RAID Card Advise

J

jschen

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 18, 2002
Messages
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I'm looking to upgrade my current file server that has 2 x Highpoint 2220 pci-x card. The cards are configured to 3 raid 5 arrays, 15 drives total (WD reds and samsung). I'd like to replace those cards since pci-x is a dated interface along with the performance of the cards.

I don't have that much knowledge on RAID cards. I think I want to stick with hardware RAID 5 or 6. I could use some advise on what cards I should be looking at.

Currently running Windows Server 2008 and might be upgrading to Server 2012 Essentials which is another reason to change cards since there are no drivers for the Highpoint cards for Server 2012.

Thanks
 
LSI, as I understand it, seems to be the go to hardware RAID card brand.

For me, I've used Adaptec's 6805, 7805, and 8805 for my eight drive RAID 6s. Each time I've upgraded the card, I just attached the drives and it detected the RAID 6 array (I don't think they do that for cross-brand arrays). And I've used and upgraded to eight 1TB Seagate Barracudas, then eight 3TB Hitachis, then eight 5TB WD Blacks. Use while rebuilding an array when a drive fails is fairly slow on the 7805, but the 8805 seemed a good deal faster (but I haven't had a drive fail on it yet, so I'm going off of the initial build/verify GigE transfer).

Slightly off topic, I used to have an old PCI-X Highpoint Rocketraid (3840?) for a RAID 5 array prior to going with Adaptec.
 
Do I just use a SAS breakout cable to 4 SATA to hook up the hard drives? Looks like LSI and Areca are the top brands.
 
jschen said:
Do I just use a SAS breakout cable to 4 SATA to hook up the hard drives? Looks like LSI and Areca are the top brands.
Click to expand...

For my Adaptec cards, I've used break out cables like this - if you decide on Adaptec, just make sure you check the compatibility page/PDF on their website to make sure that you grab the right cables.
 
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I recommend an LSI 9260-8i or IBM M1015 reflashed into a 9260 is for cost effective options if you want to go with hardware raid.

Personally, and I am a huge supporter of hardware raid, but next time around I will be looking into software. I'm not saying you have to, but it has come a long way since the days when I first went the raid route and it has changed my mind for my next build.
 
The LSI 9260-8i looks to be what I'm looking for, good price and performance. Since it only has 2 internal Mini-SAS SFF8087 ports (8 drives) do I need to buy an expander or something for 8+ drives?
 
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