Can I change a RAID controller and keep the data?

[Binba]

I have 2 Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 3Gbps/sec SATA drives.
Since I have to start loading data tomorrow, I think of buying whatever
SATA RAID controller I can find, and possibly replacing it later with a
better card.
Is that going to work, or do you usually have to re-format the drives
when installing a new RAID controller?

Thanks,
Drew

 

[Arno Wagner]

I have 2 Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 3Gbps/sec SATA drives.
Since I have to start loading data tomorrow, I think of buying whatever
SATA RAID controller I can find, and possibly replacing it later with a
better card.
Is that going to work, or do you usually have to re-format the drives
when installing a new RAID controller?

You cannot assume it to work. It may work if both are from the
same manufacturer.

Personal experience: Adaptex SATA RAID controllers are trash. Slow,
unreliable and hard to manage.

Arno

 

[Curious George]

Personal experience: Adaptex SATA RAID controllers are trash. Slow,
unreliable and hard to manage.

Yes they are widely known to be extremely slow. Even their
top-of-the-line DAS is very slow. To some extent the cards are seen
as unreliable, or at least less reliable than ppl expect.

The gui management software is, however, the same as the IBM ServeRAID
management. It is fine. However the HostRAID line in particular
cannot utilize the software's full feature set.

Normal operations and management aren't necessarily difficult, the
cards are simply neutered. That makes abnormal situations difficult.
The Adaptec cards and ROMB I've seen lack helpful command-line
utilities, and bootable Utility CD's, and there's practically nothing
as far as onboard diagnostics and configuration. I agree. Crap and a
waste of time.

 

[Curious George]

I have 2 Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 3Gbps/sec SATA drives.
Since I have to start loading data tomorrow, I think of buying whatever
SATA RAID controller I can find, and possibly replacing it later with a
better card.
Is that going to work, or do you usually have to re-format the drives
when installing a new RAID controller?

Thanks,
Drew

If you want to go from a cheap host-based software assisted pci raid
to, say a decent midrange firmware card, it's generally a fair
expectation to anticipate it not to migrate.

Consider OS software RAID or no RAID until you finishing doing your
homework. Frankly you may consider staying there.

 

[Folkert Rienstra]

Yes they are widely known to be extremely slow.

Even their top-of-the-line DAS

That narrows it down considerably. I love it when you talk dirty.

is very slow. To some extent the cards are seen
as unreliable, or at least less reliable than ppl expect.

The gui management software is, however, the same as the IBM ServeRAID
management.

Wouldn't it be rather the other way around.

 

[Curious George]

That narrows it down considerably.

Of course I mean DAS in this sense:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_Attached_Storage#Features

Not _every_ kind of storage directly attached to any kind of HBA.

That narrows the adaptec models down a bit

I love it when you talk dirty.

Settle down fella...

Wouldn't it be rather the other way around.

AFAIK what you are implying is correct.
http://www.internetnews.com/storage/article.php/999781
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/07/01/adaptec_raid_ibm/