Raid 5 Controller Card

[rett448]

I am looking to upgrade my current raid-5 file server because it is about 2 years old and running out of space. I keep the OS on a separate hard drive, so the array does not need to be bootable. I currently use NV Raid to manage the array. The server will only be used as a media server, so speed of the Raid-5 array is a non issue. My current server configuration is:

Gigabyte 570 SLI motherboard (AM2, 6 SATA, Raid 5)
2 GHz Sempron Processor
2x 512 DDR2
40 GB Seagate ATA hard drive (Operating System)
550 watt PS
Raid Drives:
1 x 300 GB Western Digital SATA HD
3 X 320 GB Seagate SATA HD
2 x 500 GB Seagate SATA HD

The current array is a little under 1.4 TB because of the mismatched hard drive sizes. I have heard that NV raid does not support arrays larger then 2 TB, so I am looking into a controller card. I also had the NV array crash when I added the second 500 GB hard drive (luckily it was backup at the time). I will most likely start with three or four 1.5TB Seagate drives and add more as extra space is needed. I would like to find a card that supports PCI-E, and has at least 6 ports, supports arrays >2TB, and is some what affordable. Data integrity is my number 1 concern, as I would like to avoid data loss. I have been looking at the High Point 2320, as it satisfies my price and port number requirements. It also supports a wide variety of raid-5 features like online recovery, hot spare, ect. However I have heard mixed reviews on this particular card. As data integrity is my main concern, I want to make sure the card does not corrupt the array. Has anyone had experience with this particular card or another Raid-5 card that meets my specifications? Thank you.

 

[Nothinman]

If performance isn't an issue why not just use software RAID? If you're using Windows though you'll need a Server version of Windows for redundant RAID so it might make more sense to look at WHS cause it'll be a lot cheaper.

 

[Keitero]

Any array running a 32bit version of Windows will only support up to 2TB/volume. Running a 64bit version of Windows, you can user GUID instead of MBR to have volumes greater than 2TB. For your setup, you can invest in any card that will do RAID5 and be fine, since speed is not a big issue for you. As for your drives, you should consider investing in matched drive sizes to maximize your RAID size and speed. You can also try using FreeNAS for file storage and do software RAID5 for free (don't setup RAID via the nV BIOS), this really only applies if you just want it to share the media files and not be a PVR or workstation as well.

 

[MTechnik]

Originally posted by: Keitero
Any array running a 32bit version of Windows will only support up to 2TB/volume. Running a 64bit version of Windows...

Nope.

Damn, I'm new here, how do I add an image in-line?

image link

Well, it'a 2003 R2 server with a few iSCSI disks... two of them are 8TB volumes. Might be something they added in R2.

 

[Nothinman]

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/...e/storage/GPT_FAQ.mspx

 

[Emulex]

windows 2008 will not boot > 2TB logical. i usually rock 200gb for os intel matrix raid-10 then use the other of the disks raid-5.

 

[Keitero]

Originally posted by: MTechnik

Originally posted by: Keitero
Any array running a 32bit version of Windows will only support up to 2TB/volume. Running a 64bit version of Windows...

Nope.

Damn, I'm new here, how do I add an image in-line?

image link

Well, it'a 2003 R2 server with a few iSCSI disks... two of them are 8TB volumes. Might be something they added in R2.

I should have added Server not included. Since most of us don't run Server 0/08, it's a moot point.

 

[shempf]

as far as I remember WHS doesn't use RAID. It duplicates/copies data. It will also take up more room since it's more like RAID 1 than 5.
Thus, unRAID would be more 'reliable'

 

[RebateMonger]

As I understand it, you can simply add random-size drives to Windows Home Server and pretty much make the "array" (read: drive pool) as large as you can stand. Only when single drives larger than 2 TB are added will there be an issue with WHS' Drive Extender. It's expected that WHS will do something about the 2 TB drive limitation by the time that drives larger than 2 TB become available (likely in 2010 or so).

 

[Old Hippie]

Believe me, hook an optical drive to that machine and install WHS.

No fuss, no muss, no RAID, all drive sizes accepted, duplicate if and what you want, and very easy to learn and operate.