Looking for decent SATA RAID controller

On or about Wed, 5 Aug 2009 11:41:36 -0700 (PDT) did BD
dribble thusly:

Hi, all.

I have an Asus M4A79 mainboard, and 4x640GB WDD SATA disks.

The mainboard has RAID controller functionality, but I wasn't able to
get it to work before my patience ran out, and I've seen some reviews
that the stability of RAID under this chipset is questionable.

I want to find a decent, reliable PCIE RAID controller that won't
break the bank.

I'm not as interested in data protection (parity disks) as I am in
performance, specifically read performance. I expect I might go with
straight striping across the 4 disks.

I've seen some reviews of brand names like Areca (looks entirely rock-
solid, but looks too pricey - looks like more server-class stuff) and
3ware (haven't dialed in a specific model that I'd likely go for).

I'm wondering if anyone has any recommendations for manufacturers (or
specific models) to look at for such stuff...

If you don't want to break the bank, then use software RAID0. It's quite good
in Linux, and passable in Windows.

Otherwise, I myself would go with something like these:

http://computers.pricegrabber.com/st...ype=bottomline
http://computers.pricegrabber.com/st...ype=bottomline

They are the same card, with one branded by Intel.

When I build servers, I use only LSI or the Intel branded versions (the latter
tend to be cheaper).

I used the above for a boot mirror in my latest build, which has been running
24/7 for about five months now, without issue.

On Aug 10, 6:22*pm, Mike Ruskai
wrote:
On or about Wed, 5 Aug 2009 11:41:36 -0700 (PDT) did BD
dribble thusly:



Hi, all.

I have an Asus M4A79 mainboard, and 4x640GB WDD SATA disks.

The mainboard has RAID controller functionality, but I wasn't able to
get it to work before my patience ran out, and I've seen some reviews
that the stability of RAID under this chipset is questionable.

I want to find a decent, reliable PCIE RAID controller that won't
break the bank.

I'm not as interested in data protection (parity disks) as I am in
performance, specifically read performance. I expect I might go with
straight striping across the 4 disks.

I've seen some reviews of brand names like Areca (looks entirely rock-
solid, but looks too pricey - looks like more server-class stuff) and
3ware (haven't dialed in a specific model that I'd likely go for).

I'm wondering if anyone has any recommendations for manufacturers (or
specific models) to look at for such stuff...

If you don't want to break the bank, then use software RAID0. *It's quite good
in Linux, and passable in Windows.

Otherwise, I myself would go with something like these:

http://computers.pricegrabber.com/st...llers/Intel-Ra...

They are the same card, with one branded by Intel.

When I build servers, I use only LSI or the Intel branded versions (the latter
tend to be cheaper).

I used the above for a boot mirror in my latest build, which has been running
24/7 for about five months now, without issue. *

Hmm - certainly a more appealing price point than the $500 Adaptec
option.

I'm a bit anxious about using software RAID under Windows. But, then
again, it's free.