Current needs: want to put my existing 2x550 MB/s SATA3 SSDs in RAID0 with aim to achieve 1+ GB/s read speeds. The drives are currently on Marvell's 9128 SATA 3 ports, capping at around 150-180 MB/s per drive (setting up software RAID on this controller is impossible for me - and also apparently for most other people seeing as the controller itself is literally crap)

Future wants: might want to set up another array of same magnitude at one point

Price range and reseller: I really want to keep things below €400. EU stores only, must ship to whole of Europe (not just the UK, which seems to be the case for most stores)

Findings: A general WTH: finding a proper RAID controller is like trying to hit that magic itching spot on your back that you just can't reach. Upon closer reading most cards are either reported to be really crap with users complaining about performance, stability, support and reliability at least half the time or the price is something like €800, which is pretty much a joke. The cold truth, though, is that most stores (including eBay and Amazon) don't provide any appreciable selection of controllers at all. I only want a stable 2GB/s throughput without having to sell my house for it (even just 2 device support would be adequate TBH) and I've been scouring the webs for a reliable model for several hours without any real luck. As far as I can tell, Areca is the top dog here, but their good models seem to be seriously overpriced (really, €600-800+?)


Confusion: why do many sellers list the interface as something like PCI-E 2.0 x4, which is 2 GB/s, but the card's transfer rate as 600 or 300 MBps? This seems to be the case esp. on eBay. The really weird part of it is that most other reseller websites don't list the transfer rate at all (a lot like Windows versions not publicly listing their hard-coded RAM caps *rolleyes*) . I'm still assuming that the transfer rate is the card's transfer cap over its minimum supported interface.

So, if anyone here has any experience regarding setting up a high speed RAID setup, I'd really appreciate some input!

Their are two kinds of RAID cards...

Real raid cards and software raid cards. The majority of the raid cards you will find below the $300 price point are software raid cards. They have a controller on them that provides SATA functionality, but the driver is what does all the actual RAID work.

I've been running the 3ware 9650SE-4LPML in a couple of my local servers and it has so far worked out pretty good.

Confusion: why do many sellers list the interface as something like PCI-E 2.0 x4, which is 2 GB/s, but the card's transfer rate as 600 or 300 MBps? This seems to be the case esp. on eBay. The really weird part of it is that most other reseller websites don't list the transfer rate at all (a lot like Windows versions not publicly listing their hard-coded RAM caps *rolleyes*) . I'm still assuming that the transfer rate is the card's transfer cap over its minimum supported interface.

SATA revision 2 interface runs at 3.0Gb/s (gigabits per second). That's approximately 350MB/s. There's also SATA revision 3, which runs at 6Gb/s, or about 700MB/s

Ok, that makes sense. What makes less sense though (at least as a result of my browsing) is which cards are true HW RAID and which are not.

For instance, I've been eyeing this for an hour or so now - based on sheer numbers I'd buy it, but I haven't been able to find a single review on it on the web. This really does seem like one part of the industry that either people don't touch much or that's so specific that companies buy the high end models and the rest of the models are just toys for show.

Ok, that makes sense. What makes less sense though (at least as a result of my browsing) is which cards are true HW RAID and which are not.

For instance, I've been eyeing this for an hour or so now - based on sheer numbers I'd buy it, but I haven't been able to find a single review on it on the web. This really does seem like one part of the industry that either people don't touch much or that's so specific that companies buy the high end models and the rest of the models are just toys for show.

That's actually just a relabed version of one of these: http://www.tomshardw...aid,2388-3.html, or more specifically this one (roughly) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816118109

[quote name='irreversible' timestamp='1328648957' post='4910637']
Ok, that makes sense. What makes less sense though (at least as a result of my browsing) is which cards are true HW RAID and which are not.

For instance, I've been eyeing this for an hour or so now - based on sheer numbers I'd buy it, but I haven't been able to find a single review on it on the web. This really does seem like one part of the industry that either people don't touch much or that's so specific that companies buy the high end models and the rest of the models are just toys for show.

That's actually just a relabed version of one of these: http://www.tomshardw...aid,2388-3.html, or more specifically this one (roughly) http://www.newegg.co...N82E16816118109
[/quote]

It took me some time to figure as much and as a result I was actually about to post this: http://thessdreview....-raid-showdown/

This review pretty much sold me on LSI. Strange, though that it's possible to get the same model for close to a hundred bucks less in the EU than in the US - it's usually the other way around (better yet, much of the time the only difference is the currency and the numbers stay the same).

Anyways - the advertised throughput will easily support another SSD array, which is something I think might need in about a year or so.

PS - thanks for your input!

edit: based on some more scrutiny I think the price difference might stem from the fact that the newegg version has external ports.

edit: based on some more scrutiny I think the price difference might stem from the fact that the newegg version has external ports.

They're identical cards. They both have external ports. Its just re-branded as Fujitsu.