SATA/PATA Controller

[Seekermeister]

I'm waiting on delivery of a cheap controller card, but I noticed that the package contents doesn't list a CD. Are controller card plug and play?

http://www.acortech.com/Creative_I_O_VIA-15OR_SATA_Raid/partinfo-id-3203356.html

EDIT: Looking again, it does say that it is plug and play, but I would still think that it would need a driver, at least for the raid.

EDIT 2: Looking farther, it says that it uses a Windows based raid tool. But I have never seen anything in Windows doing that function. Does anyone understand what this means?

 

[Seekermeister]

To put it another way, are all raid controller cards hardware raid, or are some of them software?

 

[Oyeve]

Some are HW some are SW most are both.

 

[Seekermeister]

I have read the sales description of alot of them, and none specified anything in this regards. Is there an easy way to know, or would I have to go back to the manufacturer's website on each of them? In a like fashion, none that I have noticed specified whether they were SATA I or II. Is there a comparison chart somewhere, that would make it easier to understand all of this?

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: Seekermeister
I have read the sales description of alot of them, and none specified anything in this regards. Is there an easy way to know, or would I have to go back to the manufacturer's website on each of them? In a like fashion, none that I have noticed specified whether they were SATA I or II. Is there a comparison chart somewhere, that would make it easier to understand all of this?

I've never seen a modern RAID card that didn't have some sort of Windows-based management console or the like.

Windows-based RAID configure and management software tool

Doesn't mean "Windows has a built-in RAID manager"; it means it comes with a RAID configuration/management program that runs in Windows (as opposed to one that runs in DOS only, or a BIOS-based management scheme). Obviously, it's going to come with the software needed to run it...

I would assume SATA1 unless it says otherwise. Not like it makes a real difference in performance.

If you care about things like whether it is hardware/software RAID, you need to do more research than looking at an OEM reseller's 'product details' page. You generally don't need a hardware card unless you are looking at doing RAID5/6 and are concerned about CPU usage. RAID0/RAID1 have very low overhead.

 

[Seekermeister]

Matthias99,

I've never seen a modern RAID card that didn't have some sort of Windows-based management console or the like.

Doesn't mean "Windows has a built-in RAID manager"; it means it comes with a RAID configuration/management program that runs in Windows (as opposed to one that runs in DOS only, or a BIOS-based management scheme). Obviously, it's going to come with the software needed to run it...

This will be the first controller card that I have ever used, much less a raid controller. I only have my experience with the raid controller built into my motherboard, and the only management console or control is either in bios settings, or in a Windows application installed separately.

I would assume SATA1 unless it says otherwise. Not like it makes a real difference in performance.

If you care about things like whether it is hardware/software RAID, you need to do more research than looking at an OEM reseller's 'product details' page. You generally don't need a hardware card unless you are looking at doing RAID5/6 and are concerned about CPU usage. RAID0/RAID1 have very low overhead.

This card is probably adequate for what I need for the moment, but knowing myself, I will be wanting something more in the future. So, my questions are more about later than now. One reason that I was interested in a hardware raid, is because Linux has a tendency to get along with them better. I know that I need to do more research, but I bought this one on an impulse, because of it's combo configuration. I still have another PCI slot, which I will probably want a better controller for later, but I prefer to ask questions now, so that I won't repeat my errors.