raid controller card for file server

[NKrader]

if I was looking to add a raid card to a file server right now I have 5 Bays not sure why but war thinking about it, don't really know much

would like hardware raid.. what should one get? I really have no idea

kinda just a fancy thought, more Info needed?

[NKrader]

how good would this perc 6/I be for home file server usage?

[Nizzen]

This is xtreme storage, so what you want is Areca 1882ix :D

[NKrader]

This is xtreme storage, so what you want is Areca 1882ix :D

spending 50$ on a raid card is extreme for me..im not a bawler.

/perspective

but didnt realize there was a plain "storage" section MODSSSSSSS MOVE MEEEEEE :)

[Kain665]

Look into an LSI 9211-8i/4i.

[NKrader]

Look into an LSI 9211-8i/4i.

perc 6/i =50$

LSI 9211-8i = 250$




... thats more than i spent on cpus/mobo/ram together... is it really that much better?

but, currently looking into it.

[Kain665]

That's just my go-to controller.

What drives will you be using?

Dell's PERCs are just LSI controllers with Dell's own firmware on it.

Where the hell are you getting a 6/i for $50? Quick google search turned up $150+

[NKrader]

That's just my go-to controller.

What drives will you be using?

Dell's PERCs are just LSI controllers with Dell's own firmware on it.

Where the hell are you getting a 6/i for $50? Quick google search turned up $150+

ebay, starting at $32.99

drives will be like 2tb re4

[Kain665]

Oh okay. Any plans for SSDs attached to the controller?

[NKrader]

Oh okay. Any plans for SSDs attached to the controller?

no, file server, not speed demon

[Kain665]

Hey you never know. 1TB SSDs for <600 are on the horizon.

Do you need SAS connectivity or is only SATA III okay?

[Kain665]

And how many ports do you need? 2/4/8?

[NKrader]

want at least 4 wouldn't mind more. for future stake, SSD is wicked expensive compared to mechanical. especially when I'm not that worried about speed. spending 200 on a 2 tb drive seems like ALOT to meeeeeeeee..

sata is what my hotswap drive is, I don't feel the need for going something like sas, again speed isn't a big issue, I've used green drives as boy drives for years and never had an issue with them being slow.

[Kain665]

This would probably be your best features/performance/price option from Newegg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816115096

[NKrader]

one quick q
uestion, you seem so against the perc cards, why? perc is clearly better to me than the highpoint card, and it costs less for me
although I'm looking asst that lsi card now as I can pick one of those up on flea bay for like 150$

[Kain665]

Oh, no reason. I was going just from Newegg pricing.

I don't really like their BIOS, but that's just me. Apart from that there's really no reason not to go with a PERC.

[NKrader]

Oh, no reason. I was going just from Newegg pricing.

I don't really like their BIOS, but that's just me. Apart from that there's really no reason not to go with a PERC.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/LSI-Mega-RAID-SAS-MR-8888-ELP-8-port-SAS-SATA-CARD-PCI-e-x8-256MB-Cache-BBU-/140908962264?pt=COMP_EN_Servers&hash=item20ced421d8

vs

LSI 9211-8i

with 3gb/s drives, which

[Kain665]

One more question, do you want to run RAID 0, 1, 5? JBODs?

[NKrader]

pretty much thinking down to either raid 1 or raid 6

[NKrader]

what about thus one?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/300852814849?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

Decided on raid 10

[Aginaridan]

The 9211 is a HBA which basically means it's "just" a simple controller, and as such is not a "proper" hardware raid controller. This doesn't mean its bad, and definitely has its uses (i.e. ZFS), but if you want to set up a raid5 or raid6 array, its really not suited for it due to no logic on board and no cache.

The PERC 6/i is a decent controller, although a bit old, it will give you decent raid5/raid6 performance if you have a battery. It being a Dell card it will most likely be incompatible with your motherboard, but it can usually be fixed by taping over two pins on the PCI-e connector.


PS: Make sure you are looking at the 6/i and not the 6/ir, which is more like the 9211. You can discern them by making sure the card has a heatsink and memory chips under the white sticker at the end of the card.

PSS: The PERC 6/i is basically the same card as the one you linked (8888-ELP), just that it has less cache (256 vs. 512) and no external connectors.

[NKrader]

The 9211 is a HBA which basically means it's "just" a simple controller, and as such is not a "proper" hardware raid controller. This doesn't mean its bad, and definitely has its uses (i.e. ZFS), but if you want to set up a raid5 or raid6 array, its really not suited for it due to no logic on board and no cache.

The PERC 6/i is a decent controller, although a bit old, it will give you decent raid5/raid6 performance if you have a battery. It being a Dell card it will most likely be incompatible with your motherboard, but it can usually be fixed by taping over two pins on the PCI-e connector.


PS: Make sure you are looking at the 6/i and not the 6/ir, which is more like the 9211. You can discern them by making sure the card has a heatsink and memory chips under the white sticker at the end of the card.

PSS: The PERC 6/i is basically the same card as the one you linked (8888-ELP), just that it has less cache (256 vs. 512) and no external connectors.

what about thus one? http://www.ebay.com/itm/300852814849?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649 Decided on raid 10

no need external connectors, perc card cooling issues scare me. leaning more towards a big name card