Is there hardware IDE RAID?

[InsaneTBONE]

I know the Adaptec card is true hardware IDE RAID, but it is far too damn expensive. So is there any true Hardware IDE RAID cards out there?

 

[rmblam]

Yup, the 3ware escalade 6200.... ~$129

 

[Noriaki]

Adaptec, 3ware and Promise all make hardware IDE raid cards, not sure on pricing though.

(Promise: UltraXXX = regular IDE, FastTrakXXX = software IDE RAID, SuperTrakXXX = hardware IDE RAID)

 

[paulzebo]

Too Expensive??? Maybe you didn't know you convert a reasonably priced ultra dma 66/100 controller card into....An ultra dma RAID controller card!

If you're handy, link to this site.

http://www.tweakhardware.com/raid/

Just click on the controller card of your choice for complete directions including photos.

 

[skriefal]

True, paulzebo, you can turn a some of the Ultra-66/100 controllers into RAID controllers. However, the result is actually software RAID.

True hardware IDE RAID controllers are more expensive than a simple Promise FastTrack card.

 

[paulzebo]

Skriefal, explain please. Are you saying that the promise raid controller which is almost identical to the promise ultra 66/100 controllers is also a software raid? And the $349 Adaptec AAA-UDMA KIT EIDE UDMA/66 PCI 4CH RAID CARD is a real raid solution? With a $250+ difference, what performance gain can I expect? If I'm only going to run two drives, is it worth the added cost. Also-promise makes a raid chip which several motherboard makers are using. Would they, the motherboards, be considered a software solution also? Just wondering.

 

[sharkeeper]

If you can create a stripe across two or more disks that the operating system can recognise as one volume without the use of drivers or special extensions, that would most definitely fall under HARDWARE. However, striping is NOT RAID! Simple cards that create mirrors and stripes using a small number of disks (<4) and no parity don't need a processor, just a controller.

If you're looking for hardware RAID (whether IDE or SCSI) then you indeed need a hardware controller capable of supporting at least basic RAID levels including 5.

Cheers!

 

[RGN]

So does that mean there is a negligible performance difference between hardware and software striping?

 

[Pariah]

The difference between software RAID and hardware RAID for a 2 drive array is pretty insignificant. If you're using win2k exclusively, you don't even need a RAID card, as win2k has built in striping. The more drives you add, the more you will need a hardware solution.

 

[RGN]

wait... You mean that Win2K Pro does striping with no controler help?

 

[Pariah]

Yes, the only caveats being, it isn't bootable, and it will only be visible in win2k.

 

[InsaneTBONE]

I want true hardware RAID not just some controller on a card, I want a RAID processor to take the load off the cpu.. I will be running 4 HD's off it all equal in size. (IBM 45GB's 7200 rpm) I am a performance freak I dont want someone telling me that it is stupid or anything like that, that isn't the question. I am asking what IDE cards that are true hardware IDE RAID. I quite know how RAID works i am not sure what products are on the market i know all the common IDE RAID cards but I could be missing something.

 

[jaybert]

if you are a real performance freak, i suggest you run them in raid 5. You will lose one of the HDs, but you wont be sorry. One of your HDs can die and there will be *NO* data loss. In a raid 0 situation, if any of your HDs go down, you lose ALL data, not just the stuff on that 1 HD.

 

[Zach]

I think sharkeeper is wrong on a count.

RAID cards enable you to do striping and mirroring, so those functions are part of RAID. No need to confuse newbies.

 

[sharkeeper]

Let me phrase this another way. A newbie has no reason to use (or even need) RAID. Striping is ok but with today's large disk sizes is more of a fad than a necessity.

If you want a processor to cut down on cpu use for RAID 0 you are sadly mistaken. The processor is for true RAID at levels higher than 5. A processor is NOT needed for striping. This is why you can have a very simple controller doing mirroring and striping. Additionally, when you tie more than two drives together, the performance does NOT increase in a linear fashion as it does when going from one drive to a striped pair.

Unless you absolutely need >50 MB/S write speed (99% of the users do NOT, even for NLE) there is no need for more than two drives.

Processor use. This is the biggest and most debated topic. It's also the most misrepresented metric (second to access times) out there. CPU Utilisation is USELESS on its own! Why? In order to be accurate, the program MUST tell you the data rate it used to determine the CPU Utilisation. Please stop using programs like HD Tach and especially SiSoft! I'd recommend Winbench and even IOMeter. They take long to run, but at least you'll have an idea of what your system is actually doing! Ask Eugene over at The Storage Review Website what he thinks of HD Tach and SiSoft!

Regarding 3Ware products; did you know they have an EIGHT channel controller? Getting 8 disks connected to that would most definitely present a challenge because of the cable length!

Cheers!