RAID5 question

[Looney]

If i get a 4 channel SATA card... and a motheboard with some SATA channels. Can i use 5 HDDs and put them into a RAID5 array? Using 4 HDDs on the SATA card, and 1 HDD on the motherboard channel? I'm assuming this is a YES, but i just want to be clear before i make the investment.

 

[InlineFour]

what sata card are you talking about? not every sata card will support raid5.

i don't think you can combine your motherboard's sata controller with the sata card into one array.

 

[Looney]

One of the raidcore ones. I'm talking about software raid here, which is why i don't think it matters. But thinking it over now, i don't think i'll go with that. Losing 1.5TB of data is going to make me homicidal.

 

[Missing Ghost]

Yes, software RAID can work regardless of how the hdd is plugged in the computer, as long as the os can use it. However, I strongly recommend against doing a RAID5 array with software RAID. Such a thing can use a good part of your CPU power, and it can go as bad as giving you less performance than with a single drive. Also, if the controller card that you want to use only have 4 ports, why won't simply do your RAID5 using 4 hdds, but of a taller size each?
http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/perf/raid/index.htm
^^^strongly recommended read about RAID

 

[Jeff7]

I've always heard that software RAID5 has horrible write speeds, and that it just eats your CPU performance. Might not be a good idea if you want the computer to do anything else.

 

[EatSpam]

Linux software raid will handle this with no problem, assuming driver availability, etc.

 

[EatSpam]

Originally posted by: Jeff7
I've always heard that software RAID5 has horrible write speeds, and that it just eats your CPU performance. Might not be a good idea if you want the computer to do anything else.

True for most Software RAID solutions, however Linux software RAID5 has excellent write speeds, as do the higher end Highpoint controllers.