Hardware controller recommendations

[saedrin]

I'm looking to replace the old school PERC 5i storage array and onboard RAID1 for OS in my file server with newer gear.

New system hardware is running on a SUPERMICRO MBD-X9SCM-F-O.

End goal is to use two controllers with the following setup. PCI-E.

Controller #1 (smaller, only needs to support RAID0/1, single internal 8087 would be ideal)

2xRE4's in RAID1 for system OS
2xCheetah 15k SAS in RAID1 for scratch/VMs

Controller #2 (beefier, RAID6 + array expansion required, hot spare support, etc, minimum of 2 internal 8087's)
8xWD red's in RAID6 to start, expansion to 16 drives ideal (4x internal 8087's as backplane is one per 4 drives and I don't want an expander if possible)

I would prefer them to be the same manufacturer. Controller #1 will need to be bootable. WebGUI would be interesting, even more so if both controllers can use a single pane of glass.

Thoughts?

Budget is 'lets be reasonable here'. Under $700 total.

 

[saedrin]

No recommendations? Very surprised!

 

[brutalizer]

I think Areca hardware raid cards are commonly used?

(Several people here (myself included) would recommend ZFS because of the superior data protection, instead of using hardware raid.)

 

[AndyE]

I'd use one controller, unless it is performance critical
Did a home server with 24x WD 3TB Red drives
Controller: Adaptec 72405
Flashed based backup "battery"
Web GUI available

 

[blazend]

Our company used to use adaptec a lot of issues.

We switched to LSI MegaRaids. Everything has been smooth with them. The only issue i have with it is they have a target button to see what HD you are on. It doesnt work with the LSI cards it wont blink any lights.

Id suggest the LSI nice hot swap and mirror setups that you can learn pretty quick!

 

[saedrin]

I think Areca hardware raid cards are commonly used?

(Several people here (myself included) would recommend ZFS because of the superior data protection, instead of using hardware raid.)

I have friends setup the same way. Unfortunately they don't support live expansion of the array (without pooling different sets) which is sort of a deal breaker now. RAID6 is enough redundancy for me now since everything is backed up to a local NAS and on the cloud as well. Crashplan

 

[Red Falcon]

I would recommend the PERC6/i hardware RAID controller; remember, the PERC6/e is external-only.
It has a lot of improvements over the PERC5 controller.

The PERC6/i has 256MB DDR2 667MHz ECC cache memory, has support for two SFF-8484 connection cables (four SATA), has a modified PowerPC 440 RoC CPU @ 500MHz (runs a lot cooler than the PERC5), and is PCI-E 1.0 8x for lots of bandwidth.

I would recommend reading through a bit of this thread, as this is THE thread for PERC5/6 RAID controllers:
http://www.overclock.net/t/359025/perc-5-i-raid-card-tips-and-benchmarks

Also, if you go with the PERC6, make sure to replace the tin heatsink with another one.
I was able to get this one to fit fairly easily on mine with a fan:
Solid Copper Heatsink: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835226019
Super Quiet Fan: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835426039

This will prevent overheating, and if your case does have enough airflow, you could probably skip the fan, but the fan, even at 100% is totally silent.
Good luck with whatever you get!


EDIT:
Forgot to mention, if you do go with a hardware RAID controller, make sure to get a BBU with it.
This way you can safely enable the write-back on the controller without worry of power outages ruining your data.