Would this work? WHS + Raid...

[Blazestorm]

So I really like WHS... the only problem I'm running into is issues whenever I'm backing up access to files on the server slows down to nothing. HD Movies stutter on the HTPC and everything gets messed with.

So my idea was to go this route...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816115031

And have 11 1TB drives, 1 for OS

then 2 Arrays with 5 drives each, so 4TB per array and set folder duplication on whatever files I want, I know that's not a real hardware RAID card, but it's gotta be better than single-drive performance, and it's 16 ports for $400...

I got Intel Gigabit adapters for both the desktop and server, and may even consider one if I build a larger HTPC with M-ATX case... for that as well...

Or if anyone else has better suggestions or ideas...

 

[houkouonchi]

I am curious what XOR chip it has powering it. That is an *awesome* price for a 16 port card.

That being said I think one of the biggest worries about going with a hardware based raid controller is things like controller failures. I honestly think that you would have better protection if you just went with one array via raid6 then two smaller raid5 arrays but that is just me. I guess if you are worried about certain files being deleted due to user error then I would say sure go your way.

 

[Syntax Error]

Is this Highpoint card actual hardware RAID? IIRC some Highpoint cards are essentially hardware-assisted software RAID, but that may be their lower-end models, much like the Adaptec 2-series cards as well.

 

[houkouonchi]

Yeah I assumed it was just going by the decent sized heatsync on the card and looking closer I don't see memory chips either so it probably isn't hardware. Also the product page doesn't list crap for details on its capabilities so I see it won't do raid6 according the user manual (another thing to support it isn't hardware raid). If it is completely software raid I would stay away since it will probably cause *worse* lagging issues when doing writes to the server and trying to play things off it.

 

[Wibla]

its probably a nice card if you need lots of ports for software raid, if it allows you to use it as a regular sata controller aswell. this would probably be very nice for raid in linux... PCI-E 8x is fast enough for 16 drives anyhow, with 2GB/s total interface speed = 128MB/s per drive.