RAID5 Card for Home Use

[Havokator]

I want to setup a RAID5 array with four 2TB hard drives. I plan on using Samsung Spinpoint F4 2TB drives.

What would be a good PCIe card to get for this? My priority here is data safety not speed or performance. I want the safest, most reliable solution to protect my data.

I would like to spend less than $200. Is it possible to get a full hardware RAID card for this price or should I get a software raid card? Is the Dell PERC 5/i any good or is it too old? Specifically the XT257 model like this one: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=370510996289 Is this card supposed to come with a battery because I have seen some for sale with a battery and some without. Anyone know if this card is compatible with the Asus P8P67 Pro motherboard? Also, how good is the BIOS on this card? Is it easy to use? Is this a good card for my first hardware RAID5 array or should I go with a retail one such as LSI?

Also, if I get a card with two SAS ports, is there a specific model SAS to SATA cable I need to get or does any cable work?

Finally, I have the option of using my onboard ICH10R motherboard RAID5 controller. Is this a good solution? The only problem is if I plan to add more drives in the future, or maybe move the array to a different machine.

[Anvil]

I'd get the PERC 6/i if the price is right.

I've got that exact combo (Samsung F4 2TB) running 4R5 on my home server, no issues at all.

Raid-5 on the MB does work but speed is painfully slow imho, so it depends on your requirements for speed and if your need to expand the PERC can do 8 drives whereas the ICH does 4-6 depending in series.

[Havokator]

Is there any other card you would recommend besides the PERC 5/i for under $200? Is the PERC 5/6i easy to setup (BIOS, etc)? What about the Battery, do you need one, what does it do?

[Gogeta]

The PERC series are Dell re-branded LSI controllers, so the BIOS experience will be very similar between them and retail LSI adapters. The interface is fairly intuitive and well documented.

You would need a Mini-SAS SFF-8087 to 4x SATA cable if you pick up a card that does not include one- http://cgi.ebay.com/Mini-SAS-36P-SFF...item3a65c10381

[Anvil]

The PERC 6/i uses the SFF-8484 connector and I'm pretty sure that the PERC 5 uses that same connector as well, do check though.