Need Raid 5 Suggestions / Help

[stanger89]

If you're really worried about PCI bandwidth, you should probably go with PCI-X, nearly every good RAID controller out there is a PCI-X card, and it's unlikely to go anywhere anytime soon, since in that market, things change slowly.

[salsbst]

I'm building a PCI-E/Areca server on an Intel SE7221BA1-E motherboard right now. I'll let you know if I run into any PCI-E-related problems. Cable management is currently my only issue .

The reason I went ahead and overshot my current needs w/number of drives and PCI-E is that I want to be able to live with this system for a long time, and this will be the file server for everything we do in our house, not just SageTV.

[infiniti_guy]

I am on the same page as you... a file server for everything that I want to last a while.

(I still want to go linux with this thing, once Sage Linux becomes available though, so I am going to wait a little bit.)

But I am thinking of using an AMD64 platform. Tyan is coming out with a new nForce 4 board with Sata II and PCI-E and onboard graphics. I have no idea how much it will cost, but I estimate "we" could get it for around $150 (we'll see how close I am in a couple weeks). When you consider it saves a PCI-E graphics card... it's a good deal (and it has 4xPCI for the tuners). anyone have experience with Tyan? I have heard good things on their quality, but never built one myself.

[silkshadow]

Wow, well I found this board: K8N Neo4 Platinum http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p...tinum&class=mb. Which has a Silicon Image SiI 3114 on board. That does raid 5 but its software raid. I was seriously considering it but don't know how the SiI 3114 performs. That Tyan board might fit the bill better. I assume it will have the AMD PCI-x tunnel chip? Though what do you mean when you say: ""we" can get it for around $150"? Any idea how much it will cost for me? I used a Tyan board a loooong time ago with a P3. It was a great board. Since then they have concentrated on Xeon and Operon boards AFAIK. But you say this will be an AMD64 board, which is exactly what I am looking for. Would you have a link to the specs, by chance? Thanks!

[infiniti_guy]

Here's the Tyan link: http://www.tyan.com/products/html/tomcatk8e.html

[silkshadow]

Thank infiniti_guy! Humm, no PCI-x slot. I would've thought a server mobo company would design one with the PCI-x tunnel chip. It is supported by the nforce4. Oh well, guess its back to the MSI board. Seems thats really the only economy solution.