S
Scara Maccai
Sorry if it's a stupid question, I bet I'm going to say a lot of
stupid things... but at least someone will make me understand where
I'm wrong!
A disk array is basically a:
disk enclosure + RAID controller.
For "low-cost" the interface to the host is usually a PCI-e.
If you wanted to assemble your own disk array, you would only have 1
choice:
the mAGE316U40-PCI-E type of disk enclosures. That's because RAID
cards only attach to PCI-e slots. mAGE316U40-PCI-E type disk
enclosures give you the opportunity to attach your RAID controller to
the disk enclosure using the PCI-e slot of the RAID controller, and
the the disk enclosure itself gives the PCI-e output to the host.
What I don't understand is that these disk enclosures cost as much as
a regular disk enclosure + a decent mainboard+mem+cpu (around 2000$),
so I don't really see the point.
Is there any RAID controller that just takes in SAS inputs and ouputs
to an "external" PCI-e interface?
In other words: can I do somehow
from disk enclosure -> to RAID controller -> to PCI-e EXTERNAL
interface -> to host card
(you usually have "from disk enclosure -> to RAID controller -> to
internal PCI-e slot").
I don't understand why I should pay >1000$ for a PCI-e slot -> PCI-e
external interface (which is what a mAGE316U40-PCI-E does).
stupid things... but at least someone will make me understand where
I'm wrong!
A disk array is basically a:
disk enclosure + RAID controller.
For "low-cost" the interface to the host is usually a PCI-e.
If you wanted to assemble your own disk array, you would only have 1
choice:
the mAGE316U40-PCI-E type of disk enclosures. That's because RAID
cards only attach to PCI-e slots. mAGE316U40-PCI-E type disk
enclosures give you the opportunity to attach your RAID controller to
the disk enclosure using the PCI-e slot of the RAID controller, and
the the disk enclosure itself gives the PCI-e output to the host.
What I don't understand is that these disk enclosures cost as much as
a regular disk enclosure + a decent mainboard+mem+cpu (around 2000$),
so I don't really see the point.
Is there any RAID controller that just takes in SAS inputs and ouputs
to an "external" PCI-e interface?
In other words: can I do somehow
from disk enclosure -> to RAID controller -> to PCI-e EXTERNAL
interface -> to host card
(you usually have "from disk enclosure -> to RAID controller -> to
internal PCI-e slot").
I don't understand why I should pay >1000$ for a PCI-e slot -> PCI-e
external interface (which is what a mAGE316U40-PCI-E does).