Regardingspecifically the Promise PDC20376 chipset on Asus MBs, and Serial ATA controllers supporting RAID in general:
1) Does the Promise PDC20376 chipset, on the A7V333 or A7V8X, support Serial ATA Drives in RAID array?
According to the Manual (A7V8X)
Section 5.4.1 Install the hard disks
“The PDC20376 chipset supports Ultra ATA 133/100/66 Hard Disk Drives.” There is no mention of support for Serial ATA 150 Hard Disk Drives.
However in,
Section 5.4.1, 3.b) the instructions are:
“Connect one Serial ATA HDD to each Serial ATA connector, using separate Serial ATA cables”
Does the RAID setup as in 5.4.1 3.b), two Serial ATA HDDs, connected to the two Serial ATA connectors, form a RAID array utilizing Serial ATA HDDs?
2) Regarding PCI 133 MBs at 32-bit, 33MHz and the bandwidth limit:
Does this PCI limitation apply if the Serial ATA HDDs are connected to the Serial ATA connectors? It seems that it would if using a Serial ATA controller card plugged into the PCI slot, but what about when the drives are connected directly to the board? Also, how does SCSI get around this limitation, or does it?
In looking for Serial ATA RAID controllers, whether on board (ATA RAID ASIC) http://www.promise.com/product/oem_ataraid_eng.htm or Card Solution, it seems that Serial ATA HDDs are supported as independent drives, but not in a RAID array. So, what is being called a Serial ATA RAID Controller is really 1) a Serial ATA HDD Controller, or 2) an ATA 133/100/66 RAID controller. Right or worng?
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