Suggestions on a good hardware-based SATA RAID controller

[kunsunoke]

Yes, I need a replacement for the on-board SATA RAID setup on my MSI Neo2 Platinum, which has been pissing me off.

Am looking for something that will fit in the usual PCI slot. It should have a minimum of two SATA connectors.

Any suggestions?

 

[defakto]

3ware, promise, highpoint all should have full hardware controllers. Personally I go with 3ware because they've been around quite some time but that's just me.

 

[valve1138]

My 4-port Promise hardware based card has been great. Came with 64 meg of Cache too.

 

[DougLite]

What's the mission and budget?

 

[iwinit]

Areca/Tekram also produce very impressive SATA RAID cards in terms of performance.

 

[JTY]

I'd recommend 3ware, never gave me any trouble.

 

[unhappy_mage]

What's the mission and budget?

QFT

Promise makes cheap 4-port controllers which are decent. Is this for raid 5 (I assume so)? Areca has the sequential transfer rate crown at the moment, but 3ware still has better alternative-OS support from what I see. It's in the works from areca, though, so don't count them out.

DougLite, maybe this should be in a sticky if it isn't: what raid controller is best for me?
and in general: post how you're going to use it, and what your budget is!

 

[kunsunoke]

This is going to be used for a gaming machine - my personal system, in other words. Again, the add-on controller will be the designated replacement for my extant nVidia on-board controller (MSI Neo2 Platinum). The nVidia controller is giving me fits - My OS (Windows 2000 SP4) locks up during installation.

I'd like to stay less than $130 USD if possible. More SATA ports would definitely be better, but the controller is to be used to chain two Raptors together in RAID-0. I have most of my data backed up on subsidiary drives on my Highpoint 404, so am not worried about data security that much.

Thanks for the help so far.

 

[kunsunoke]

Am still having some issues on this.

Have heard mixed things about Highpoint and Pacific Digital offerings - e.g. that these constitute fake RAID, etc.

If I'm just striping, do I necessarily need with a RISC processor, or can I get by on something less expensive?

Help!!

 

[unhappy_mage]

If you're just striping, software raid would be plenty fast, so you won't need a "hardware" hardware controller. Anything that has enough ports should be fast enough for that. Note that I haven't tried any low-end cards, so I can't testify to their reliability or speed, but it should be pretty much the same thing.

Why is the onboard pissing you off again? Slow, or just buggy?

 

[kunsunoke]

I haven't gotten the onboard RAID to install properly. The problem is frustrating enough for me to consider installing a controller card.

Even with the Windows 2000 CD slipstreamed to SP4, the installation of the OS stops dead in its tracks. And, yes, I am installing the drivers at the F6 prompt, in accordance with the instructions in the manual and on MSI's website. The only way around the problem is to install the OS on an IDE HDD, then copy everything over from Windows, using the Western Digital management software (as Ghost doesn't work). This in turn gives me problems with the pagefile, and the op. system won't start at all without the first hard drive in place. I could repair the op system if I could boot from the CD-ROM, but since the OS installation stops dead in its tracks, that approach hasn't worked either.

My setup, again, is MSI's Neo2 Platinum (MS-7025) with nVidia's on-board RAID. My Raptors are now hooked up to channels three and four, and the BIOS is version 1.5 (official).

Anybody with any insight on that problem? Might save me around $150 USD if so.

 

[visaris]

I just thought I'd drop in and say that 3ware makes some really nice cards. I have two, and love them. What's even better is that they work in linux, and the web-based interface is sweeet.