SATA-to-IDE adapters.. worth it?

[magnux]

I've got a Dell PE 600SC I've retired from business use to my own personal home server running WHS. I want to load it up with storage, however, I don't want to invest in IDE drives -- as I'd like to move the drives to other (read: newer) PC's should this whole plan fall to mud.

So, being as the 600SC doesn't have native SATA support.. my options are to pick up a SATA controller, or try those SATA-to-IDE adapters. But, I'm wondering how reliable those adapters are. Any experiences?

Keep in mind this will be for personal use and there will be no RAID going on. Separate drives, separate shares.

Also, feel free to reccomend some reliable (yet affordable!) SATA controllers.

 

[Zepper]

A SATA controller won't cost much more than an adapter. But if you are talking about a mobo that has no SATA as original equipment, a controller may be iffy. Read the buyer reviews on Newegg and any other site that has them on controllers before buying to see others' experiences.

.bh.

 

[magnux]

Yea, unfortunately the motherboard doesn't have SATA support. The boot drive will be IDE, so I don't think (read: I hope) that won't be a problem..

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

In every piece of literature for RAID configs I have, they are adament about stating that the IDE - SATA converts are for temporary use only. So I would be careful about using them for any long-term use.

On the other hand, I used a cheap ($7 with shipping) SATA adapter to hook up some SATA drives to my Supermicro X5DAE mobo, and I didn't have any problems at all, despite the fact that the motherboard does not have native SATA.

So I would highly suggest the SATA adapter route if you are wanting to add drives.