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I'm trying to find a PCI Raid controller for an old machine that only has 64bit/33MHz PCI slots.

It's now being used as a file server and uses a couple of old PATA drives with Windows Server standard mirroring for redundancy. The idea is to increase the throughput and make maintenance easier.

Hopefully the controller would support SATA drives so I can throw in a couple of 2TB hdd's.

You think I'm going right direction?

dfo
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    I would honestly just get a new machine at this point. – Zypher Jan 23 '12 at 22:05
  • It also has one 32bit/33MHz slot. I do want a hardware RAID solution though. – dfo Jan 23 '12 at 22:06
  • Thanks Zypher, it's always an option. Since the cpu doesn't do much on this machine, I would try to reuse this guy before I toss it. – dfo Jan 23 '12 at 22:09
  • That server has got to be at _least_ 10-12 years old, it's had a good long service life it's ok to let it go. You're going to run into more and more problems finding parts, and OSes that support it. You'll be better off buying a new machine. – Zypher Jan 23 '12 at 22:19
  • Please note that the [FAQ](http://serverfault.com/faq) states that shopping/product recommendation questions aren't allowed here. Your question is heavily leaning towards being a shopping question, I'd edit your question to remove any hint of looking for a suggested suitable product, otherwise it will likely get closed very quickly. – Bryan Jan 23 '12 at 22:30
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    @Zypher, Furthermore, electrolytics found on motherboards of that era, typically have a shelf life of around 7 or 8 years before they start to fail and the system would start to become more and more unstable as a result. – Bryan Jan 23 '12 at 22:33
  • Should I delete the question? – dfo Jan 24 '12 at 16:09

2 Answers2

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I'd agree with Zypher's comment here. When you can buy an entry level server with hardware RAID and a pair of 2TB NL SAS disks for around £850/$1300, is it really worth spending a few hundred on a RAID card (assuming you can find one) to fit a server that might turn up its toes in the next 12 months?

Despite it only being an entry level system, going of the info in your post, a entry level new server should easily out perform what you currently have, both in CPU power and IO.

So to answer your question, in my opinion, I'd say no, I don't think you are going in the right direction.

Bryan
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I'd suggest an Adaptec ATA RAID 1200A or Adaptec ATA RAID 2400A, they are/were rock solid card but may lack support for very recent operating systems. Not sure you'll be able to buy one of these new but have a look on eBay anyway.

Chopper3
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