RAID Card Recommendation

[Jarand]

Hi guys,

I'm almost at the point that I will be adding a RAID card and redoing my Home Server 2011 drives and I'm looking for a RAID card recommendation. I use the server mostly for PLEX and and I torrent on it, also for photos etc.

 

My goal is;

8 x 3TB ST3000NC000 in RAID 6

 

Budget: Up to about $500 if necessary.

 

Current Rig;

CPUI: ntel E3-1275v3

Mobo: Asus Z87I-Plus

PSU: Silverstone SFX 450W PSU

HDD: 3 x ST3000NC000

SSD: Intel 530 240GB

RAM: 8GB Kingston HyperX

Case: Silverstone DS380

 

Any thoughts???

So far I'm thinking about the LSI 9270-8i

http://www.lsi.com/products/raid-controllers/pages/megaraid-sas-9270-8i.aspx

[AMICLG]

LSI 9211-8i would be a good choice and I'd run Raid 10 instead also don't be completely shocked if it doesn't work on your motherboard as most consumer boards (even 2011) don't support Raid cards.

[Jarand]

Thanks for the input....

Is it just the cost that is beneficial for RIAD 10???

[alpenwasser]

My goal is;

8 x 3TB ST3000NC000 in RAID 6

 

Budget: Up to about $500 if necessary.

[...]

 

Any thoughts???

So far I'm thinking about the LSI 9270-8i

http://www.lsi.com/products/raid-controllers/pages/megaraid-sas-9270-8i.aspx

 

LSI 9211-8i would be a good choice and I'd run Raid 10 instead also don't be completely shocked if it doesn't work on your motherboard as most consumer boards (even 2011) don't support Raid cards.

Are you set/do you need hardware RAID? If so, the 9270-8i is

a good choice AFAIK, yes. I have three 9211-8i myself (though

I am running them in IT mode w/ software RAID via ZFS), and

while they are great for what I need from them, the 9270 has

quite a bit more advanced RAID capability and 1 GB of onboard

RAM as cache, which can make quite a difference when you're

uring HDDs.

I'm not sure if a card as expensive as the 9270 is really worth

it for a home server with comparatively small performance

requirements, but in the end it's your money.

So yeah, provided you're set on hardware RAID, the 9270 should

do a good job. As AdamIsaacLang has said, sometimes RAID cards

(both the 9211 and the 9270) can be a bit finicky on consumer

motherboards, but most of the time it should work. Can't know

until you try it out anyway.

If software RAID is also an option (personally I prefer it,

as it makes me not stuck to a single RAID card), the 9211-8i

is great (or the IBM1015/LSI9210-8i, also rather popular),

and you can save quite a bit of money. It should probably be

flashed to IT mode in that case though, for which I've made

a tutorial here.

PS: Feel free to stop by our storage showoff topic when you're

done with the build.

[Jarand]

Thanks heaps, I'll have to have a think on how I want to manage things. It would be an expensive venture, so hardware RAID is a maybe then.

[TheProfosist]

I have a 9260-4i so get the new version but the 8i variant would be my suggestion.

[TheProfosist]

Mine works on x79 beautifuly though on x58 I had to unplug all drives from the Intel s controller to access the bios config. Once configuration is done everything could be done via the software.

[Jarand]

I'll just hope it works if I do get a RIAD card, but I checked the compatability pages on both RAID cards, shows the Z87-PRO working (with an i5, but that shouldn't be an issue), worst case scenario I can change it up and use that.

Here's for hoping though.

[MikkoP]

I am about to buy a RAID controller myself too. I'll pick the LSI 9271-4i and Intel's RES2SV240 SAS expander and I am going to use these with seven WD Red 3 TB disks at first. You don't need an eight port controller to drive eight HDDs. But if you don't get a SAS expander, the maximum amount of hard drives you can connect is limited to the internal SATA port count of the controller. With the two cards I mentioned, I will be able to connect up to 20 hard drives to the controller. Theoritically speaking this would allow the drives to run at their max speeds. In the real world this isn't the case. But with a 4-port controller you are well over the safe side in terms of performance.

 

8-port controllers aren't cheap. They aren't quite two times the price of the 4-port versions but close. If you aren't running SSDs (which you are not), there's no benefit to go for an eight-port controller over a four-port one. That is, assuming you will be getting a SAS expander.

[TheProfosist]

I am about to buy a RAID controller myself too. I'll pick the LSI 9271-4i and Intel's RES2SV240 SAS expander and I am going to use these with seven WD Red 3 TB disks at first. You don't need an eight port controller to drive eight HDDs. But if you don't get a SAS expander, the maximum amount of hard drives you can connect is limited to the internal SATA port count of the controller. With the two cards I mentioned, I will be able to connect up to 20 hard drives to the controller. Theoritically speaking this would allow the drives to run at their max speeds. In the real world this isn't the case. But with a 4-port controller you are well over the safe side in terms of performance.

8-port controllers aren't cheap. They aren't quite two times the price of the 4-port versions but close. If you aren't running SSDs (which you are not), there's no benefit to go for an eight-port controller over a four-port one. That is, assuming you will be getting a SAS expander.

Can I get a SAS expander for my LSI raid card? I ask because it might be a cheaper alternative for me.

[MikkoP]

Can I get a SAS expander for my LSI raid card? I ask because it might be a cheaper alternative for me.

 

LSI has a compatibility list on their product pages. For example, RES2SV240 is supported for 9271-4i.

 

http://www.lsi.com/downloads/Public/RAID%20Controllers/RAID%20Controllers%20Common%20Files/MegaRAID_Value_Feature_Interop_List_SAS2.pdf