RAID Controller recommendation?

[Xecros]

I have a raid controller on my motherboard, and it works fine. The problem; at some point in the future, I'm going to upgrade my motherboard, and I'll lose my RAID and of course, my data. (Unless i go through the tedious process of backing up my data and then restoring after the upgrade)

But, if i get a raid controller card, it would be a simple matter of transferring the drives and card, and I'm good to go.

so I've done some preliminary searching for cards and found some rather expensive cards, and some cheap ones. The cheap ones, either have very bad reviews, or are software based, or doesn't have enough internal ports.

Here's what I need.
1. 5+ internal SATA ports. (SATA 2 or better)
2. PCIe or PCI interface
3. Must support RAID5 (Hardware RAID, not Software)
4. Cost needs to be $200, or Less!

Anyone know of such a card?

 

[popatim]

Would you consider used?
Must it support drives larger than 2tb?

 

[Xecros]

Would you consider used?
Must it support drives larger than 2tb?

i would consider used, yes, and it doesn't need to support anything larger than 2 tb

 

[popatim]

dell perc 5/i
a decent one is around 100 with 256mb memory and maybe a backup battery.
(often you see a 6/i that cheap too.)

A pair SAS SFF-8484 to 4xSATA cable runs for $40ish. Make sure to get pass-through. Do not get crossover or backplane cables. (6/i uses the same cable)

 

[Xecros]

Hmmm, ok, where can I find used PERC controllers? Dell refurbished site maybe? ......

 

[Xecros]

please don't forget, it has to have 5+ internal SATA ports. I've worked with the PERC controllers before, (Sys Admin here), and if memory serves, the PERC controllers do not have internal ports, much less 5 of them....

 

[choucove]

The internal ports on most of your RAID controllers are going to be miniSAS. You have to get a miniSAS to SATA breakout cable. A single miniSAS connnector can support up to four devices, so a dual-port miniSAS RAID controller can actually connect eight hard drives.

 

[Xecros]

wow! I love that! I was not aware such a thing existed. Never had a need to break out my internal connecters like that. Thank you!

 

[popatim]

LoL - I did mention the cable you need.

 

[FireWire2]

If you need about 230MB-250MB/sec transfer rate. Which is more than enought for media server/SOHO NAS

You can get this driver-less HW raid controller
http://www.amazon.com/multiplier-hardware-RAID0-CLONE-Controller/dp/B004JPUZWU

It's THE MOST simplest HW raid I ever used, I use that for my 16TB RAID5 (5x 4tb Baracuda)

If you need more than 250MB/s than use PCIe x4 or x8 card