The RAID 6 Areca ARC-1120 One-ups RAID 5 Controllers
The Rivals: Broadcom/Raidcore BC4000 And 3Ware/AMCC 9000 Series
The 9000 series from 3Ware stands out mostly because of its consistently good performance, and because it came in just below the even more flexible BC4000 from Broadcom/Raidcore in our test comparison . 3Ware relies on its own XOR unit, 128 MB cache memory, optional battery backup unit and numerous software features. The overall result is a product that comes in only slightly behind more expensive SCSI models, if at all.
As early as about a year ago, we received the first RAIDCore controller. Even then, it made a splash with functionality as yet unseen. Today, RAIDCore belongs to Broadcom, and offers a number of PCI-X devices that all function based on software. They do not have their own caches; however, up to four 8 channel controllers can be used simultaneously , and arrays can be generated as desired.
Comparison Table
| Header Cell - Column 0 | 3Ware 9500 | Areca ARC-1120 | Broadcom/Raidcore BC4000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Interface | 64 Bit PCI 2.2 | PCI-X 133 MHz | PCI-X 133 MHz |
| Architechture | Hardware-based | Hardware-based | Software-based |
| XOR-Unit | 3Ware | i80332 | From System Processor |
| Cache | 128 MB ECC | 128 MB ECC | None |
| Ports | 4, 8, 12x SATA | 8, 12, 16x SATA II | 4, 8x SATA |
| Format | Full Structure Height | Half (8 Ports), Full Structure Height (12, 16 Ports) | Half Structure Height |
| RAID-Modes | 0, 1, 1+0, 5, 50, JBOD | 0, 1, 0+1, 3, 5, 6, JBOD | 0, 1, 1+N, 10, 10+N, 5, 50, JBOD |
| RAID Level Migration | Downgrading only | Downgrading only | Yes |
| Batterie-Backup | optional | optional | Optional |
| Background Init | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-Adapter | Yes | Yes | Yes, inclusive Adapter Spanning |
| Online Capacity Expansion | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Multiple RAID Arrays | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Drive Roaming | No | No | Yes |
| Spare Drive | Dedicated | Dedicated | Dedicated/Global/Distributed |
| Time Delayed drive starts | Yes | No | Yes |
| Website | www.3ware.com | www.areca.com.tw | www.raidcore.com |
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Patrick Schmid was the editor-in-chief for Tom's Hardware from 2005 to 2006. He wrote numerous articles on a wide range of hardware topics, including storage, CPUs, and system builds.