Can I add an external eSATA drive to an internal RAID array?

[Wag]

I have two of the Seagate 1TB internal drives with the (finally) fixed firmware, and I'd like to now move from a RAID 1 array to a Raid 5 array but am out of case space. Seeing as you can pick up a Fantom Greendrive 1TB w/eSATA port for ~$90, that seems like the ideal solution.

I would assume the answer is yes just as long as the drive is the same size, correct?

Outside of that, does anyone have an ideas for some good, cheap external 3-drive bays eSATA bays? That might work too.

 

[Elixer]

Originally posted by: Wag
I have two of the Seagate 1TB internal drives with the (finally) fixed firmware, and I'd like to now move from a RAID 1 array to a Raid 5 array but am out of case space. Seeing as you can pick up a Fantom Greendrive 1TB w/eSATA port for ~$90, that seems like the ideal solution.

I would assume the answer is yes just as long as the drive is the same size, correct?

Outside of that, does anyone have an ideas for some good, cheap external 3-drive bays eSATA bays? That might work too.

I would think it depends just what kind of case it is, and if it has a SATA passthrough, or if it has its own controller. If it has its own controller, then it could be spining down the drive at odd times, or doing something else that will wreck your RAID array.

I think it would be better to just get a new case that has 6-7 3.5" internal bays.

 

[Wag]

Meh. OK, I guess I will just get rid of one of my last internal IDE drives and stick another 1TB drive in there and then migrate from RAID 1 to RAID 5.

I take it it's OK to use a different make/model for my 3rd internal? I really don't trust Seagate anymore.

 

[Elixer]

Originally posted by: Wag
Meh. OK, I guess I will just get rid of one of my last internal IDE drives and stick another 1TB drive in there and then migrate from RAID 1 to RAID 5.

I take it it's OK to use a different make/model for my 3rd internal? I really don't trust Seagate anymore.

That really depends on how picky the RAID controller is.
If you are leaning toward WD, then make sure you get the RE (Raid Edition) of the drives. Read up on TLER.

 

[Zaxx]

Using a pass thru approach isn't too bad assuming you have the extra sata ports on your mobo open. I'm running 2 raid0 arrays (one boot, one storage) with the onboard ich9 controller and have 2xeSata jbmicron controller with eSata raid option. I just use the esata as is...a bit gun shy to trust an external raid array via a jb micron controller...lol
You may want to look into a decent sata2 pci controller card...not the cheapest option tho.

 

[ColKurtz]

Do you mean RAID5 on the MOBO or do you have a PCI RAID controller? My unsolicited advice is you're asking for trouble if you go with mobo RAID5. RAID5 array data is very proprietary and sensitive to specific controller versions, unlike RAID1. Losing mobo is single point failure for all of your data in this scenario. Migration is also likely impossible -- you'll probably have to have both the old and the new server up and do a manual full copy of the data.

I run RAID5 on my home server but run it off of (highpoint) PCIe controllers and bought 2 cards. If my card dies I just swap it out for my spare. You could store another mobo and achieve the same thing for a much bigger PITA factor.

To answer your original question, eSATA is not the same as external SATA. If you had both SATA and eSATA ports on your mobo, I would guess they would be running off of different controllers and you would not be able to share disks in an array. But if you just mean putting an eSATA adapter on your SATA port then yes, it should work fine. You should be able to mix and match vendors in an array but I always keep my RAID5 disks identical for paranoid reasons.

I looked at external eSATA enclosures but they were all pretty pricey and most didn't do raid5. I just upgraded my case instead to one that support more drives and can cool them properly (lian li k10).

Good luck!