Since 4 channel RAID is so expensive I'd plan to buy 2 channel RAID instead , can I run 4 IDE devices on 2 channel RAID ? Which modes are possible , RAID 0, RAID 1 or RAID 0+1 ? I don't plan to run it on production server , just my personal linux mail/file server , will it be slow?

Thank you

I run IDE RAID 0 + 1 on my PC and it is a lot faster then a single disk setup. You should be fine with that setup. I am using the Abit KR7A-RAID mainboard with 4 WD-80GB drives.

Thank you , sitekeeper . I just found that if the spec of two channel RAID show 0+1, it means it can run 4 IDE devices.

On my mainboard there are the 2 regular IDE channels and the 2 RAID channels. I have the 4 HD's on the 2 RAID channels and a DVD-Player on one of the regular IDE channels and a CDRW on the other. I have never noticed any disk slow down while doing anything.