[geeks] Cheap Adaptec SATA/SAS RAID controllers announced

[Lionel Peterson]

Given a generous definition for "cheap" ;^)

Adaptec has announced two new "low-end" SAS/SATA RAID controllers - 4 port (either all internal or all external), on-board processor/RAM, support for RAID 0, 1, and 10 and occupies a PCI Express 8x slot, for around $200-250:

Link: http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS9434183425.html

Intenal version of card: http://www.adaptec.com/en-US/products/sas_tech/entry/SAS-2405/

External Version of card: http://www.adaptec.com/en-US/products/sas_tech/entry/SAS-2045/

These look good, but I wonder how deep discount vendors will offer the cards for?

BTW, the cards will ship with drivers for Win, Linux, and SOLARIS (assumed to be x86). The stated goal of these cards is to displace software RAID implementation in low-end applications.

Remember, most PCI Express 16x slots aren't wired/don't support 8x operation, they are typically wired for 1x and 16x operation, and sometimes 4x - the 8x slots are more common on server-class MBs in my exp... The Mfg. listings show a long list of MBs that have been tested, including a fairly affordable Intel "desktop" MB, the DG33FBC at around $105 (see: http://www.provantage.com/intel-boxdg33fbc~7ITEM0EK.htm) - I assume the RAID card goes in the 16x PCI Express slot...

Lionel