RAID controller suppliers in the UK

[Aidan Karley]

I just asked this question in the FreeNAS forum, so I guess I might as
well ask it here too.
*Before* I start to move across to SATA (probably when this
laptop dies, instead of creaking), I'm trying to re-organise my
investments in PATA drives to maximal utility. For this, I'm building a
NAS box to put the largest drives into, and I'd like to RAID the
drives. Mirroring-only is fine (the network is 100-base, so raw HDD
access speed is unlikely to be the limiting factor).

BUT, the mini-ITX system I've put together for £50 has only one
IDE connector, so I'm looking at getting a PCI PATA RAID controller to
run the main drives, with an existing notebook HDD on the mo-bo IDE
channel for the low-power constant-running drive. With a lot of
caching. I figure that'll allow the main drives to be kept spun-down
for a significantly higher proportion of the time. (Is this likely to
be worthwhile in terms of failure rates and power consumption? I dunno.
Comments?)

My normal UK online supplier for bits is DABS.COM ; they only
list one even vaguely credible PCI PATA RAID controller, and that's
£90+delivery, which is not compatible with the investment in the rest
of the project. Can someone suggest a UK-based supplier with RAID
expertise to try.
Am I likely to have to ditch the idea of the 3rd (system) drive
and just do software RAID with the two drives on the ATA channel?



(What are the odds of Rod Speed flapping his gums, even if he knows
that he's kill-filed? High.)

 

[Odie Ferrous]

I just asked this question in the FreeNAS forum, so I guess I might as
well ask it here too.
*Before* I start to move across to SATA (probably when this
laptop dies, instead of creaking), I'm trying to re-organise my
investments in PATA drives to maximal utility. For this, I'm building a
NAS box to put the largest drives into, and I'd like to RAID the
drives. Mirroring-only is fine (the network is 100-base, so raw HDD
access speed is unlikely to be the limiting factor).

BUT, the mini-ITX system I've put together for £50 has only one
IDE connector, so I'm looking at getting a PCI PATA RAID controller to
run the main drives, with an existing notebook HDD on the mo-bo IDE
channel for the low-power constant-running drive. With a lot of
caching. I figure that'll allow the main drives to be kept spun-down
for a significantly higher proportion of the time. (Is this likely to
be worthwhile in terms of failure rates and power consumption? I dunno.
Comments?)

My normal UK online supplier for bits is DABS.COM ; they only
list one even vaguely credible PCI PATA RAID controller, and that's
£90+delivery, which is not compatible with the investment in the rest
of the project. Can someone suggest a UK-based supplier with RAID
expertise to try.
Am I likely to have to ditch the idea of the 3rd (system) drive
and just do software RAID with the two drives on the ATA channel?

(What are the odds of Rod Speed flapping his gums, even if he knows
that he's kill-filed? High.)

www.span.com (not to be confused with scan)

Normally do higher-end kit, but they may have something in their
clearance section.


Odie

 

[zappo]

I just asked this question in the FreeNAS forum, so I guess I might as
well ask it here too.
*Before* I start to move across to SATA (probably when this
laptop dies, instead of creaking), I'm trying to re-organise my
investments in PATA drives to maximal utility. For this, I'm building
a NAS box to put the largest drives into, and I'd like to RAID the
drives. Mirroring-only is fine (the network is 100-base, so raw HDD
access speed is unlikely to be the limiting factor).

BUT, the mini-ITX system I've put together for £50 has only one
IDE connector, so I'm looking at getting a PCI PATA RAID controller to
run the main drives, with an existing notebook HDD on the mo-bo IDE
channel for the low-power constant-running drive. With a lot of
caching. I figure that'll allow the main drives to be kept spun-down
for a significantly higher proportion of the time. (Is this likely to
be worthwhile in terms of failure rates and power consumption? I
dunno. Comments?)

My normal UK online supplier for bits is DABS.COM ; they only
list one even vaguely credible PCI PATA RAID controller, and that's
£90+delivery, which is not compatible with the investment in the rest
of the project. Can someone suggest a UK-based supplier with RAID
expertise to try.

Makes a hell of a lot more sense to get a cheap motherboard that
supports lots of PATA ports and do the mirror in software instead.

Am I likely to have to ditch the idea of the 3rd (system) drive and
just do software RAID with the two drives on the ATA channel?

That would be the most sensible approach.

 

[Aidan Karley]

Makes a hell of a lot more sense to get a cheap motherboard that
supports lots of PATA ports and do the mirror in software instead.

Part of the project is to see how a mini-ITX, *low* *power*
system behaves in the real world. E.g. sitting locked in a cupboard for
6 months without human interference. The hardware for that has already
been brought.
Is it even possible to buy a standard (i.e. ATX) new PC
motherboard that'll run on less than 350W? I'm by no means sure it is
possible. The system being built should cost 35W for the motherboard,
and around 20W for each hard drive. 8W for the switch and modem that
live in the same cupboard, plus <whatever>W for the wife's and
daughter's computers whenever they're on.

 

[Aidan Karley]

www.span.com (not to be confused with scan)

Normally do higher-end kit,

Evidently.
It's looking like it's Hong Kong for me. Might pick something up
on the way to work.
Thanks anyway.

 

[zappo]

Part of the project is to see how a mini-ITX, *low* *power*
system behaves in the real world. E.g. sitting locked in a cupboard
for 6 months without human interference. The hardware for that has
already been brought.

Then you will have to wear the lack of cheap RAID cards.

Is it even possible to buy a standard (i.e. ATX) new PC
motherboard that'll run on less than 350W?

The average PC motherboard with onboard video runs to about 50W in that sort of use.

I'm by no means sure it is possible.

Corse it is.

The system being built should cost 35W for the motherboard,
and around 20W for each hard drive. 8W for the switch and
modem that live in the same cupboard, plus <whatever>W for
the wife's and daughter's computers whenever they're on.

Seems rather short sighted to be so obsessed about the
power use and get to wear the lack of cheap RAID cards.