SAS controller recommendation

Vincy Boy · Aug 22, 2009

Hey guys. I just got my paws on a pair of HP 15000 RPM 300GB SAS drives. I now need a PCI-e SAS controller and plan do RAID 0 with them. I'm not looking to spend more than US $200 on this. Please give me suggestions on what card to get and any other pointers as to what to expect (possible problems) using these drives.

Vincy Boy · Aug 23, 2009

No ideas out there?? :confused:

lemonadesoda · Aug 23, 2009

If you want to do the job properly, you need a CACHING CONTROLLER and a UPS. A caching controller gets the max performance out of the SAS drivers, and a UPS is needed because otherwise a power failure will lose data and may even render the drive useless without a reformat.

You will struggle to get a NEW caching controller for $200.

Adaptec RAID 2405 bulk, PCIe x8, may JUST fit your budget but is only 128MB cache. But Adaptec RAID 5405 bulk, PCIe x8 or HP Smart Array P400/256 is better.

Professional, high-end, SAS controllers are clearly out of your budget unless you get lucky on ebay.

Deleted member 3 · Aug 23, 2009

lemonadesoda said:
If you want to do the job properly, you need a CACHING CONTROLLER and a UPS. A caching controller gets the max performance out of the SAS drivers, and a UPS is needed because otherwise a power failure will lose data and may even render the drive useless without a reformat.

You will struggle to get a NEW caching controller for $200.

Adaptec RAID 2405 bulk, PCIe x8, may JUST fit your budget but is only 128MB cache. But Adaptec RAID 5405 bulk, PCIe x8 or HP Smart Array P400/256 is better.

Professional, high-end, SAS controllers are clearly out of your budget unless you get lucky on ebay.

Perc 5 is always a good choice. Cheap on ebay, does the job very well. As for a UPS, overkill.

lemonadesoda · Aug 23, 2009

DanTheBanjoman said:
As for a UPS, overkill.

Ah, but you dont want a power failure on a caching controller. Remember, there is a big difference with quality of power (source) in Benelux, UK, DE, CH compared to frequent power issues in countries like Italy, Central Europe and Barbados

Vincy Boy · Aug 24, 2009

Thanks for the responses guys.

Now these drives were pulled from a HP server and the server has in a sas controller called the HP Smart Array E200. I was unable to use that because there was no cable to connect the drives to the drive bay of the server. Would it be good if I could find a cable and use that controller with the drives? http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/...ge/arraycontrollers/smartarraye200/index.html (It has the 128MB Battery-Backed Write Cache (BBWC) upgrade option)
The other thing is that thing is so fricking long probably would have to mod any case I put it in if it can fit at all but I'm game

Disparia · Aug 24, 2009

Probably doesn't have the 'umph' of the Adaptec 2405 that was mentioned earlier, but the price of an 8484 to SAS fan-out cable is less than $200. And if supported, you could use a SATA fan-out cable on the other 8484 port for a nice storage array.

lemonadesoda · Aug 24, 2009

Vincy Boy said:
Thanks for the responses guys.

Now these drives were pulled from an HP server and the server has in a sas controller called the HP Smart Array E200.

If you were spending money, I wouldnt get it. But if it is for free (ie a pull) then YEP, go for it. You will get 95%+ of the performance of a better SAS controller (except, possibly, large transactional database, server, not workstation issue), but without having to spend $300 or more. You are only putting 2 SAS drives in the system, not 8 or more, so this "lower end" controller will be more than enough. I doubt you would gain much by spending voer $300+ more. Go for what youve got.

Deleted member 3 · Aug 24, 2009

lemonadesoda said:
Ah, but you dont want a power failure on a caching controller. Remember, there is a big difference with quality of power (source) in Benelux, UK, DE, CH compared to frequent power issues in countries like Italy, Central Europe and Barbados

I can't remember the last brown/black out we had

Though battery backed up cache is cheaper. Though if data is important he shouldn't run in RAID 0 in the first place.

Vincy Boy · Aug 24, 2009

DanTheBanjoman said:
I can't remember the last brown/black out we had

Though battery backed up cache is cheaper. Though if data is important he shouldn't run in RAID 0 in the first place.

I am just looking for the speed of these 2 drives at 15000 rpm in raid 0. Nothing important is gonna be on them that there aren't redundant copies of. :toast:

So now to find that cable.

thebeephaha · Aug 24, 2009

Not to thread crap or anything...

I'm selling a Perc 5... If you are still looking for a SAS card.

Vincy Boy · Aug 25, 2009

thebeephaha said:
Not to thread crap or anything...

I'm selling a Perc 5... If you are still looking for a SAS card.

Sry gonna be using the smart array e200. Got cables?

Wile E · Aug 25, 2009

lemonadesoda said:
Ah, but you dont want a power failure on a caching controller. Remember, there is a big difference with quality of power (source) in Benelux, UK, DE, CH compared to frequent power issues in countries like Italy, Central Europe and Barbados

On board solutions present the same risk with advanced caching enabled. If it's just for performance, and his permanent storage is in other drives, it doesn't really matter. The worst that happens is a clean install.

System Name	A work in progress...
Processor	RYZEN 7 5800X3D
Motherboard	ASUS X570 ROG Crosshair VIII Dark Hero
Cooling	ID COOLING 360mm AIO
Memory	2x8GB OLOY WARHAWK PLATINUM DDR4 4000
Video Card(s)	ASUS ROG STRIX RTX 3080 V2 GAMING OC
Storage	Crucial P3 Plus 2TB
Display(s)	GIGABYTE G27QC A
Case	TECWARE VXR
Audio Device(s)	SMSL Q5 PRO / PIONEER SP-BS22-LR Speakers
Power Supply	EVGA G6 850W GOLD
Keyboard	TECWARE PHANTOM (BROWN SWITCHES/HYPERX PUDDING KEYCAPS)
Software	Windows 11

System Name	A work in progress...
Processor	RYZEN 7 5800X3D
Motherboard	ASUS X570 ROG Crosshair VIII Dark Hero
Cooling	ID COOLING 360mm AIO
Memory	2x8GB OLOY WARHAWK PLATINUM DDR4 4000
Video Card(s)	ASUS ROG STRIX RTX 3080 V2 GAMING OC
Storage	Crucial P3 Plus 2TB
Display(s)	GIGABYTE G27QC A
Case	TECWARE VXR
Audio Device(s)	SMSL Q5 PRO / PIONEER SP-BS22-LR Speakers
Power Supply	EVGA G6 850W GOLD
Keyboard	TECWARE PHANTOM (BROWN SWITCHES/HYPERX PUDDING KEYCAPS)
Software	Windows 11

System Name	ICE-QUAD // ICE-CRUNCH
Processor	Q6600 // 2x Xeon 5472
Memory	2GB DDR // 8GB FB-DIMM
Video Card(s)	HD3850-AGP // FireGL 3400
Display(s)	2 x Samsung 204Ts = 3200x1200
Audio Device(s)	Audigy 2
Software	Windows Server 2003 R2 as a Workstation now migrated to W10 with regrets.

System Name	ICE-QUAD // ICE-CRUNCH
Processor	Q6600 // 2x Xeon 5472
Memory	2GB DDR // 8GB FB-DIMM
Video Card(s)	HD3850-AGP // FireGL 3400
Display(s)	2 x Samsung 204Ts = 3200x1200
Audio Device(s)	Audigy 2
Software	Windows Server 2003 R2 as a Workstation now migrated to W10 with regrets.

System Name	A work in progress...
Processor	RYZEN 7 5800X3D
Motherboard	ASUS X570 ROG Crosshair VIII Dark Hero
Cooling	ID COOLING 360mm AIO
Memory	2x8GB OLOY WARHAWK PLATINUM DDR4 4000
Video Card(s)	ASUS ROG STRIX RTX 3080 V2 GAMING OC
Storage	Crucial P3 Plus 2TB
Display(s)	GIGABYTE G27QC A
Case	TECWARE VXR
Audio Device(s)	SMSL Q5 PRO / PIONEER SP-BS22-LR Speakers
Power Supply	EVGA G6 850W GOLD
Keyboard	TECWARE PHANTOM (BROWN SWITCHES/HYPERX PUDDING KEYCAPS)
Software	Windows 11

Processor	Intel i5-6600
Motherboard	ASRock H170M-ITX
Cooling	Cooler Master Geminii S524
Memory	G.Skill DDR4-2133 16GB (8GB x 2)
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte R9-380X 4GB
Storage	Samsung 950 EVO 250GB (mSATA)
Display(s)	LG 29UM69G-B 2560x1080 IPS
Case	Lian Li PC-Q25
Audio Device(s)	Realtek ALC892
Power Supply	Seasonic SS-460FL2
Mouse	Logitech G700s
Keyboard	Logitech G110
Software	Windows 10 Pro

System Name	0BL1V10N
Processor	Intel Core i7 11700K @ 5.1GHz all-core turbo
Motherboard	ASRock Z590 Taichi
Cooling	Cooler Master MasterLiquid 360 (with stock CM fans), 12x Pccooler Moonlight Series ARGB 120mm fans
Memory	(4x16GB) 64GB Mushkin Redline Lumina 3600MHz 16-19-19-39 XMP
Video Card(s)	MSI RTX 4090 SUPRIM LIQUID 24G (not using stock fans) (+150MHz core, +1000MHz memory)
Storage	Western Digital Black SN850X 2TB Gen4 NVMe
Display(s)	1x Alienware AW3821DW (3840x1600@144Hz), 2x Dell SE2717H (1080p@75Hz)
Case	Phanteks Enthoo 719 Anthracite Grey
Audio Device(s)	Schiit Modius + Drop THX AAA 789 + Custom Planar Magnetic Headphones
Power Supply	Thermaltake Toughpower GF3 1200W (12VHPWR)
Mouse	Logitech G502 X Plus
Keyboard	Too many custom mechanical builds to list...
Software	Windows 10 Pro 22H2

System Name	The ClusterF**k
Processor	980X @ 4Ghz
Motherboard	Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5 BIOS F12
Cooling	MCR-320, DDC-1 pump w/Bitspower res top (1/2" fittings), Koolance CPU-360
Memory	3x2GB Mushkin Redlines 1600Mhz 6-8-6-24 1T
Video Card(s)	Evga GTX 580
Storage	Corsair Neutron GTX 240GB, 2xSeagate 320GB RAID0; 2xSeagate 3TB; 2xSamsung 2TB; Samsung 1.5TB
Display(s)	HP LP2475w 24" 1920x1200 IPS
Case	Technofront Bench Station
Audio Device(s)	Auzentech X-Fi Forte into Onkyo SR606 and Polk TSi200's + RM6750
Power Supply	ENERMAX Galaxy EVO EGX1250EWT 1250W
Software	Win7 Ultimate N x64, OSX 10.8.4

SAS controller recommendation

Power User