Upgrading from PERC 6i... Need suggestions...

J

jmk396

Gawd
Joined
Jul 22, 2004
Messages
787
I'm currently using a DELL PERC 6i controller for a RAID-6 array with eight drives (max for the PERC 6i). I'd like more storage but SAS expanders don't work with the 6i so I need to upgrade. I've also purchased the NORCO 4220 that I need to fill...

I can't afford a lot for a new RAID controller so I'm debating between purchasing a PERC 6e or moving to software RAID (ie. ZFS).

Here's what my options are:

1) Buy new RAID controller + expander (PERC 6e + HP SAS expander)

2) Buy SAS HBA + expander + ZFS or other software RAID...

First off, would my hardware work for a 16-20 disk RAID-Z2 system? I have an AMD 2.7 GHz single-core system (AMD Sepron) with 2 GB of ECC RAM.

Second, I know that you can't expand RAID-Z2 volumes but there seems to be other ways to setup your disks so it's easier to expand?

Besides ZFS, what other options are there? Hardware RAID is great but I sometimes worry about what happens if the controller card fails. I'm not using RAID as a backup (ie. I have my really important stuff actually backed up), but I still don't want to lose all the data on my array.

Thanks for any advice...
 
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