suggested SSD for use in RAID1 arrays on Areca 1880ix instead of M4/C400?

[dbguru]

We've used C300 and then C400/M4 with fw 0002 (both 128GB) without any issues.
But then Micron it it's infinite wisdom released fw 0009 which made this C400/M4 SSD
totally unusable with Areca 1880ix (and apparently other LSI 2108/2208 RAID controllers).

Now all new M4 drives have fw 0009 that CAN'T be downgraded (at all or at least without
voiding warranty) and with fw 0009 they just don't work with Areca 1880ix.

Can you suggest any alternative ~120GB SSDs that are:
- reliable (so OCZ is out)
- have high random read access speed
- have good sequential write speed (comparable to M4 or better)
- works well in RAID1
- have at least 3yr warranty and no (daily, lifetime etc) throttling
- have price similar to M4 (or not much higher)?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Happy Thanksgiving!

[Gilgamesh]

On Marvell:
Plextor PX-M2P 128GB (3 years warranty, Toshiba nand 34nm) here

alternative:
Samsung 830 128GB (3 years warranty) here

and just annunced:
Plextor PX-M3S 128GB (3 years warranty, Toshiba nand 24nm) here
Corsair Performance Pro 128GB (3 years warranty, Toshiba nand 34nm) here

But I don't seen any of above ssd tested with Areca controller :/

[Anvil]

The Samsung 830 works just fine on the Areca 1880.

[dbguru]

Thanks for the info! Did you try it in RAID1? What's the firmware version you have?

The Samsung 830 works just fine on the Areca 1880.

[Anvil]

The Areca is on the latest beta fw, will check. (about 1-2 months old)

I'll do a quick test using raid-1. (I only tested raid-0)

[zanzabar]

the samsung 830 seams popular for workstations but i know u said no ocz but i really like the older indi drives and they dont have a high failure rate so u may want to look into the new everest drives (all of the sandforce have high failure rates)

[Anvil]

Controller Name ARC-1880IX-16
Firmware Version V1.49 2011-08-02
BOOT ROM Version V1.49 2011-08-02
PL Firmware Version 9.0.2.0
...
System Memory 4096MB/800MHz/ECC

It took a few minutes to initialize a 120GB volume. (5-6 minutes or so)

I ran a few benchmarks and it looks to be working just fine.

[thobel]

Intel 510
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820167042

[dbguru]

Thanks! I was actually asking about SSD firmware version (since that's how
my problems with M4 started) but it wasn't obvious from the way I wrote it.

Controller Name ARC-1880IX-16
Firmware Version V1.49 2011-08-02
BOOT ROM Version V1.49 2011-08-02
PL Firmware Version 9.0.2.0
...
System Memory 4096MB/800MHz/ECC

It took a few minutes to initialize a 120GB volume. (5-6 minutes or so)

I ran a few benchmarks and it looks to be working just fine.

[dbguru]

Thanks. It's a good drive but random read speed seems way lower than M4 or Samsung 830.

Intel 510
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820167042

[stevecs]

Just a comment, but Areca has been relatively good in updating their raid controller firmware to work around company specific issues (I've sent them numerous sample drives over the years for issues with HP/Dell/IBM and other custom OEM firmwares which do not act the same way as for example the base Seagate/WD/whatever drive firmware versions).

Have you tried contacting Areca on the issue? Are you wiling to ship them a couple drives to test with? It's a pain through customs sometimes but may be an answer.

Otherwise, probably stick with the Intel ones as most of the other consumer SSD companies don't seem to understand the 'raid at home or business' markets at all and generally refuse support.