SATA Spells Trouble for SCSI RAID: Five Controllers Put to the Test

Conclusion: AMCC/Broadcom Head To Head

This was a rather long, but pretty interesting project. The first thing to note is that all five controllers feature a performance level that is at least decent. All offer the basic feature set you would require in setting up a redundant RAID 5 array, including support for a spare drive, nice management software and more or less comfortable options for replacing faulty drives.

Please do note that setups with more than three or four drives should always be operated in hot-swap enclosures, either inside a server case or operated externally. They should be set up carefully in order to make maintenance as smooth as possible.

Those who are on a tight budget will probably be interested in HighPoint's RocketRAID 2220, which is the most affordable product. Users with requirements for maximum array safety will want to go for RAID 6, which means going for Areca. For everybody else we can make the following recommendations.

If you're about to select a SATA RAID controller for a multi-purpose server that does more than just servicing storage, you might want to avoid getting a software solution as offered from Broadcom/Raidcore or HighPoint. These require the system processor(s) to do most of the parity calculations. However, Broadcom still is the one with the broadest feature set available in the mid-range Serial ATA RAID arena. If you can allow yourself the luxury of running dedicated storage servers, this will most likely be the one to go after. That's especially the case since you have the option to purchase an entry-level model and upgrade your features later online.

When talking about features, we need to mention the battery backup option that is offered only by AMCC/3Ware, Areca and LSI Logic. The last of these is your best choice if you require extensive operating system support, and nice bang for the buck for arrays up to 2 TB. AMCC and Areca are more expensive, but will provide even more performance and sport a feature set that comes close to Broadcom's BC4000 series.

Features Table