Cyde said:
One more question - if I want to run a RAID5 array, would you guys
recommend IDE or SATA? It seems that IDE RAID cards are a lot
cheaper. You can put two IDE hard drives per channel on a RAID card
versus only one per channel with SATA, right? Or does IDE RAID work
differently than plugging in two hard drives per IDE cable straight
into the mobo?
One drive per channel using either IED or SATA RAID.
The HighPoint SATA RocketRAID 1640 is actually $3 less than the ATA version,
at Newegg.
For a RAID array (I'm thinking RAID5), I know the hard drives have to
be the same size, but do they also have to be the same manufacturer?
Is it okay to buy drives gradually over time (so long as I get the
same capacity from the manufacturer), or is it much more advisable to
buy all of them at once?
The idea is to have them match; same model numbers, same size, same maker.
This could be accomplished over time if the manufacturer does not cease
production of a given unit.
I sort of answered my own question. I was browsing around on NewEgg and
came across this product
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=16-115-002&depa=0
It's a 4X port ATA RAID PCI card. It supports up to 8 drives in RAID5.
The reviews for a lot of the other RAID cards are very disparaging of
their RAID5 performances (3Mb/s is abominable). However, the reviews
for this one say that the company has seemingly fixed its problem with
RAID5 and now everything works just fine.
So, should I go with an IDE RAID array now? Or get one or two SATA
drives and an SATA PCI card now to tide me over, wait until the SATA
RAID cards improve and come down in price, and then buy a few more of
the same SATA hard drive and put them in an array?
If you're buying all new hardware, SATA makes the most sense. The HighPoint
RAID5 problem has been solved with new drivers.
