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Simple question about hardware/software RAID

A

asty

Weaksauce
Joined
Jun 6, 2006
Messages
91
Hi,

Have a motherboard with 5 port SATA RAID ....at least I plan to use this. Using 2 TB drives in RAID 5.

When these 5 ports are used up, will I also be able to add a second separate RAID 5 array using a hardware controller card? and a third?

One final question,
I've only got 3 2TB drives so far as I do not need more than 4 TB of storage yet (but will within 6 months). Is it easy to add additional HDD's to the RAID 5 array once it is already in use?

Sorry if they are stupid questions, never used anything other than a 2 hard disk software RAID 0.
 
You can add as many arrays to your computer as you want, it just depends on how many controllers you want to buy. If you do this, you might as well save up and make one large array.

It depends on if the controller card support online RAID expansion. This will take a long time to add a new drive to the array. A word of caution though, if the drive or controller dies during this, you may lose all your data.
 
Thank you for answering my question, that is very helpful.
Regarding "online RAID expansion" - that has me concerned.

I am starting with only using my motherboard's built in RAID because I am on a budget. I haven't bought as many HD's as I know I will need because of this budget. How will I know if my motherboard supports this? This is the motherboard I am using: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131375 although I might RMA it and get something else if it doesn't have that functionality. I'm buying a house in the coming months and I need every penny in my bank account so I am trying to avoid buying a $400+ RAID controller or 5 2 TB drives. Would be more comfortable doing this after I have made my down payment haha
 
Storage Devices
PATA 1 x ATA100 2 Dev. Max
SATA 3Gb/s 7
SATA RAID 0/1/5/10 Matrix RAID

It has RAID capability, but I don't like RAID on motherboards, it is too slow from what I've read. Why not try to add your server into your house payment? :p

Oh, and it is Online Capacity Expansion (OCE). Brain fart early in the morning... :(
 
If you really want to do RAID 5 find a cheap Perc 5/i. Its a hardware RAID controller that can be had on the cheap.
 
thanks for the help, picked this up http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816115056 a few minutes ago

has mixed reviews due to seagate incompatibility. hopefully all works well with my drives otherwise newegg can have it back and I will try the Perc.

I didn't want to sink another 300 into this but oh well, ill come into the office early the next few days (and stop reading hardforum for the next few days so I can bill a little more time)

thanks again for all your help. I can't wait to get this put together.
 
I have the Highpoint 2320 with 8x320GB drives. It has been fine for 2 years now. *knocks on wood*
 
You can add additional RAID controllers at any time, the separate arrays shouldn't affect each other at all. Some higher end controllers can span arrays across multiple controllers, but that doesn't apply in your case. Each array will show as a separate logical drive to your OS.

I doubt any motherboard based RAID controller does online capacity expansion, with the exception of a few server boards.

Moving the array to a different controller can not be done 99% of the time, but what you could do in a worst case scenario is: In a few months when you need the additional space buy 3 more drives and a controller that supports online capacity expansion. Create a new array on the 3 new drives, then move the data over to them and then add your original 3 drives to that array as blank drives after removing them from the first array.

Also, what drives are you planning on using? Many desktop drives are not happy in RAID arrays.
 
Nice price on those, I might jump on a bunch. They're supposed to be good in RAID.

EDIT: nm, 2.81 6-month rating on resellerratings.
 
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i dont know whats up with that. i have done a lot of business with that company the past 4 or so years. never had to make a return though. hope i don't change my opinion of them now....
 
sniggle said:
EDIT: nm, 2.81 6-month rating on resellerratings.
Click to expand...

Microcenter is like Fry's Electronics.. often they have great in store sales that beat their online prices. The resellerratings might be bad, but I don't think that is a reliable indicator in their case. It's like giving Best Buy a bad rating, sure.. but everyone will still buy from them. I wish there was one in my part of the country just to give Fry's a real competitor.
 
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