|RocketRAID 2680 8 ports for cheap?

Might as well buy one of the Supermicro cards if you aren't after software RAID. Cheaper that way.
 
Well Supermicro PCI-e seems basically unusable in Linux... I guess its fine for Windows though, huh? Its not really cheaper though once you add in cost of cables.

Supermicro PCI-x is worthless IMO unless you get a mobo w/PCI-x slots. I can't imagine putting 20 HDDs on a single 32bit/33Mhz PCI bus. Limiting yourself to PCI-x also won't be cheapest option.

RocketRAID seems usable in Linux too... plus even though most probably hate Highpoint, IMO they've become very decent in last 2 years.
 
Cables aren't $20 each if you know where to shop around. I bought mine for $8 shipped.
 
bexamous said:
RocketRAID seems usable in Linux too... plus even though most probably hate Highpoint, IMO they've become very decent in last 2 years.
Click to expand...

I've had good luck with Highpoint in linux environments. Although when the Supermicro PCIe drivers are hardened I'll likely move to mdadm for some applications.
 
Well I finally got my Norco 4220 in and pulled in the 2680, no issues at all.

Using it in Ubuntu 9.04 with 0 issues, I'm not sure what a few people on newegg were complaining about. Took like 2 minutes to get working. The webgui was a pita to get working because they only offer rpm packages and no deb, but whatever, it works great once installed.

I'm only using this controller for single drives. Its a little annoying that if you plug in a brand new drive the only way to get the controller to use it is by creating a new array, eg a single drive JBOD. So instead I plug the new drive into a USB->Sata dock, put a partition table on it, then put it on the HIghpoint controller and it will then use it in 'legacy' mode. One extra step but no big deal.

Oh yeah one other thing I really like about this card, it super easy to tell it to spin drives down after X minutes of no activity. I always get super frustrated trying to get drives to spin down. Never would work on 3ware 9650 or onboard LSI 1068E controllers.
 
bexamous said:
Usually $280+ this card is now $140 on newegg...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&cm_mmc=TEMC-RMA-Approvel-_-Content-_-text-_-

Seems like it may be a cheapo card to get for WHS or whatnot. I ordered one to try out under Linux. I'm planning on using this in a Norco 4220.

Anyways just wondering if anyone else had tried this card out? In any OS.
Click to expand...

I don't know how similar they are, but FWIW I have a 2640x4 in my WHS box and it's been solid and stable. It's not ideal for WHS though, as it doesn't pass SMART and temp information (not sure about Linux). I'm running all my drives in JBOD (Legacy) mode though, which uses a different BIOS and drivers. Maybe the RAID mode has better SMART support, however right now I'd say if I were doing it over again I'd look for a different card for WHS.
 
Yeah this card won't pass SMART info to the OS either. It will monitor smart data & temps itself and email you any warnings. I set it to email me if any drives go over 130F, I think the default is 140F.
 
ARGH.

Linux driver causes kernel panic when you use a drive on a SAS expander with the RocketRAID 2680. UGHHHHHHH.

Screw this card >:|

Is there any cheap SAS card that will work nicely in Linux and works with Chenbro SAS expanders? I don't even care for RAID, I just use individual disks.
 
bexamous said:
ARGH.

Linux driver causes kernel panic when you use a drive on a SAS expander with the RocketRAID 2680. UGHHHHHHH.

Screw this card >:|

Is there any cheap SAS card that will work nicely in Linux and works with Chenbro SAS expanders? I don't even care for RAID, I just use individual disks.
Click to expand...

Which driver you using? The binary shows a version of 1.1, you might try the open source version 1.4.

Highpoint now has a help ticket tracking forum/system. Work with them, I've gotten driver updates in < 24 hours that solved my problem.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top