RAID card/controller help

[Phil]

Hi

First of all, what is the difference between a RAID controller and a RAID
card. Promise (www.promise.com) seem to have two product ranges of the above
products.

And also, what is the best RAID controller/card (not just promise) to go
for, that won't slow the performace of my PC in any way, when 4 drives are
connected to the controller?

Thanks

 

[Arno Wagner]

Hi

First of all, what is the difference between a RAID controller and a RAID
card. Promise (www.promise.com) seem to have two product ranges of the above
products.

Theoretically a "RAID controller" could also mean a pice of software, but
nobody uses the term that way. It is the same in practice.

And also, what is the best RAID controller/card (not just promise) to go
for, that won't slow the performace of my PC in any way, when 4 drives are
connected to the controller?

As almost alwways, there is no best. The only thing you can get
is a best fit for your needs, and that depends obviously on your
needs.

All cards will slow the performance of your PC somewhat, if only
for slightly longer PCI arbirtation. Also there will be bandwidth
usage for the RAID in the PCI bus, which is not available for other
devices anyore, if it is a "software-RAID on a card". Many
cheaper cards are of this type and only have partial/no
hardware support for the RAID.

Arno

 

[Phil]

So which cards use ahrdware RAID?

Theoretically a "RAID controller" could also mean a pice of software, but
nobody uses the term that way. It is the same in practice.


As almost alwways, there is no best. The only thing you can get
is a best fit for your needs, and that depends obviously on your
needs.

All cards will slow the performance of your PC somewhat, if only
for slightly longer PCI arbirtation. Also there will be bandwidth
usage for the RAID in the PCI bus, which is not available for other
devices anyore, if it is a "software-RAID on a card". Many
cheaper cards are of this type and only have partial/no
hardware support for the RAID.

Arno

 

[Folkert Rienstra]

Theoretically a "RAID controller" could also mean a pice of software, but
nobody uses the term that way. It is the same in practice.


As almost alwways, there is no best. The only thing you can get is
a best fit for your needs, and that depends obviously on your needs.

All cards will slow the performance of your PC somewhat, if only
for slightly longer PCI arbirtation. Also there will be bandwidth
usage for the RAID in the PCI bus, which is not available for other
devices anyore, if it is a "software-RAID on a card".
Many cheaper cards are of this type and only have partial/no
hardware support for the RAID.
Wotaloadofbollocks.


Arno

 

[Arno Wagner]

So which cards use ahrdware RAID?

What mainboard bus? PCI/PCI-X/PIC-64/PCI-E?

What disk bus? IDE/SATA/SCSI?

As far as I know, none of the Promise SATA/IDE RAID
cards are truely hardware RAID. For example an Adaptec
ATA RAID 2400A is. I think a HighPoint RocketRAID 454
is not.

It is actually non-tivial to tell.

Arno

 

[Ron Reaugh]

For ATA hardware RAID see www.3ware.com

What mainboard bus? PCI/PCI-X/PIC-64/PCI-E?

What disk bus? IDE/SATA/SCSI?

As far as I know, none of the Promise SATA/IDE RAID
cards are truely hardware RAID. For example an Adaptec
ATA RAID 2400A is. I think a HighPoint RocketRAID 454
is not.

It is actually non-tivial to tell.

 

[Folkert Rienstra]

What mainboard bus? PCI/PCI-X/PIC-64/PCI-E?

What disk bus? IDE/SATA/SCSI?

As far as I know, none of the Promise SATA/IDE RAID
cards are truely hardware RAID. For example an Adaptec
ATA RAID 2400A is. I think a HighPoint RocketRAID 454
is not.

It is actually non-tivial to tell.

True, for someone that obviously hasn't got the faintest clue.