is this a real hardware raid controller?

Robstar said:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816118031

Since tyan seriously borked up their pci-e on their 1U transport, I suppose I could stick this in a PCI slot to get raid. I am _not_ interested in software/driver dependent raid.

I am looking for true hardware raid.

Anyone know if this card does true hardware raid? My config will be 4 * 400G in raid 10.
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This controller does do RAID in hardware. Keep in mind however, it is a limited implementation of RAID. It only supports levels 0, 1, 1E, and 10E, only supports up to two RAID volumes per controller and can have only up to 7 of the attached drives in a RAID volume. Basically it's meant as a low-end feature add-on. If you need a full RAID implementation, then the MegaRAID adapaters are what you're looking for.

However, I think this controller is a good choice for workstation users, since it is unlikely that a single user needs more RAID functionality than is included (and that seems to be the case with you as well). The RAID volumes are OS-independent and completely controlled by the firmware/hardware on the board.
 
I would go with a better controller. Like the above poster said, it can do raid hardware but it's very limited.
 
Ockie said:
I would go with a better controller. Like the above poster said, it can do raid hardware but it's very limited.
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He's doing raid 10, which is supported by this card. Why pay money for an expensive processor you're not going to use at all? This card is a good choice for this application.
 
I figure with raid1 or raid10 i shouldn't need something that does raid5.

I imagine 15k sas in raid 10 is just going to scream performance (esp since I have pci-x slots on my motherboard) (and yes I know the difference between pci-e and pci-x -- I have both).
 
unhappy_mage said:
He's doing raid 10, which is supported by this card. Why pay money for an expensive processor you're not going to use at all? This card is a good choice for this application.
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"Nobody will ever need more than 640K of RAM"
 
I don't see myself purchasing more than 4 15k scsi sas drives (they are not cheap!), and I have a 9550sx-8lp for sata.

AFAIK that is a real raid controller also.
 
Ockie said:
"Nobody will ever need more than 640K of RAM"
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Sometimes you know that rather than upgrade a machine, you'll build a new or additional one when it runs out of capacity. In that case, there's no reason to buy more hardware than you need.
 
unhappy_mage said:
Sometimes you know that rather than upgrade a machine, you'll build a new or additional one when it runs out of capacity. In that case, there's no reason to buy more hardware than you need.
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In terms of hardware controllers, it's not something that you "upgrade" everytime you make changes to your machine.

Most people tend to keep their controllers into their new upgrades, so investing now in a good controller would be worth the time and effort. SATA and PCI-e is going to be around for a long time, so investing in them now wont be regrettable 2 years down the road.

I know how you are, I've noticed your logic is to basically go as skimp as possible on any hardware, psu's, motherboards, drives, controllers, etc.... this is the hardforums and the computer industry, if we just did things "just enough" to accomplish the task, then these forums wouldn't exist and we would be still in the P3 era. Take it with a grain of salt, but upgrading with some room for expansion is what fuels these forums and the industry in general. If you want things to just make it over the bump, then Best Buy tech is where you need to be asking the questions. Go [H]ard or go oft.
 
Ockie said:
In terms of hardware controllers, it's not something that you "upgrade" everytime you make changes to your machine.

Most people tend to keep their controllers into their new upgrades, so investing now in a good controller would be worth the time and effort. SATA and PCI-e is going to be around for a long time, so investing in them now wont be regrettable 2 years down the road.

I know how you are, I've noticed your logic is to basically go as skimp as possible on any hardware, psu's, motherboards, drives, controllers, etc.... this is the hardforums and the computer industry, if we just did things "just enough" to accomplish the task, then these forums wouldn't exist and we would be still in the P3 era. Take it with a grain of salt, but upgrading with some room for expansion is what fuels these forums and the industry in general. If you want things to just make it over the bump, then Best Buy tech is where you need to be asking the questions. Go [H]ard or go oft.
Click to expand...


If this was the case (people always going [H]ard in [H]Ocp) we'd only be reading about 8 core dual xeons & quad 940/1207's or better. Nobody would buy less than 16 or 24 port sata controllers, right?

I currently have 2 * 8 port lsi-logic controllers and 1 3ware 9550sx-8lp. My colo server is 1U and has pci or pci-e and either a pci-e x16 (borked bios) or pci card slot and 4 hot swap bays. Since raid5 is generally slower than raid10 (afaik) and I only have 3 36G sas drives coming anyhow, I figure this would be a good choice. Can you see any reason why it would not be?
 
Robstar said:
If this was the case (people always going [H]ard in [H]Ocp) we'd only be reading about 8 core dual xeons & quad 940/1207's or better. Nobody would buy less than 16 or 24 port sata controllers, right?

I currently have 2 * 8 port lsi-logic controllers and 1 3ware 9550sx-8lp. My server has two pci 64bit/66mhz slots. Since raid5 is generally slower than raid10 (afaik) and I only have 3 36G sas drives coming anyhow, I figure this would be a good choice. Can you see any reason why it would not be?
Click to expand...

I do not see a problem with using that card, and I wouldn't move to RAID5 ever anyway, just too dangerous. I would personally use software raid, but I know you aren't looking for that, and you won't be able to save much money since that card is pretty inexpensive. I would verify that you can create arrays like you want, the newegg reviews say things are somewhat limited in that respect. The review where he gives it 2 *s because he had to download a driver disk is pretty funny. "Pros: NO PROS, DO TO THE FACT THAT NO CD CAME WITH IT........" :)
 
Robstar said:
If this was the case (people always going [H]ard in [H]Ocp) we'd only be reading about 8 core dual xeons & quad 940/1207's or better. Nobody would buy less than 16 or 24 port sata controllers, right?

I currently have 2 * 8 port lsi-logic controllers and 1 3ware 9550sx-8lp. My colo server is 1U and has pci or pci-e and either a pci-e x16 (borked bios) or pci card slot and 4 hot swap bays. Since raid5 is generally slower than raid10 (afaik) and I only have 3 36G sas drives coming anyhow, I figure this would be a good choice. Can you see any reason why it would not be?
Click to expand...

The thing is that the user didn't ask for a component to "just do the job", he asked for a "real hardware raid card", I'm sorry if I read the title and actually responded to as such. Perhaps next time the OP should take the time and mention that he's looking for the cheapest or whatever method works for his solution. When someone asks me for the real thing, I give them the real thing.

And you don't have such a thing as 8 core xeons out ;) Otherwise I'd have one.
 
Ockie said:
Most people tend to keep their controllers into their new upgrades, so investing now in a good controller would be worth the time and effort. SATA and PCI-e is going to be around for a long time, so investing in them now wont be regrettable 2 years down the road.
Click to expand...
PCI-X isn't going anywhere, either; too many specialized peripherals are already out there for the industry to drop support for it completely. This card makes sense because this is a 1u box (as mentioned in OP); adding a raid 5 processor means more heat to eliminate, and there's not room for a decent-sized array in it.
Ockie said:
I know how you are, I've noticed your logic is to basically go as skimp as possible on any hardware, psu's, motherboards, drives, controllers, etc....
Click to expand...
Not necessarily. But I try to mention that cheaper alternatives exist when someone recommends really expensive, useless hardware that'll never get used. A 1KW power supply for a quad core Intel box with one 8800 and two hard drives? An Areca card for a raid 1 array? Raid 0 arrays for surfing and email?
Ockie said:
And you don't have such a thing as 8 core xeons out ;) Otherwise I'd have one.
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In two sockets, there are. He said "8 core dual xeons", which doesn't necessarily mean 2*8, could be 2*4=8. Xeon 5310s or 5355s give 8 cores per machine.
Robstar said:
I only have 3 36G sas drives coming anyhow, I figure this would be a good choice. Can you see any reason why it would not be?
Click to expand...
Are you planning on raid 1 with a hot spare or raid 1E? The card supports either, just curious.

Ockie said:
Perhaps next time the OP should take the time and mention that he's looking for the cheapest or whatever method works for his solution.
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That *is* the OP ;)
 
Ockie said:
The thing is that the user didn't ask for a component to "just do the job", he asked for a "real hardware raid card", I'm sorry if I read the title and actually responded to as such. Perhaps next time the OP should take the time and mention that he's looking for the cheapest or whatever method works for his solution. When someone asks me for the real thing, I give them the real thing.

And you don't have such a thing as 8 core xeons out ;) Otherwise I'd have one.
Click to expand...

I am the OP and I am looking for real hardware raid which is why I'm going for lsi instead of something like promise. I also meant 8 cores total :p
 
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