SATA2 RAID card, preferably PCI-e

[crystalline]

i'm looking for a PCI-e SATA card with at least 4 ports... at the moment i don't actually intend on running a RAID array, i just need it for the additional SATA ports. however, performance/throughput is still a primary concern, and i would like a card with as little overhead as possible. i also plan on dual booting to experiment with various linux distributions in the future, so device/driver compatibility in this regard is also very important. i'd be willing to spend maybe 200-300 at the most. i appreciate any input you may have to offer!

 

[Eickst]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16816116042

Good card with 4 ports, hardware RAID, can't beat the brand. A little more than what you budgeted but IMHO well worth it.

If you have to have it cheaper than brands like highpoint/adaptec etc have PCI express 4 port cards.

*I should point out this is a multi-lane card, meaning you need a cable to connect all the drives to it.

 

[drizzt81]

i'm looking for a PCI-e SATA card with at least 4 ports... at the moment i don't actually intend on running a RAID array, i just need it for the additional SATA ports.[...]
i also plan on dual booting to experiment with various linux distributions in the future, so device/driver compatibility in this regard is also very important. i'd be willing to spend maybe 200-300 at the most. i appreciate any input you may have to offer!

I suggest either of these models:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...mpareItemList=N82E16816115029,N82E16816115027

about 1/3 of the price of the 3ware card. And since you are not looking for RAID, they should be more than adequate. Plus you are future-proofing with a giant wad of cash

 

[Eickst]

Keep in mind that those two highpoint cards do not offer hardware acceleration.

 

[oplin]

I've seen the Areca 1210 selling used for around that price, and if you're lucky might be able to find it new for close to 300$. I think someone is in our forums selling it.

 

[crystalline]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16816116042

Good card with 4 ports, hardware RAID, can't beat the brand. A little more than what you budgeted but IMHO well worth it.

If you have to have it cheaper than brands like highpoint/adaptec etc have PCI express 4 port cards.

*I should point out this is a multi-lane card, meaning you need a cable to connect all the drives to it.

feature-wise, that seems like a very nice card, although i'm a bit skeptical of the multi-lane cable it uses... apparently the multilane connector uses "breakout cables" in order to connect to each specific sata device? i had put a lot of effort into a meticulous wiring job in my case, and not sure how that'll end up affecting it. i'd probably jump on a similar revision of the card if they make one that uses normal SATA connectors.

still need to look into it a little more i guess, maybe i'll end up going with it.

 

[Eickst]

feature-wise, that seems like a very nice card, although i'm a bit skeptical of the multi-lane cable it uses... apparently the multilane connector uses "breakout cables" in order to connect to each specific sata device? i had put a lot of effort into a meticulous wiring job in my case, and not sure how that'll end up affecting it. i'd probably jump on a similar revision of the card if they make one that uses normal SATA connectors.

still need to look into it a little more i guess, maybe i'll end up going with it.

Sorry, I always use the 5.25" backplanes that fit four 3.5" hdds into 3x5.25 bays, they have a multilane cable on the back, so only one cable for all 4 drives.

Much cleaner and easier, especially when you have to change a drive.

 

[Easykill1978]

sorry to point out, but the 'multilane cable/connector' is becoming the standard and it wont be long till that is all that is. it is going to be very difficult to hide 4~6 cables heading to sata drives off a pci/pci-e card .

 

[Skud]

Ebay has TONS of Dell PERC 5/i SAS RAID cards.. They are PCI-e x8 and support RAID with SAS and SATA 1/2 drives (but not mixed).

You can get them for about $150. I have one and it's awesome..

Riley

 

[pissboy]

Crystal.. I definitely recommend an Areca if you can afford one or find one cheap.

Sorry, I always use the 5.25" backplanes that fit four 3.5" hdds into 3x5.25 bays, they have a multilane cable on the back, so only one cable for all 4 drives.

Much cleaner and easier, especially when you have to change a drive.

which backplane are you using?

 

[pissboy]

sorry to point out, but the 'multilane cable/connector' is becoming the standard and it wont be long till that is all that is. it is going to be very difficult to hide 4~6 cables heading to sata drives off a pci/pci-e card .

I was running 13 sata drives in a midtower just fine. zip ties FTW.

ML internal backplanes aren't that readily available yet. Currently I use 3x supermicro 5x3 hotswap backplanes.

 

[Madwand]

i'm looking for a PCI-e SATA card with at least 4 ports... at the moment i don't actually intend on running a RAID array, i just need it for the additional SATA ports. however, performance/throughput is still a primary concern, and i would like a card with as little overhead as possible. i also plan on dual booting to experiment with various linux distributions in the future, so device/driver compatibility in this regard is also very important. i'd be willing to spend maybe 200-300 at the most. i appreciate any input you may have to offer!

$200-300's really not enough to get SATA speeds. I'd budget at least $1MM for a real solution.

 

[Eickst]

Crystal.. I definitely recommend an Areca if you can afford one or find one cheap.



which backplane are you using?

I use ones that are made by netstor, but I don't remember where I bought them. Do a search for SAS ones instead, they are interchangeable and you are more likely to find them under that description.


edit* Model number looks like NS155A. Could be wrong though. And they're ugly, beige and blue.