1

Morning all,

I’m working on my first RAID project as I’ve only been in an IT role for just over 3 years now. I’ve purchased 2 RAID controllers (one of them I had to send back as it didn’t have Server 2016 drivers) and the 2nd one is a StarTech controller which doesn’t support setting up RAID 1 as a boot drive (or any RAID for that matter).

So, my question is - can anybody recommend a controller that I could use to configure RAID 1 as a boot drive?

Thanks in advance.

6 Spice ups
2

What server is that to begin with ? What HDD or SSD are you having ? Does the server back pane supports the HDD or SSD (in terms of power etc) ?

…

If you are familiar with cars…your question is as follows…I change tyres on my car…but it did not fit my car…so what tyres should I get ?

3

Hi Adrian,

Thanks for getting in touch.

It’s actually an old desktop with an i5 in w/ 16GB of DDR3 RAM. I’m just using a couple of WD 250GB drives (I’m setting it up as a print server so don’t really need anything better).

Because it’s just an old desktop it doesn’t have a server backplane - is that an issue? I don’t need front, hot swappable SAS drives or anything along those lines.

4

Then just get any PCI or PCI-E RAID adapter that your PC can accept. Most PCs should have at least 1 or 2 power cables for HDD or SSDs.

The ones without the external ports would be slightly cheaper

https://www.newegg.com/global/sg-en/Controllers-RAID-Cards/SubCategory/ID-410

5

That’s the plan, but as previously mentioned the last one I purchased wouldn’t allow to set up RAID 1 as a boot drive. I’m asking if anybody knows a PCI or PCI-E RAID Adapter from experience which definitely allows RAID 1 to be configured as the boot drive.

6

Usually that functionality would lie within the BIOS, which wouldn’t be expecting an external array on a desktop PC. Is this for production or personal use? If it’s just for boot/OS functions, why not just use the desktop’s onboard controller for SoftRAID? That’ll usually let you mirror the hard drive (RAID1) and you can do what you like for the controller and array after that.

My main server used to be set up like that, though RAID was handled by the BIOS with the onboard Intel controller. Though some may laugh, it saved my bacon when the server motherboard quit one day. Basically ANY other motherboard with that same Intel chipset would pick up the RAID and keep going!

7

You want an LSI/Avago/Broadcom or Adaptec based controller. Startech, Promise, Highpoint controllers are software based and not hardware based. (at least the majority of their cards)

Something like this:

https://www.newegg.com/lsi-9300-4i-sata-sas/p/N82E16816118219?Item=N82E16816118219

If you want one with onboard cache, battery (or capacitor) battery, etc., you’re into the $400 range.

8

Hi Schmoo,

Thanks for that. This might be a silly question, but I’ve got to learn somewhere. Do manufactures make RAID controllers such as the one you linked above for SATA connections? Or are they just the more software based cards from Startech, Promise, etc?

I’m just looking to configure the desktop as a print server so ideally I’m looking to use a couple of HDD’s as I won’t need a lot of storage (250GB should be enough for print spooling requirements - we only have around 15 printers).

Thanks

9

Any card that supports SAS will also support SATA. A SATA-only card will not support SAS.

10

You need either LSI if you’re on SuperMicro or LSI-OEM-ed version for Dell / HPE. Do not use other RAID controllers (if you decided with absolutely want to use one).

Normally you boot your OS from SATA DOM, USB stick or SD card, OS = hypervisor actually.