Raid Card?

Megalomaniac said:
Perc 5 and 6.

I am thinking of getting the 6 since it has a bit more of a robust processor and does Raid 6, odd that Perc 5 does not since that processor is supposed to, no?
Click to expand...

There's only so much that a processor supports or does not. It's the RAID card as a whole that determines what RAID levels are supported. Essentially any card that can do RAID-5 can also do RAID-6 if the algorithm is present and enabled in the card. Performance, however, is a different matter.
 
ok, i am about to install the card and then set up the raid array.

1) do i need to initialize/format the disks first?

2) i see the updated firmware on the website, but i am having a hard time finding which updated software to download, any help? it is the areca 1210 and here is the link to the downloads page
 
dandragonrage said:
don't mean to be a jerk, but there's only one place on that page where it says 1210
Click to expand...

but thats only for the firmware. like i said thats the easy part. i am wondering about the software (driver/utility), which is located a few lines below. i am not sure which one is correct. i am on vista 64 bit. this is the page where i get stuck at.
 
Nope. You need to initialize them then add them to the array (in the card's BIOS, or maybe they have software that can do it also), then partition and format normally.
 
dandragonrage said:
Nope. You need to initialize them then add them to the array (in the card's BIOS, or maybe they have software that can do it also), then partition and format normally.
Click to expand...

roger that. i am attempting to get the card installed and everything, its a little different than most hardware since it is a hardware level firmware more than a driver itself. it is definitely a new and interesting experience...
 
dang, i hate not having enough 3.5" hdd slots in the case for all of my hdd's. i have the coolermaster 690 currently as a temp case, and the stacker 830 evo back at home to use again in a couple months, and neither of them have enough 3.5" slots. suggestions?
 
aggiestudd07 said:
dang, i hate not having enough 3.5" hdd slots in the case for all of my hdd's. i have the coolermaster 690 currently as a temp case, and the stacker 830 evo back at home to use again in a couple months, and neither of them have enough 3.5" slots. suggestions?
Click to expand...
Use your Stacker, convert the 5.25 bays to 3.5" with something like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817995001 My dad has exactly this in his server, holds 4 1.5TB drives in RAID-10 on a Highpoint 2310. He loves it because now he can take the drives to the bank safe deposit box when he goes on vacation. That very model hot-swap cage has run for over three months without hiccup with this setup.

The Stacker has nine 5.25" bays, you could cram three of those gizmos into it for 15 more drives with no optical drive. If you want an ODD, you can grab two of the above 5in3 units, then grab it's two bay little brother http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817995004 for a total of 13 additional 3.5" drive bays :cool:
 
DougLite said:
Use your Stacker, convert the 5.25 bays to 3.5" with something like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817995001 My dad has exactly this in his server, holds 4 1.5TB drives in RAID-10 on a Highpoint 2310. He loves it because now he can take the drives to the bank safe deposit box when he goes on vacation. That very model hot-swap cage has run for over three months without hiccup with this setup.

The Stacker has nine 5.25" bays, you could cram three of those gizmos into it for 15 more drives with no optical drive. If you want an ODD, you can grab two of the above 5in3 units, then grab it's two bay little brother http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817995004 for a total of 13 additional 3.5" drive bays :cool:
Click to expand...

dang i didnt even think about those. i found this one here from CM that includes a 120mm fan and is much cheaper, i will probably get that once i can get back out of the space-deprived barracks and back into my big case.

on another note, i have raid 10 setting up and it is initializing the drives. i knew it would take a while, but it is only 48% into the entire 2.5+ hour ordeal. i guess i wont be able to play with my new harddrives until the morning...
 
I feel your pain on that one, the new 1tb+ drives are nice, but anything like formatting or error checking takes a lot longer than I am used to waiting. Good luck on your build.
 
jay2472000 said:
I feel your pain on that one, the new 1tb+ drives are nice, but anything like formatting or error checking takes a lot longer than I am used to waiting. Good luck on your build.
Click to expand...

2 hours and 51 minutes, i guess it couldve been worse.

up and running and i will post numbers once it is done transfer files to the array.
 
I have just included 4 screenshots from HDTach using the 4 combinations b/w my RAID array and RaptorX.

I must say that I am completely blown away by the performance of this RAID array, and I seriously doubt i will ever buy a raptor again, unless of course I buy a 2nd RaptorX and RAID0 those sons of guns...

Raptor Short Burst vs Raptor Long Burst (Short burst, Long Burst)

RaptorShortRaptorLong.jpg
Click to expand...

RAID Short Burst vs RAID Long Burst (Short burst, Long Burst)

RAIDLongRAIDShort.jpg
Click to expand...

RAID Short Burst vs Raptor Short Burst (RAID, Raptor)

RaidShortRaptorShort.jpg
Click to expand...

RAID Long Burst vs Raptor Long Burst (Raptor, RAID)

RAIDLongRaptorLong.jpg
Click to expand...
 
ok, these are 7200.12 drives, do i need to update the firmware like the old 7200.11 drives? if so, how do i do that?

also, i never updated the firmware on my 7200.11 1tb drive, but i never had any problems with it. i bought the drive before all of the firmware issues came about. did i just get lucky?
 
DougLite said:
Use your Stacker, convert the 5.25 bays to 3.5" with something like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817995001 My dad has exactly this in his server, holds 4 1.5TB drives in RAID-10 on a Highpoint 2310. He loves it because now he can take the drives to the bank safe deposit box when he goes on vacation. That very model hot-swap cage has run for over three months without hiccup with this setup.

The Stacker has nine 5.25" bays, you could cram three of those gizmos into it for 15 more drives with no optical drive. If you want an ODD, you can grab two of the above 5in3 units, then grab it's two bay little brother http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817995004 for a total of 13 additional 3.5" drive bays :cool:
Click to expand...

Or just simply go buy a Norco case.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811219021
 
aggiestudd07 said:
though i am obviously not an expert in this field, i do believe the backup battery is highly recommended even if you have a ups b/c what if your psu fails or some other catastrophic internal failure of that sort?
Click to expand...

dandragonrage said:
It's not just power outages you have to worry about with write-back cache. What if your computer crashes and shuts down? What if your 5 year old nephew comes in and thinks hitting power switches is fun?

Do yourself a favor and get a battery for your RAID card if you use write-back cache. And if you use RAID-5, do yourself a favor and use write-back cache.
Click to expand...

Exactly. I've experienced this condition when a server or workstation suddenly shuts down while there were writes in progress. The battery backup is a highly recommended feature.
 
So you think it's much wiser for him to buy a $100+ case, then spend another $180 on cages and still have an inferior case? Nice.
 
It wouldn't be an inferior case unless he does want to rackmount it eventually, and $180 on cages? Yeah, right. Without rackmounting, I'd take a Stacker any day. The right tool for the right job.
 
A link to a $109 cage and a $79 cage were posted. Add in the cost of a decent case, and you are past the cost of the Norco, which offers better cooling, better hot swap bays, and a nice backplane. There is a reason you see Norcos being used in the best builds where mass storage is involved, and not some cobbled together stacker.
 
Better cooling? From a rackmount case? Rackmount cases are meant to be stacked and so are made accordingly. Their cooling is NOT better for the normal enthusiast.

Once again, the right tool for the right job. A rackmount case isn't better just because they use them in datacenters.
 
Last edited:
BrianEsser said:
A link to a $109 cage and a $79 cage were posted. Add in the cost of a decent case, and you are past the cost of the Norco, which offers better cooling, better hot swap bays, and a nice backplane. There is a reason you see Norcos being used in the best builds where mass storage is involved, and not some cobbled together stacker.
Click to expand...

dude, seriously? i am pretty sure that i also posted a link to these cages, which are the ones that i would actually buy, and they are only $20. the norco is not a bad case for what it is, but i have a gaming rig and i just happen to have a lot of harddrives. i would also like for it to look good, hence the stacker case.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top