Hello,
I'm stuck and looking for advice. I'm a photographer and also do a lot of video editing. I use a Windows 7 64bit machine. I have a couple of SSDs attached as well as an external HDD (1TB). One SSD (225GB) contains my OS and most programs, the other (450GB) is content.
I had a HDD fail recently and lost some work. I was backing up, but only about once a month. In addition to needing a lot more space, I also wanted to build in redundancy, while maintaining some performance for the video editing. I figured a RAID5 configuration would be best.
I bought an OWC Mercury Elite Pro Qx2 with 4 3TB Seagate Barracudas, to connect via an eSATA port on the back of the computer. And then I discovered that Win 7 doesn't support RAID5.
I looked into setting it up in the BIOS on my Asus P8Z68-V Gen3 motherboard, but 1) I guess it doesn't recognize eSATA in the SATA setup section (I only saw reference to the onboard SATA ports), and 2) it scares me a little at the thought of initialized RAID in the BIOS with my boot disc attached.
I think that in order to achieve what I want I'll need an RAID controller card. I have space for a PCIe x 8 card.
Am I right (will I be able to achieve a RAID5 array with an external tower of 4 HDD through a single eSATA cable into a RAID controller card)? Is this the best way to go? If not, what am I missing?
If this is the best way to get what I want, can anyone recommend a specific controller (or brand)? I'm blown away by the price range in the RAID controller card market. I did a search in Newegg for eSATA cards capable of RAID5 and they range for $20 to $180. I did notice that the more expensive ones had multiple inputs, expandable to up to 20 HDDs, but I definitely don't need that.
I appreciate any help. I don't want to order something that I don't need or can't use.
Walter
I'm stuck and looking for advice. I'm a photographer and also do a lot of video editing. I use a Windows 7 64bit machine. I have a couple of SSDs attached as well as an external HDD (1TB). One SSD (225GB) contains my OS and most programs, the other (450GB) is content.
I had a HDD fail recently and lost some work. I was backing up, but only about once a month. In addition to needing a lot more space, I also wanted to build in redundancy, while maintaining some performance for the video editing. I figured a RAID5 configuration would be best.
I bought an OWC Mercury Elite Pro Qx2 with 4 3TB Seagate Barracudas, to connect via an eSATA port on the back of the computer. And then I discovered that Win 7 doesn't support RAID5.
I looked into setting it up in the BIOS on my Asus P8Z68-V Gen3 motherboard, but 1) I guess it doesn't recognize eSATA in the SATA setup section (I only saw reference to the onboard SATA ports), and 2) it scares me a little at the thought of initialized RAID in the BIOS with my boot disc attached.
I think that in order to achieve what I want I'll need an RAID controller card. I have space for a PCIe x 8 card.
Am I right (will I be able to achieve a RAID5 array with an external tower of 4 HDD through a single eSATA cable into a RAID controller card)? Is this the best way to go? If not, what am I missing?
If this is the best way to get what I want, can anyone recommend a specific controller (or brand)? I'm blown away by the price range in the RAID controller card market. I did a search in Newegg for eSATA cards capable of RAID5 and they range for $20 to $180. I did notice that the more expensive ones had multiple inputs, expandable to up to 20 HDDs, but I definitely don't need that.
I appreciate any help. I don't want to order something that I don't need or can't use.
Walter