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  1. #1

    RAID card SATA 2 port - Not software RAID

    Hi,

    Just wanted your thoughts on a RAID card.

    My requirements are:

    • 2 x SATA (SATA2 preferable) ports
    • Fit in 1U chassis, flexi PCI card used
    • RAID 1
    • NOT software or HostRAID, I would like proper hardware RAID


    I am in the UK, but can import from say the US, as the exchange rate is particularly good at the moment.

    Thanks
    Stuart Munro

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2001
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    Quote Originally Posted by stuartornum View Post
    Hi,

    Just wanted your thoughts on a RAID card.

    My requirements are:

    • 2 x SATA (SATA2 preferable) ports
    • Fit in 1U chassis, flexi PCI card used
    • RAID 1
    • NOT software or HostRAID, I would like proper hardware RAID


    I am in the UK, but can import from say the US, as the exchange rate is particularly good at the moment.

    Thanks
    I can recommend the 3ware 8006-2LP. It meets your demands exactly and is fairly inexpensive. It offers hardware RAID and is compatibly with a lot of operating systems.

  3. #3
    Hi T_E_O,

    I did look at the 8006-2LP, but its only SATA1, would there be much improvement if SATA2 was used?

    Thanks.
    Stuart Munro

  4. #4
    Join Date
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    You can get a 9650se 2 port but you need an extra driver for Centos 5.x but apart from that works fine (got 4 in testing here)

    rus
    Russ Foster - Industry Curmudgeon
    Freelance Sysadmin for Hire - email vaserv@gmail.com

  5. #5
    Hi Rus,

    Thanks for the reply.

    How would this compare to say the on-board RAID of a supermicro PDSML-LN1+ wich uses Intel ICH7R SATA controller.

    Sample Server Spec:
    Intel Quad core
    PDSML-LN1+
    4GB DDR2 667
    2 x Samsung 500GB

    Thanks
    Stuart Munro

  6. #6
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    SATAII card will add significantly to the cost. There is a huge different in price between 8006-2lp (sata1) and 9550/9650 (sata2). My personal opinion is that the performance hit will be minimal when going with SATA1 using RAID1.
    Fast Serv Networks, LLC | AS29889 | DDOS Protected | Managed Cloud, Streaming, Dedicated Servers, Colo by-the-U
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  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by stuartornum View Post
    Hi Rus,

    Thanks for the reply.

    How would this compare to say the on-board RAID of a supermicro PDSML-LN1+ wich uses Intel ICH7R SATA controller.

    Sample Server Spec:
    Intel Quad core
    PDSML-LN1+
    4GB DDR2 667
    2 x Samsung 500GB

    Thanks

    Fake RAID vs true HW RAID...no comparison.
    Fast Serv Networks, LLC | AS29889 | DDOS Protected | Managed Cloud, Streaming, Dedicated Servers, Colo by-the-U
    Since 2003 - Ashburn VA + San Diego CA Datacenters

  8. #8
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    Oct 2001
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    Quote Originally Posted by stuartornum View Post
    Hi T_E_O,

    I did look at the 8006-2LP, but its only SATA1, would there be much improvement if SATA2 was used?

    Thanks.
    Hi Stuart,

    I've never tested the 9000 series of cards, so I can't comment on that. I hope others have more information on this.

    T_E_O

  9. #9
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    UK
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    I've never done any benchmarks but in day to day usage RAID-1 on the 8xxx and 9xxx feels about the same. When you start looking at higher RAID levels the 9xxx feels faster. If just doing RAID-1 I would go for the 8006-2

    Rus
    Russ Foster - Industry Curmudgeon
    Freelance Sysadmin for Hire - email vaserv@gmail.com

  10. #10
    Join Date
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    Another vote for the 3ware 8006-2LP card. We have these cards in a large number of servers and they've always been flawless. Never had a bad one and the included tools (Windows or Linux) are good. You just can't beat the price for the features and reliability. I think the last batch we bought were $134/ea at NewEgg.

    Good luck,

    Wayne
    Applied Innovations (www.appliedi.net)
    Microsoft Gold Certified Hosting Partner, ASP.net Featured Host.
    Specializing in Windows Hosting since 1999.

  11. #11
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    We have plenty of experience with the 3Ware cards others have mentioned above including the 8006-2LP, 9550SX, 9650SE and the new 9690SAS card. Based on our assessments, using 10K RPM Raptor drives as baselines (except for the 9690 where we use 15K SAS drives), performance tends to improve as the card series numbers go up! One of the reasons has to do with the bus type. There's a big performance gain going from standard PCI to PCI-X to PCI Express. If you plan on only using 7200RPM SATA II drives, you aren't going to notice much difference in performance from the controller as most of those drives won't actually push enough I/O to max out the card and bus even with onboard RAID.

    The issue with onboard RAID is that it steals a little CPU power, but not enough to take a big hit versus an add-on card if you're going with low performance drives such as 7200RPM SATA drives. You start to notice when you go with the Raptor drives. The biggest problem with onboard RAID is mainly due to the fact that newer Linux distributions may not be fully compatible with onboard RAID.
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  12. #12
    Thanks all for the posts.

    I reckon I will go with the 8006-2LP, for the price / performance ratio, I believe its the option.

    Now, just got to buy it, any suggestions in the UK?

    Thanks again guys
    Stuart Munro

  13. #13
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    try ebay, i always see low price 3ware cards over there.

  14. #14
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    8006-2LP and 9650 have quite different performance on sequential reads, about 10-15MB/s in our experience. CentOS 5.1 is also out now, which should have the drivers for the 9650 PCI-e
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