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'Hassle-free' RAID controller for personal/home use?
This might sound like a dumb question, but I'm looking for a 'hassle-free' RAID controller for personal/home use. My requirements are fairly easy and 'low-end': It must support RAID1, if possible with hot-spare. And, more importantly, if a HDD fails it should just be a simple disk swap and 'a push of a button' to rebuild the array. Since it's for home use, I will connect SATA(3) HDDs to it. Interface should be PCI-e and will be used Windows.
Currently I'm using software RAID and I'm sick and tired of it. If a disk breaks, it's a major pain in the a$$ to restore just a simple RAID1. You need to fiddle around with some badly translated GUI via the webbrowser to fix it.... RAIDs become degraded for no apparent reason and it's really pissing me off now.
I've used a RocketRaid 2720SGL before, but don't have experience yet rebuilding the array if it fails.
Thanks in advance!
Comments
I would find a used 3ware 9650 or 9750 (won't be cheap) 4 port card, both support all you request, and there is no push of a button if a drive should fail, it just starts rebuilding with the hot spare, and you could swap a drive and it just starts rebuilding again, The 9650 is a SATA only 3G card, while the 9750 is SATA/SAS2 6G card.
Check out drobo, it is direct plug-and-play and automatic rebuild of arrays.
Dell PERC 5i or PERC 6i used? they are going pretty cheap on Ebay and have custom firmware from 3ware I believe.
IBM ServeRAID M5014 can be had for cheap on eBay.
Are you using mdadm for RAID currently? It takes 2 commands to rebuild an array . . .
I've used mdadm for years with none of the problems you describe. Used to use 3ware SATA controllers but these days I have plenty if CPU to burn.
Thanks for the recommendations. I will take a look. Bear in mind, it will be used with Windows 7, since it's for personal use. So no mdadm commands
I've been using 3ware RAID controllers for over a decade, no issues. Once had a Dell with a PERC 5i controller, no issues with that either. True hardware controller cards are really nice.
I'd avoid Highpoint's (Rocketraid) RAID. I know some cheap controllers control the RAID array with software drivers, and I don't trust them. A long time ago, a friend had a RAID controller which managed the array with drivers, once his operating system failed to boot, the array was gone and couldn't be recovered. I do use mdadm on a few Linux systems (which is software RAID), but I like that it has a lot of community support backing it. In my opinion, go 3ware or other hardware RAID, or go free with mdadm on Linux or the Windows equivalent. Going in-between is kind of a waste of time & money, IMHO, and if you're already frustrated with the Windows software RAID, I'd recommend 3ware for you.
mdadm.
You are using so-called FakeRAID. Software RAID done right is called mdadm.
P.S.: OK, I didn't notice the bit about Windows 7, but if you're doing any serious storage under Windows, then you're doing it wrong in the first place.
Windows
Adaptec 2405/2805, or IBM M1015 which are effectively LSI SAS9220-8i cards. Both are available cheaply and well supported.
I bought a IBM M1015 off eBay for $65 and crossflashed it to LSI9211-8i. Works well and should fit the needs here.
Are you using hard drives larger than 2TB? 3ware 9650 cannot do > 2TB per physical disk. Looks like the LSI 9211 mentioned by others can do > 2TB disks according to
http://www.hgst.com/tech/techlib.nsf/techdocs/C17F42782AA50DCC882579D7007C4B29/$file/US7K4000CompatGuide_ver1.0.pdf
Thanks for all the replies and suggestions!
Not looking for a standalone solution, thanks though.
I'm not doing serious storage, I just want a second HDD in case mine breaks, so that I don't have to reinstall. I know RAID is not a backup, I also make backups. I just want to save time in the even event of an HDD failure.
Thanks for the suggestion.
No, but thanks for the warning!
I'm interested in buying one of these. It's not too expensive and nice to play around with. I assume they are compatible with non server equipment/mainboards as well?
If the card fits in a motherboard slot, and you have the right SATA cables, it will work. If it is true hardware RAID, no software drivers will be needed. Only thing to look out for is an old card using a "PCI-X" interface (not PCI, not PCIe/PCI-Express) which is only used in some old servers. Many PCI-Express (PCIe) RAID cards are x4 or x8, and go into one of your motherboard's x16 slots in lieu of a x4 or x8 slot.