Raid!

[johnnyx]

If you have an integrated raid controller on the mobo, would you have more bandwidth than if you had a pci controller card? Or would it really matter? I want to get 2 of the WD 100 GB+ 8MB cache. (what ever they are called) would it make a difference in that case if I went with a card or integrated?

Thanks for the help

If an orange was driving a racecar would it peel out?

 

[ath0mps0]

There is pretty much no difference - the PCI bus is still the bottleneck after your array gets up over 100MB/s in total throughput (3+ drives). If you have 64bit (or 66MHz) PCI and a compatible card you can get much more. For standard PCI you will only gain performance if you go with a RAID card that has an onboard processor (vs. the Promise, Highpoint, etc. that use the system proc). This would reduce your CPU utilization and also allow RAID 5 (speed and redundancy in a 3+ drive array).

I thought a thought, but the thought I thought wasn't the thought I thought I had thought.<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by ath0mps0 on 04/13/02 05:58 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[flamethrower205]

I wonder- is there a way to buy a processing unit for the RAID controller (my TX2000 in this case).

Sig of the week.

 

[ath0mps0]

The TX2000 is already capable of running 66MHz PCI - so if your Mobo is compatible, you can max out the board and still have room to spare. Only cards like the SuperTrak SX6000 provide onboard processors - you can usually tell because they allow RAID 5.

I thought a thought, but the thought I thought wasn't the thought I thought I had thought.

 

[johnnyx]

Hmmm, what mobos support a 66MHz pci bus?
Or does it matter?

If an orange was driving a racecar would it peel out?

 

[Lars_Coleman]

Usually motherboards with dual processors or Serverworks chipsets are the only ones with that type of PCI bus. With those types you will have a 64bit 66MHz PCI bus.

<font color=red>People and hard drives are like bandwagon fans and sports!</font color=red>