Raid card for new media server

[Geran]

Hi,

 

I am in the process of converting my old define r4 into a media server using my old PC parts.

 

I want to run 8 3TB drives but my current motherboard (GIGABYTE GA-Z87-DS3H) only supports six total and one of those will be used for the boot SSD. So I thought it would be a good idea to get a dedicated raid controller and I couldn't figure out what would be best within my price range and requirements.

 

Requirements:

• Must have at least 2 SFF-8087 internal connections
  
• Under $200
  
• I have the following PCI slots to work with: 1 PCI Express 3.0 x16, 3 x PCI Express x1 or 2 x PCI Slots
  

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[ChineseChef]

Honestly, look at some of the cards on Ebay.  ~$100 should get you a really nice card.  I paid ~95ish for mine, and it supports 24 volumes, 256 disks, 4 SFF-8087 ports, with a battery backup.  Lots of older enterprise class cards for cheap there, that will be perfectly fine for your needs.  Just make sure you do a little research into raid card model compatibility with your motherboard.  Some brands are much more "user" class mobo friendly than others.

 

Just browsing Ebay, I found this, something you likely don't need but just to show my point.  7 Raid cards with 2 8087 ports, capable of 255 devices each.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lot-of-7-LSI-Internal-SATA-SAS-SAS3081E-R-3Gb-s-PCI-Express-1-1-RAID-Card-/181784157467?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a532e1d1b

 

Also, @Geran, make sure you follow your threads.

[dfsdfgfkjsefoiqzemnd]

What OS and filesystem will you be using?  That determines whether you should go with hardware or software RAID. 

If hardware RAID you'll need a RAID card, if software RAID suits the OS better you'll need an HBA.

[ChineseChef]

What OS and filesystem will you be using?  That determines whether you should go with hardware or software RAID. 

If hardware RAID you'll need a RAID card, if software RAID suits the OS better you'll need an HBA.

He needs an expansion card either way, since he wants more HDDs than he currently has ports.

 

Either way, I very much agree that he should look into software raid as well.  I have my raid card simply for all the ports, and use Flexraid to manage them instead of hardware raid.

[Geran]

Honestly, look at some of the cards on Ebay.  ~$100 should get you a really nice card.  I paid ~95ish for mine, and it supports 24 volumes, 256 disks, 4 SFF-8087 ports, with a battery backup.  Lots of older enterprise class cards for cheap there, that will be perfectly fine for your needs.  Just make sure you do a little research into raid card model compatibility with your motherboard.  Some brands are much more "user" class mobo friendly than others.

 

Just browsing Ebay, I found this, something you likely don't need but just to show my point.  7 Raid cards with 2 8087 ports, capable of 255 devices each.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lot-of-7-LSI-Internal-SATA-SAS-SAS3081E-R-3Gb-s-PCI-Express-1-1-RAID-Card-/181784157467?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a532e1d1b

 

Also, @Geran, make sure you follow your threads.

Thanks for the suggestion...never thought about searching on Ebay even though that seems like the most logical thing to do. It could also be that I don't search for the right terms to find items like that. I would have just searched for a specific controller lol

 

What OS and filesystem will you be using?  That determines whether you should go with hardware or software RAID. 

If hardware RAID you'll need a RAID card, if software RAID suits the OS better you'll need an HBA.

My plan is to use Windows 8/10 with Storage Spaces or Windows 8/10 with Snapraid & Drivepool. I would like to have it so that I can make a couple different parity RAID's (one for movies and one for TV shows) so that I can lose up to 2HDD's per RAID and still stream like nothing ever happened.

 

I don't know how many disks Storage Spaces needs to have a 2 parity RAID setup but I have the ability to put 11 drives into my R4.

[ChineseChef]

Thanks for the suggestion...never thought about searching on Ebay even though that seems like the most logical thing to do. It could also be that I don't search for the right terms to find items like that. I would have just searched for a specific controller lol

 

My plan is to use Windows 8/10 with Storage Spaces or Windows 8/10 with Snapraid & Drivepool. I would like to have it so that I can make a couple different parity RAID's (one for movies and one for TV shows) so that I can lose up to 2HDD's per RAID and still stream like nothing ever happened.

 

I don't know how many disks Storage Spaces needs to have a 2 parity RAID setup but I have the ability to put 11 drives into my R4.

 

 

For ebay search terms, just use "raid card", then select "raid cards and controllers" from the bar on the left.

 

I would honestly advise against storage spaces for what you are wanting.  From everything I have read it is super slow, rather finicky, and very difficult to modify after initial creation.  I would say go with snapraid and drive pool if you are comfortable with that. 

[Geran]

For ebay search terms, just use "raid card", then select "raid cards and controllers" from the bar on the left.

 

I would honestly advise against storage spaces for what you are wanting.  From everything I have read it is super slow, rather finicky, and very difficult to modify after initial creation.  I would say go with snapraid and drive pool if you are comfortable with that. 

Thanks so much for your help. I am leaning more to Snapraid and Drivepool after reading more about storage spaces.

[ChineseChef]

Thanks so much for your help. I am leaning more to Snapraid and Drivepool after reading more about storage spaces.

 

You may also want to look at Flexraid.  It is a similar product to snapraid and drive pool.  It is a paid product, but it basically combines the features of snapraid and drivepooling into a single program.  I use it and like it, but if you prefer snapraid and drive pool than use whatever you are most comfortable with.

[Geran]

You may also want to look at Flexraid.  It is a similar product to snapraid and drive pool.  It is a paid product, but it basically combines the features of snapraid and drivepooling into a single program.  I use it and like it, but if you prefer snapraid and drive pool than use whatever you are most comfortable with.

My original plan was to use Flexraid but I read that the guy wasn't supporting it anymore or stopped development on it.

 

Also it doesn't currently support multiple raid pools which is a problem for me even though he's been saying that it will be released "soon" since 2012.

[ChineseChef]

My original plan was to use Flexraid but I read that the guy wasn't supporting it anymore or stopped development on it.

 

Also it doesn't currently support multiple raid pools which is a problem for me even though he's been saying that it will be released "soon" since 2012.

 

He started working on it again end of last year.  But since it is one guy, development is kind of slow.  And yah, it is supposed to support multiple pools, but I never got that to work.  He is currently working on windows 10 support.  But I completely understand wanting to go with a more finished product, especially if you are going to pay.