RAID5 Card for Home Use

[havokator]

I want to setup a RAID5 array with four 2TB hard drives. I plan on using Samsung Spinpoint F4 2TB drives.

What would be a good PCIe card to get for this? My priority here is data safety not speed or performance. I want the safest, most reliable solution to protect my data.

I would like to spend less than $200. Is it possible to get a full hardware RAID card for this price or should I get a software raid card? Is the Dell PERC 5/i any good? Such as the XT257 model like this one: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370510996289 Is this card supposed to come with a battery because I have seen some for sale with a battery and some without. Anyone know if this card is compatible with the Asus P8P67 Pro motherboard? Also, how good is the BIOS on this card? Is it easy to use? Is this a good card for my first hardware RAID5 array or should I go with a retail one such as LSI?

Also, if I get a card with two SAS ports, is there a specific model SAS to SATA cable I need to get or does any cable work?

Finally, I have the option of using my onboard ICH10R motherboard RAID5 controller. Is this a good solution? The only problem is if I plan to add more drives in the future, or maybe move the array to a different machine.

 

[Aesma]

Will you have (do you already have) a backup strategy ?

 

[Dangman]

I want the safest, most reliable solution to protect my data.

In that case, you better have a good backup strategy as Aesma noted. RAID by itself is not a form of backup btw. A backup can be any medium that's not directly connected to the main source at all times. I.e like a NAS, external hard drive, DVDs, file server, online storage, or even on another hard drive in another PC.

I would like to spend less than $200. Is it possible to get a full hardware RAID card for this price or should I get a software raid card?

If willing to buying used, then yes you can get a full hardware RAID card for that price

Is the Dell PERC 5/i any good? Such as the XT257 model like this one: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370510996289 Is this card supposed to come with a battery because I have seen some for sale with a battery and some without.

The Perc 5/i is a decent starter RAID card. Yes that card should come with a BBU or Battery Backup Unit for optimal performance as well as safety of the data in even of an improper shutdown. However that specifc ebay link isn't too good for the price unless you're planning on using nothing but SAS drives. You want to find one without those SFF-8084 to SAS cables or with SFF-8084 to 4 SATA cables like these:
SFF-8484 to 4 x SATA Cables

Read these threads for more info:
Dell Perc 5/i RAID Card: Tips and Benchmarks
Perc 5/i Review over at Serve The Home
Finally went to a Hardware Raid5 controller...
Dell Perc 5/i - Mainboard Compatibility List
Solution for Dell Perc 5/i for Intel Chipsets
Add 8 device SAS/SATA 256MB BBU Enterprise class RAID card to your rig for about $100 w/ PERC 5i (LSI 8480E OEMed to Dell)

Anyone know if this card is compatible with the Asus P8P67 Pro motherboard?

Dunno.

Also, if I get a card with two SAS ports, is there a specific model SAS to SATA cable I need to get or does any cable work?

As long as the specific SAS cable type is correct, then any cable should work. I.e since the Perc 5/i uses SFF-8084, then you're gonna want to use SFF-8084 to 4 SATA cables. However a lot of newer RAID cards will use the SFF-8087 interface.

Finally, I have the option of using my onboard ICH10R motherboard RAID5 controller. Is this a good solution? The only problem is if I plan to add more drives in the future, or maybe move the array to a different machine.

While you can apparently do Online Capcity Expansion with the onboard RAID controller, I'm not sure if ICH10R is that good of a solution.

 

[plugwash]

I don't think raid is really the soloution for you, you are trading the risk to your data from drive failure to the risk to your data from an array screwup. I'm not at all convinced this results in an overall reduction in risk.

If your data is important to you then you need to keep multiple copies in different places, prefferablly with at least one of those copies being disconnected from the live system at all times.

 

[havokator]

I don't think raid is really the soloution for you, you are trading the risk to your data from drive failure to the risk to your data from an array screwup. I'm not at all convinced this results in an overall reduction in risk.

If your data is important to you then you need to keep multiple copies in different places, prefferablly with at least one of those copies being disconnected from the live system at all times.

I'm not really sure if I understand what you are trying to say. How am I risking data loss from an array screwup?

Of coarse I will also have backups of my data on a different medium. This RAID array is just for storing the data on my computer.


@Danny Bui: Thank you for all your help. Those links are very informative. Just what I was looking for. Thanks!

Is there any other RAID5 card you would recommend in this price range? Or is the Dell Perc the best one?

 

[Dangman]

I'm not really sure if I understand what you are trying to say. How am I risking data loss from an array screwup?

Well if the RAID card starts becoming defective, there's a chance that the data or RAID array could be corrupted. There's also a chance of the RAID array itself becoming defective or corrupted during a RAID array rebuild or just normal operation.

Is there any other RAID5 card you would recommend in this price range? Or is the Dell Perc the best one?

Well I've seen the Perc 6/i or Perc 6/e for little more than the Perc 5/i on eBay. It's suppose to be faster and has sligthly better compatibility from what I've read. However I haven't done too much research into that card so you're gonna have to do your own footwork on that card.

 

[Just_Visiting]

This morning I woke up to an odd beeping coming from my fileserver. To make a long story short, my raid 5 on a perc5i lost its config. 4 out of 8 drives were missing......even the hot spare. After a quick google search I restarted it, imported the foreign configuration and everything was fine. I'm so glad that I didnt lose my 5.7TB of data. Backup, backup, backup!!!! The perc5i card has been rock solid since early 2009 for me. First it had 8 500GB Seagates and now its supporting 8 WD 1TB's.

 

[Khadgar]

I'll hopefully be setting up my Perc6i this weekend/early next week in RAID5 with 5x2TB Samsung F4s. I'll report back once I get that done.

 

[Megalomaniac]

I'll hopefully be setting up my Perc6i this weekend/early next week in RAID5 with 5x2TB Samsung F4s. I'll report back once I get that done.

I have a similar setup, but at this point, i went with RAID6. Yeah, I have a bit less space, but there are articles floating around (and we did have a discussion about it here last year, but i can't find it now) on how RAID5 becomes less correct and more error prone as you approach the 10TB limit. If I am to believe those articles, and I do, I would go with a RIAD6. Get another drive if you have to.

To the OP, you need back up, a RAID array is not back up. A lot of people here either burn data, or have both a RAID array and a external drive backing up the important info.

 

[havokator]

I have a similar setup, but at this point, i went with RAID6. Yeah, I have a bit less space, but there are articles floating around (and we did have a discussion about it here last year, but i can't find it now) on how RAID5 becomes less correct and more error prone as you approach the 10TB limit. If I am to believe those articles, and I do, I would go with a RIAD6. Get another drive if you have to.

To the OP, you need back up, a RAID array is not back up. A lot of people here either burn data, or have both a RAID array and a external drive backing up the important info.

I already have backup. That is why I am asking about setting up a RAID array and not how to backup my data.

 

[Carlitos714]

I'll hopefully be setting up my Perc6i this weekend/early next week in RAID5 with 5x2TB Samsung F4s. I'll report back once I get that done.

did you ever set this up? I have 4 x f4's in raid 5. you have any benchmarks?

 

[Carlitos714]

op did you ever set up your raid 5 array?