabregen]

ASR-31205

Supported Operating Systems
Microsoft Windows
Red Hat Linux
SUSE Linux
Novell NetWare
SCO OpenServer
UnixWare
Sun Solaris
FreeBSD
VMware ESX Server

For a detailed list see ASK Answer ID 15061


Key Differentiators
Affordable Unified Serial RAID controllers support both SATA and SAS devices. Ideal for workstations, and entry to mid-range servers.

Customer Needs
Affordability and performance with an advanced feature set for customers needing storage flexibility and capacity growth.

System Environment
Intel IA32, EM64T, and AMD64

Cache Memory
256MB of DDR2 memory

RAID Levels
RAID 0, 1, 1E, 5, 5EE, 6, 10, 50, 60, JBOD

Key RAID Features
• Supports 12 direct-attached or up to 128 SAS or SATA disk drives using SAS expanders
• RAID Levels 0, 1, 10, 5, 50, JBOD
• Advanced Data Protection Suite
• RAID Levels 1E (Striped Mirror), 5EE (Hot Space), 6 and 60 (Dual Drive Failure Protection)
• Copyback Hot Spare
• Snapshot Backup (optional)
• Dynamic caching algorithm
• Online Capacity Expansion
• RAID Level Migration
• Optimized Disk Utilization
• Quick Initialization
• Native Command Queuing (NCQ)
• Hot spares – global, dedicated, and pooled
• Background initialization
• Automatic/manual rebuild of hot spares
• SAF-TE enclosure management support
• Configurable stripe size
• S.M.A.R.T. support
• Up to 512TB array sizes
• Multiple arrays per disk drive
• Bad stripe table
• Dynamic sector repair
• Staggered drive spin-up
• Bootable array support
• Hot-plug drive support
• Redundant path failover

Bus System Interface Type

8-lane PCIe

Internal Connectors
3 internal (SFF-8087) Mini SAS

Data Transfer Rate
3 Gb/s per port

Package Contents
• Adaptec RAID 31205 Controller
• Quick Installation Guide (English/French/German/Italian/Spanish)
• Software and documentation CDs
• Cables: three Mini SAS x4 to (4x) SATA fanout cable w/ sideband(2247000-R), 0.5 meter

Warranty
3 years


Management Utilities

Adaptec Storage Manager™ (ASM)
• Java-based GUI Management Utility
• Remote configuration, monitoring & notification
• ASM OS Support: Windows, Linux, SCO, Solaris, NetWare
• Microsoft VDS Support
• SNMP, SMTP
• Simultaneous remote firmware updates

ARCCONF
• Command Line Interface

Adaptec BIOS Configuration Utility (ACU)
• BIOS level configuration utility
• Flashable BIOS support

Physical Size

4.6" H x 6.6" L (116mm x 167mm)

Operating Temperature (excl. battery)

0°C to 40°C (without airflow)
0°C to 55°C (with airflow)
Note: with battery the temperature should not exceed 40°C.

Operating Voltage

1 amp @ 3.3V

Regulatory Certification

FCC, UL, C-tick, CE, VCC

Accessories

Snapshot Backup Key (2228200)
Adaptec Battery Module ABM-800 (2248000-R)

Mean Time Before Failure (MTBF)

650,411 hours at 40 degree C.

ICP5125BR

Supported Operating Systems
Microsoft Windows
Red Hat Linux
SUSE Linux
Novell NetWare
SCO OpenServer
UnixWare
Sun Solaris
FreeBSD
VMware ESX Server

For a detailed list see ASK Answer ID 15088


Key Differentiators
Affordable Unified Serial RAID controllers support both SATA and SAS devices. Ideal for workstations, and entry to mid-range servers.
Customer Needs
Affordability and performance with an advanced feature set for customers needing storage flexibility and capacity growth.
System Environment
Intel IA32, EM64T, and AMD64
Cache Memory
256MB of DDR2 memory

Key RAID Features
• Supports up to 128 SAS or SATA devices (depending on server design)
• RAID Levels 0, 1, 10, 5, 50, JBOD
• Advanced Data Protection Suite
• RAID Levels 1E (Striped Mirror), 5EE (Hot Space), 6
and 60 (Dual Drive Failure Protection)
• Copyback Hot Spare
• Snapshot Backup
• Dynamic caching algorithm
• Online Capacity Expansion
• RAID Level Migration
• Optimized Disk Utilization
• Quick Initialization
• Native Command Queuing (NCQ)
• Hot spares – global, dedicated, and pooled
• Background initialization
• Automatic/manual rebuild of hot spares
• SAF-TE enclosure management support
• Configurable stripe size
• S.M.A.R.T. support
• Up to 512TB array sizes
• Multiple arrays and types per disk drive
• Bad stripe table
• Dynamic sector repair
• Staggered drive spin-up
• Bootable array support
• Hot-plug drive support
• Redundant path failover

Bus System Interface Type

8-lane PCIe
Internal Connectors
3 internal connectors (SFF-8087)
Data Transfer Rate
3 Gb/s per port

Warranty
3 years
Other
64-Bit Intel 80333 I/O Processor 800 MHz

Management Utilities

ICP Storage Manager™ (ISM)
• Java-based GUI Management Utility
• Remote configuration, monitoring & notification
• ISM OS Support: Windows, Linux, SCO, Solaris, NetWare
• Microsoft VDS Support
• SNMP, SMTP
• Simultaneous remote firmware updates

ARCCONF
• Command Line Interface

ICP BIOS Configuration Utility (ICU)
• BIOS level configuration utility
• Flashable BIOS support

Physical Size

4.6" H x 6.6" L (116mm x 167 mm)

Operating Temperature (without battery)

0°C to 40°C (without airflow)
0°C to 55°C (with airflow)
Note: with battery the temperature should not exceed 40°C.

Operating Voltage

1 amp @ 3.3V

Regulatory Certification

FCC, C-tick, CE, VCCI

Accessories

Adaptec Battery Module ABM-800 (2248000-R)

The first thing that I noticed was:

1) both have 256MB of RAM
2) both do RAID 6/60 +
3) look the same
4) there's no list of package contents on the ICP product, which leads me to believe that it's an OEM version of the same card (31205)
5) ICP version lists the 64-Bit Intel 80333 I/O Processor 800 MHz as the onboard processor. The 31205 does not list it's processor
6) physical dimensions for both are the same
7) ICP product can only add a BBU. The 31205 can add a BBU and a Snapshot Backup key. I would imagine that this is a feature offered in the retail only product as a marketing thing. The look the same, have the same dimensions, sam operating temperatures, and the same RAID levels.

 

[nitrobass24]

Yea those were kind of the things I noticed...I think im going to go with the 31205....the latest gen cards with the dual core procs are just to damn expensive for a penny pincher like me.