Fast and Secure: A Comparison of Eight RAID Controllers

Test Procedure And Evaluation

We carried out all the RAID controller tests on a system fitted with an Asus CUR-DLS motherboard, an Intel Pentium III/ 1000 processor, and 256 MB of RAM. For our reference hard disks, we chose two 160 GB Maxtor drives (4G160J6) and a 120 GB Maxtor 4G120J6. The operating system was Windows XP.

The overall scoring in this eight IDE RAID controller group test is derived from three standardized categories which we weighted differently. These categories are Performance, Features and Service.

Performance Is King

Performance accounts for 60 percent of the overall score. The performance measurements are divided into five individual disciplines, each with a different weighting. Each product was subjected to a benchmark test in a configuration consisting of two hard disks in RAID level 0 and 1. If supported by the controller, we also carried out measurements in a RAID-5 configuration using three drives.

We examined the Office and high-end performance of the RAID systems using Business Disk and High-end Disk Winmark 99. Both were weighted at 25 percent. We used Transfertool to measure the average data transfer rate of the complete system.

Content Creation Winstone 2001 runs scripts using real applications such as Internet browser, image, sound and video editing, Web design, and multimedia applications. Winstone 2001 took care of our Office performance measurements. This program runs Microsoft Office 2000, e-mail and antivirus programs, a project planner, Internet browser and compression tools. To gauge multitasking capabilities, both benchmark programs automatically switch back and forth between the standalone applications.

Upon completion of the benchmarking, the Business Winstone and Content Creation Winstone programs are automatically removed from the Windows registry, and the system environment is restored to its original state for the next test.

Help With Finding Drivers

Service accounts for 10 percent of our overall rating. Here we have included the length of the warranty and the quality of customer support via corporate website and hotline.

RAID controllers need the latest drivers to work effectively. Our lab engineers will tell you that operating system updates often cause compatibility problems with the operating system's default drivers. For this reason, it is extremely important that manufacturers support their customers by providing easy access to new drivers and firmware updates.