Looking for a solid hardware SATA RAID 10 controller for Debian/Ubuntu system

[Chaotic42]

Hey all.

I'm looking for a good hardware SATA RAID 10 controller for my Debian-based file server. It's where I store my interim backups, music, images, etc. It doesn't need to be screaming fast, but I do need it to be reliable and Linux compatible. Does anyone have a good recommendation? I'd like to get away under $300 if possible. I'm planning on putting at least a 3TB and 4TB drive in RAID 1 (yes, I know I'll only get 3TB) on there. Is it possible to dynamically add storage to a RAID setup if 3TB gets too small?

Thanks in advance.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Most hardware RAIDs don't allow you to dynamically add storage.

There are plenty of Dell branded PERC RAID controllers on eBay starting ar, last I checked, around $100. Newer/better = more expensive.

They work well enough, some even support stuff like SSD caching. But you don't want to go tooooo old, or you're lose out on the large disk support. Also, make sure you're getting the proper PCI-E card ones and not one of those weird custom modules.

 

[CiPHER]

You can try Areca. But i find it a waste to use Hardware RAID at all, especially for RAID1. In general software RAID is superior for a number of reasons, particularly Linux has good software RAID (md-raid). Beware that many hardware RAID controllers require TLER-enabled harddrives, or the controller will drop disks upon detecting bad sectors, which trigger the 10-30 second timeout such controllers employ.