[SLUG] Re: RAID with External FireWire - IDE Drives

From: Bryan J. Smith (b.j.smith@ieee.org)
Date: Thu Sep 16 2004 - 12:10:10 EDT


On Thu, 2004-09-16 at 10:02, Austin Theen wrote:
> I just built a very nice SATA raid cage for a client. It looked to be
> designed for both internal and external use, it would only require an
> external molex connector to power the drive cage (or sata power
> connectors it has both).

Or an independent power supply if you'd like.

> I threw 2x 200gb SATA drives and mirrored them with using linux software
> raid tools. ...
> It's not very good compared to a real intelligent raid controller like a
> PERC 4/di or Adaptec's 2110S. But not everyone can afford a $500
> controller or scsi sca drives. ...
> The whole setup cost around $400 including drives. So I think it's
> pretty inexpensive.

Add $130 more and you could use a "real intelligent raid controller"
like the 3Ware Escalade 8006-2.

> linkage..
> Addonnics 4SA 4 bay SATA Drive cage. (Fits in 3 5 1/4 internal bays)
> http://www.mwave.com/mwave/viewspec.hmx?scriteria=3450054

There are also (3) bay SATA drive cages that fit in (2) 5.25" bays.
Such (2) 5.25" bay enclosures (with a self-contained power supply) may
be easier to find. And then there are true (2) 3.5" enclosures that are
quite small on their own.

[ There are also (5) bay SATA drive cages that fit in (3) 5.25" bays for
under $150 from Enlight I believe. ]

SATA cables can be up to 1m long. EMI for external runs is debateable,
but as long as you don't start breaking out connectors, it should be
okay. [ I'd be interested if anyone has tried breaking out connectors.
]

Typically most external SATA implementations are self-contained, using
SCSI, iSCSI (GbE) or FibreChannel. But then we're back to $$$.

BTW, 3Ware also offers cards, cables and enclosures using Myranet that
combine (4) SATA into one, consolidated cable. Consider that option for
external connectivity when you have 4, 8 or 12 channel controllers.
They probably handle such approaches far better from an EMI standpoint.

-- Bryan

P.S. I've had issues with 8-bay external IEEE1394 Firewire enclosures
using ATA discs and Apple XScale systems. I recommended against
implementing such, especially since Apple did not certify the enclosure
and they seemed overpriced ($1,400 for a _lot_ of plastic). But
management at one company decided to buy them anyway. We eventually
turned it off after 1 month of constant disconnections.

-- 
Compatibility and update matrix of Red Hat(R) distributions:
http://www.vaporwarelabs.com/files/temp/RH-Distribution-FAQ-3.html
http://www.vaporwarelabs.com/files/temp/RH-Distribution-FAQ-4.html
------------------------------------------------------------------
Bryan J. Smith, E.I.                         b.j.smith at ieee.org

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