Best 8-bay RAID & controller card?

[nanofrog]

Originally Posted by sarge-

The USB card is not critical. If I ditch the FC card, I also ditch the XServe RAID.

For this purpose, what box would you use for NAS and DAS, knowing that current data uses 6TB NAS (movies and music served to the house) and 3TB working files (photo and video files, some docs as well). And you need to grow at least 1TB/yr on the NAS and DAS, each.

That means I need at least one 8-bay NAS and one 10+ bay DAS.

A RAID card is also DAS (DAS = Direct Attached Storage).

At any rate, I'd sell off the existing FC storage, as it's too small for your listed capacity requirements, and use the funds towards the equipment you currently need.

Working Data:

• Areca card (still not sure of the port count yet, as I still need an idea of capacity growth)
• MaxUpgrades internal HDD connect kit (works with up to 4x disks via the HDD bays)
• Past that, use Sans Digital MiniSAS enclosures (i.e. TR8X = 8 bay enclosure that will attach to the card; you will need internal to external cables to connect it to the RAID card if you need one or more of these; here, but only if you need them). It takes 1x per internal port = 4x disks for direct connections. Distance is limited to 1.0 meters due to SATA disks.

You will need to run enterprise grade disks here (check the HDD Compatibility List from Areca and get disks that are listed - saves a lot of headache if the disks aren't stable).

Backup:

• 4 port eSATA card or 2x 2 port cards (just don't use them simultaneously if you go with 2x cards). Least expensive 4 port card that has OS X drivers I'm aware of (here).
• 2x Sans Digital TR8MP enclosures (each will come with a 2 port eSATA card).

This gives you 16 bays to work with, and you can use consumer grade disks (this won't be an issue, as they're not used as often as the primary data array due to power management and less frequent access).

NAS:

• You can buy, or you can build (DIY, such as an unRAID system). A reasonable PC, and some PM enclosures running Linux (Z-RAID) would suffice as well (unRAID is just software).
• Buy if you're interested in buying a ready-made unit, you can look at a tNAS from DAT Optic ($900 cheaper, and has 12 bays).

Consumer grade disks will be fine here too, as you're keeping it on the backup as well. I'm not sure of your budget yet, but I'll presume enterprise disks here are out of budget until you indicate otherwise.

Originally Posted by sarge-

The NAS and DAS will be located in my basement, directly beneath my office, so I will only potentially hear the MP RAID, not the NAS or DAS (I only need about 3' of cable, potentially less but I prefer not to make things too tight for maintenance purposes).

The NAS won't be a problem. As per eSATA, you're able to use 2.0 meter cables (will come with the Sans Digital TR8MP enclosures).

For the primary RAID, you're limited to 1.0 meters due to running SATA disks (runs a much lower voltage than SAS).

[sarge-]

Originally Posted by nanofrog

A RAID card is also DAS (DAS = Direct Attached Storage).

At any rate, I'd sell off the existing FC storage, as it's too small for your listed capacity requirements, and use the funds towards the equipment you currently need.

Working Data:

• Areca card (still not sure of the port count yet, as I still need an idea of capacity growth)
• MaxUpgrades internal HDD connect kit (works with up to 4x disks via the HDD bays)
• Past that, use Sans Digital MiniSAS enclosures (i.e. TR8X = 8 bay enclosure that will attach to the card; you will need internal to external cables to connect it to the RAID card if you need one or more of these; here, but only if you need them). It takes 1x per internal port = 4x disks for direct connections. Distance is limited to 1.0 meters due to SATA disks.

You will need to run enterprise grade disks here (check the HDD Compatibility List from Areca and get disks that are listed - saves a lot of headache if the disks aren't stable).

Working Data:

• 1x 120GB SSD (OWC) (system) $250
• 1x 60GB SSD (OWC) (scratch) $150
• 4x 3TB Hitachi Deskstar (if compatible with Areca 1880i?) in RAID5 = 9TB of storage, current needs = 4TB, growing 1-2TB/yr. Drives currently cost $180/each - pretty reasonable price. I can't find any info as to whether the Areca 1880i is compatible with any 3TB drives. Any idea?
• Areca 1880i card $540 (ability to add additional external RAID in the future - not necessary for 1-2 years).
• MaxUpgrade internal drive backplane set $130
• OWC Multimount for 2x SSD drives in optical bay 2 $30
• Anything else needed? Cables, etc?

Particularly if the 3TB drives will work with the Areca card, I won't need additional 'working' storage for a couple years.

Backup:

• 4 port eSATA card or 2x 2 port cards (just don't use them simultaneously if you go with 2x cards). Least expensive 4 port card that has OS X drivers I'm aware of (here).
• 2x Sans Digital TR8MP enclosures (each will come with a 2 port eSATA card).

This gives you 16 bays to work with, and you can use consumer grade disks (this won't be an issue, as they're not used as often as the primary data array due to power management and less frequent access).

Can't I connect the backup to the Areca 1880i?

This Sans Digital on ebay looks like a tempting deal for backup use (16TB 8-bay) for $800.

NAS:

• You can buy, or you can build (DIY, such as an unRAID system). A reasonable PC, and some PM enclosures running Linux (Z-RAID) would suffice as well (unRAID is just software).
• Buy if you're interested in buying a ready-made unit, you can look at a tNAS from DAT Optic ($900 cheaper, and has 12 bays).

Consumer grade disks will be fine here too, as you're keeping it on the backup as well. I'm not sure of your budget yet, but I'll presume enterprise disks here are out of budget until you indicate otherwise.

The best option (in my 'slow learner' mind) seems to be the DAT Optics eBOX-n. It can be expanded to a 10-bay NAS via built-in eSATA when paired with the eBOX-R5 ($569) in a year or two, which would get me through probably 4-5 years.

They advertise both 5-bay eBOXs as fully compatible with 3TB drives, which in RAID5 nets 12TB of storage. I presently need 6TB, adding maybe 1TB/yr, so this is sufficient for a couple years' use before I'd need the additional 5-bay unit. The cost is $700 for the box and $900 for 5 3TB Hitachi 7200RPM Deskstars (same as linked above). Seems like the best option.

[philipma1957]

that sans digital on ebay is a little strange the drives he says he is selling have 3 year warranties new not 5 he claims they had 5 to start and now are 3 to 4.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148413

you can buy them at 90 each at newegg .


so new the drives are worth 720 the unit is worth 330 so it is a 1050 item new. if he purchased those drive in march they may have 2 years warranty not 3 to 4. all of a sudden 800 does not sound that good.

[Honumaui]

Sarge ditto philipma1957 on the ebay sans unit for $800 ? you can get 2TB drives for $79 often on special buy from newegg and with the cases under $300 while its a bit more do you really want to risk not knowing whats up with the HDDs in the past ?

you cant connect the BU to the Areca that would have to come off a PM style card

I know some like taking out the backplane in the mac pros ? and using adapters
myself as a heavy user with two main workstations I prefer the external boxes and keep the inside for backing up or other things its like you are paying money to take away options IMHO just something to think about

if I had the ability to run my boxes below me in my basement I would run some 8088 cables to a raid box in my basement just to get the noise heat down in my office

example
optical bay #1 optical burner
Optical bay #2 has my boot
tray #1 can have my scratch in a icy adapter
tray #2 can have my boot clone
tray #3 and #4 can have 3TB drives in JBOD or Raid 0 for backing up

for the Hitachi what you need to get are the Ultrastar models which are the enterprise ones for the 3 TB I bet you are looking at $375 up or down %10 of that price

a 2TB enterprise drive is going to run you $250

[sarge-]

Originally Posted by Honumaui

Sarge ditto philipma1957 on the ebay sans unit for $800 ? you can get 2TB drives for $79 often on special buy from newegg and with the cases under $300 while its a bit more do you really want to risk not knowing whats up with the HDDs in the past ?

My mistake. For some reason I thought those were 7200rpm hitachi. It's definitely not a particularly good deal for that caliber of used gear... Regardless, it's probably sufficient for backup use.

That's not a bad idea either re just running the working storage via a basement-hidden raid. With only the SSD's and a clone (sleeping) in the MP, it would be about as cool and quiet as it could be... I do like that idea.

[nanofrog]

Originally Posted by sarge-

Working Data:

• 1x 120GB SSD (OWC) (system) $250
• 1x 60GB SSD (OWC) (scratch) $150
• 4x 3TB Hitachi Deskstar (if compatible with Areca 1880i?) in RAID5 = 9TB of storage, current needs = 4TB, growing 1-2TB/yr. Drives currently cost $180/each - pretty reasonable price. I can't find any info as to whether the Areca 1880i is compatible with any 3TB drives. Any idea?
• Areca 1880i card $540 (ability to add additional external RAID in the future - not necessary for 1-2 years).
• MaxUpgrade internal drive backplane set $130
• OWC Multi mount for 2x SSD drives in optical bay 2 $30
• Anything else needed? Cables, etc?

Particularly if the 3TB drives will work with the Areca card, I won't need additional 'working' storage for a couple years.

1. First off, the Deskstar series are consumer grade disks, not enterprise, so they won't be stable if they work at all. In the case of Hitachi, the Ultrastar line = enterprise disks (please pay attention, as some are SATA, the others SAS). They were just announced, so no pricing. They won't be cheap however.
2. Currently, Areca has not passed any 3TB disks at all yet (see above). I presume they're testing currently or will be shortly (if they haven't yet gotten units to test), so they have yet to post any 3TB disks on the HDD Compatibility List (they must at least pass for either SATA or SAS cards to even make the list). So get 3TB disks out of your head, as there's always a delay for the testing to be completed.

Now let me explain the costs here with 3TB enterprise grade disks... (I expect the Ultrastar 7k300 to be somewhere in the $450 - 500 USD range at initial release (hope not, but it's new).

• Card = $540
• 4x 3TB Ultrastar's (12TB raw) = $2000
• HDD Kit = $130
  
• Total for the RAID set only = $2670

But you'd have to wait for the 3TB disks to be tested and hope something passed. Nor are all the ports attached to locations you can place disks (matters for expansion/migration).

Now lets say you go with 2TB disks, which is possible now.

• Card = $540 (still the ARC-1880i)
• Disks (6x WD RE3 2TB 7200 rpm models) = $1560
• HDD Kit = $130
• External Enclosure TR4x = $230
• Internal to External cable = $60
  
• Total = $2520

It's cheaper, can be implemented NOW, and all 8x ports on the card are connected. This will allow for easier expansion later on (just add up to 2x disks, as both SSD's will be on the ICH).

As per cables, Yes, you will need to make a cable to get power to the second SSD in the optical bay (found in post 41).

Originally Posted by sarge-

Can't I connect the backup to the Areca 1880i?

TR8MP = No with a SAS based RAID card. It can be done with a SATA based RAID card, and the correct cable (which is getting harder to find last I looked).

If you use a TR8X however, it will work with the correct cables with an internal port RAID card (previously linked). This is more expensive though, as you'll need additional ports for the RAID card, enterprise disks, cables, and even the enclosure is a bit more money as well.

eSATA is a cheaper way to go (granted, you don't have hardware RAID, but JBOD would do as a backup if you must have a single pool).

Originally Posted by sarge-

This Sans Digital on ebay looks like a tempting deal for backup use (16TB 8-bay) for $800.

I don't trust used or re-certified drives. Go new instead, and use a PC to surface scan the disks prior to installing them in your gear (won't work in a Mac).

Originally Posted by sarge-

The best option (in my 'slow learner' mind) seems to be the DAT Optics eBOX-n. It can be expanded to a 10-bay NAS via built-in eSATA when paired with the eBOX-R5 ($569) in a year or two, which would get me through probably 4-5 years.

They advertise both 5-bay eBOXs as fully compatible with 3TB drives, which in RAID5 nets 12TB of storage. I presently need 6TB, adding maybe 1TB/yr, so this is sufficient for a couple years' use before I'd need the additional 5-bay unit. The cost is $700 for the box and $900 for 5 3TB Hitachi 7200RPM Deskstars (same as linked above). Seems like the best option.

You can get away with consumer disks here, so it's more of an option (disks are cheap enough in terms of cost/GB - enterprise models of the largest capacity aren't in a lot of cases).

You should be able to build a NAS for less than that though (Atom on an ITX form factor based PC for a few disks, and use Linux = free software). A bit more money (base it on an AMD), and you can make a more robust system.

[sarge-]

Alright, it's been about a month since my last post on this but I'm making a little progress now. (Spinal surgery and a quadruple bypass for my father and my wife's father, respectively, sidelined this project for a while).

I've just built a 12TB DAT Optic Ebox N NAS (configured with hardware RAID5 and FreeNAS software over AFP). It's my first foray into FreeNAS, and I'm getting about 40MB/s write over giga-ethernet, which is not blazing, but probably 'acceptable'. The box has 5x 3TB Hitachi Deskstar drives, which should suffice for home media server use.

I've also ordered a Mac Pro 3.33ghz 6 core which will be configured as follows:

• 120GB OWC SSD system drive
• 60GB OWC SSD scratch drive
• NVIDIA GTX285 video card (Adobe Premiere CS5 requires compatible NVIDIA cards to operate quickly)
• 16GB RAM

What I'm still grappling with is the primary storage solution.

From what I can see, the best bang/$ option is the OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro 4x, which is $300 for the box, and either $740 or $1400 for consumer or enterprise class 3TB drives (9TB in RAID5). Alternatively, WD RE4 2TB drives would cost $780 (for 6TB in RAID5). With the 3TB drives it benchmarks at 240MB/s write, and the 2TB drives show 222MB/s write, both via eSATA 6G connections.

To me, what that means is for $1080 I can have 6TB of RAID 5 enterprise storage writing at 222MB/s, or for $1700 I can have 9 TB of RAID 5 enterprise storage with 240MB/s.

The next jump up is the ARECA 1880i ($545) running a Sans Digital TR4x ($250) with 4x 2TB RE4 drives ($780). Sans Digital says they'll provide 'over 400 MB/S transfer speeds' but doesn't say what the write speed is. The total cost is $1575.

My question is, if I go with the Areca option, can I also connect the system and scratch SSD's to the Areca for more throughput, or should I be using the system BUS connections for those SSDs?

EDIT: Another option is the Areca card with four 3TB drives inside the MP. Having them 5 of them next to me in the DAT Optic 5 bay RAID 5, Iam impressed with how quiet they are. From what I've read, the latest Areca firmware supports using enterprise class 3TB drives. So that would be $1,945 for 9TB of enterprise-class RAID5 inside the MP, with presumably 400MB/s+ write speeds. Not cheap, but fast, without being objectionably loud...

[nanofrog]

Originally Posted by sarge-

What I'm still grappling with is the primary storage solution.

From what I can see, the best bang/$ option is the OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro 4x, which is $300 for the box, and either $740 or $1400 for consumer or enterprise class 3TB drives (9TB in RAID5). Alternatively, WD RE4 2TB drives would cost $780 (for 6TB in RAID5). With the 3TB drives it benchmarks at 240MB/s write, and the 2TB drives show 222MB/s write, both via eSATA 6G connections.

Do you mean the Qx2 for the box?

As per Hitachi, I'd recommend staying away from their consumer drives as they're not reliable in my experience (since they moved their manufacturing facility to China). There's a reason it's so cheap.

Their enterprise line is the Ultrastar series, and the 3TB version is going for $350 each (newegg's page).

Originally Posted by sarge-

To me, what that means is for $1080 I can have 6TB of RAID 5 enterprise storage writing at 222MB/s, or for $1700 I can have 9 TB of RAID 5 enterprise storage with 240MB/s.

Don't put too much faith in their posted numbers, as it's unlikely it will run that fast (they tend to test under ideal conditions that are anything but real world).

Originally Posted by sarge-

The next jump up is the ARECA 1880i ($545) running a Sans Digital TR4x ($250) with 4x 2TB RE4 drives ($780). Sans Digital says they'll provide 'over 400 MB/S transfer speeds' but doesn't say what the write speed is. The total cost is $1575.

This is still the best way to go in terms of reliability and speed. Think of it this way; the Areca is a professional solution, the OWC gear is consumer grade (it's not as fast or reliable; just cheap, and there's a reason for it).

The reads and writes will be as fast as the disks used will allow (interface <includes cabling> has more than enough bandwidth).

Originally Posted by sarge-

My question is, if I go with the Areca option, can I also connect the system and scratch SSD's to the Areca for more throughput, or should I be using the system BUS connections for those SSDs?

You could go either way, but placing the scratch and OS/Applications disks on the ICH allows you to add members to the array later on (allows for additional capacity and speed).

The only disk the card may actually make a noticeable difference with (may take a benchmark to see it), is the scratch disk due to the write cache on the card. But I'd still leave it off, as the 1880i only has 512MB of cache on board, and would be put to better use left for the RAID 5 exclusively IMO (the 12/16/24 port versions use a DIMM for the cache, and you can put up to 4GB in those).

Originally Posted by sarge-

EDIT: Another option is the Areca card with four 3TB drives inside the MP. Having them 5 of them next to me in the DAT Optic 5 bay RAID 5, Iam impressed with how quiet they are. From what I've read, the latest Areca firmware supports using enterprise class 3TB drives. So that would be $1,945 for 9TB of enterprise-class RAID5 inside the MP, with presumably 400MB/s+ write speeds. Not cheap, but fast, without being objectionably loud...

I'm not sure where you got this information, but Areca's still not added any 3TB disks to the HDD Compatibility List (.pdf file).

[sarge-]

Originally Posted by nanofrog

Do you mean the Qx2 for the box?

As per Hitachi, I'd recommend staying away from their consumer drives as they're not reliable in my experience (since they moved their manufacturing facility to China). There's a reason it's so cheap.

Their enterprise line is the Ultrastar series, and the 3TB version is going for $350 each (newegg's page).

I'm not sure where you got this information, but Areca's still not added any 3TB disks to the HDD Compatibility List (.pdf file).

RE support for 3TB on Areca

[ashman70]

Out of curiosity what are you guys storing on these massive arrays?
Do any of you have backups for the data on these arrays, or do you feel there is enough redundancy built in that a backup is not required?

I have three NAS's from three different manufacturers, Qnap, Netgear and Thecus. Collectively I have 15GB of usable space between all three, they are all raid 5, I still feel the need for a backup of the data on them, call me crazy.

[sarge-]

Originally Posted by ashman70

Out of curiosity what are you guys storing on these massive arrays?
Do any of you have backups for the data on these arrays, or do you feel there is enough redundancy built in that a backup is not required?

I have three NAS's from three different manufacturers, Qnap, Netgear and Thecus. Collectively I have 15GB of usable space between all three, they are all raid 5, I still feel the need for a backup of the data on them, call me crazy.

RAID is not backup. I do pro photography, and am getting into video, so I need exponentially more space. I also store all my home media on a central NAS and serve it to individual mac minis at each TV (and/ore laptops).

I use RAID 5 for primary and backups. I'm still debating what my new backup will be, but I'm trying to solve my working RAID problem first. I will probably only use enterprise drives in my working RAID, as backup isn't accessed nearly as often. My NAS is primarily a 'write once' situation, so I'm hoping consumer disks will suffice, along with a backup. Using enterprise for everything would be ideal, but the budgets not there for that right now. As-is this is probably close to a $10k project.

[nanofrog]

Originally Posted by sarge-

RE support for 3TB on Areca

You've misunderstood what they were getting at...

The user was asking if they'd created a work-around for the 2.2TB limit normally associated with BIOS based disks. There's also clues to the fact the person that asked the question was trying to use a consumer desktop model and wasn't having success (all the support engineer could offer was "try firmware revision 1.49").

Obviously it's something they've been working on, and the capacity limit has since been addressed. As of yet however, there's no 3TB disks listed on the HDD Compatibility List, and it's back from July of 2010. This lends me to think that they've had difficulties (not a lot of disks to test, but there's back-and-forth between they and the disk makers to get the card and drive firmware worked out; this is why you see mention of both disk and card firmware revisions in the list).

Originally Posted by ashman70

Out of curiosity what are you guys storing on these massive arrays?

In the case of most of the setups here on MR, they're used primarily for video editing/animation. Though that's by no means the only usage that will benefit/require it.

Originally Posted by ashman70

Do any of you have backups for the data on these arrays, or do you feel there is enough redundancy built in that a backup is not required?

Backups are a necessity, no matter if it's a single disk to the most redundant storage system ever designed (things can and do go wrong).

So backing up your data is definitely not crazy.

[sarge-]

Originally Posted by nanofrog

You've misunderstood what they were getting at...

The user was asking if they'd created a work-around for the 2.2TB limit normally associated with BIOS based disks. There's also clues to the fact the person that asked the question was trying to use a consumer desktop model and wasn't having success (all the support engineer could offer was "try firmware revision 1.49").

Obviously it's something they've been working on, and the capacity limit has since been addressed. As of yet however, there's no 3TB disks listed on the HDD Compatibility List, and it's back from July of 2010. This lends me to think that they've had difficulties (not a lot of disks to test, but there's back-and-forth between they and the disk makers to get the card and drive firmware worked out; this is why you see mention of both disk and card firmware revisions in the list).

Here's someone who is using 3TB Hitachi drives with the Areca 1880i. Scroll halfway down the page...

That only means it worked then, on his machine, at that time... but it's so tempting. The price for Hitachi Ultrastar (enterprise) 3TB is roughly the same per/GB as a 2TB WD RE4, and they're faster. That also means more storage/expandability.

That said, I may just go with an 8-bay box and 2TB drives.... or wait a bit - it seems like the 3TB drive compatibility can't be far off. I sent areca an inquiry - I'll see if they have anything to say (doubtful).

[nanofrog]

Originally Posted by sarge-

Here's someone who is using 3TB Hitachi drives with the Areca 1880i. Scroll halfway down the page...

That only means it worked then, on his machine, at that time... but it's so tempting. The price for Hitachi Ultrastar (enterprise) 3TB is roughly the same per/GB as a 2TB WD RE4, and they're faster. That also means more storage/expandability.

I also noticed the 1280ML was successful, then tried on the 1880i. But keep in mind, what's listed isn't long term testing for stability (stated as a few days).

Consumer disks tend not to be stable, and aren't meant to take the abuse (i.e. increased risk of both bad sectors and mechanical failures). I've seen it first hand too many times, and absolutely do not recommend it (not only adds to the cost due to RMA's, but it's a massive headache to deal with). They'd be fine for backup purposes (not attached to a RAID card), as they'd be used far less often (make the most sense cost wise for this type of use). Just not as primary data disks on a RAID card.

Originally Posted by sarge-

That said, I may just go with an 8-bay box and 2TB drives.... or wait a bit - it seems like the 3TB drive compatibility can't be far off. I sent Areca an inquiry - I'll see if they have anything to say (doubtful).

It's up to you, but the risk is much higher than with enterprise grade disks (and the least amount of risk if the model numbers are on the HDD Compatibility List - issues at that point are due to DOA's or lots of bad sectors, say as a result of the Gorilla squad... err... UPS).

I'd either wait for Areca to post on the 3TB enterprise grade disks (they won't even test out consumer models any longer given the frequency of issues they've experienced in the past), or better yet, go with the 2TB units (RE4's) when the price drops a bit more, such as with the release of other 3TB enterprise disks (next size down tends to present a better cost/performance ratio than the largest capacity size available).

[sarge-]

Originally Posted by nanofrog

I also noticed the 1280ML was successful, then tried on the 1880i. But keep in mind, what's listed isn't long term testing for stability (stated as a few days).

Consumer disks tend not to be stable, and aren't meant to take the abuse

I'm not contemplating using anything but enterprise class drives. Ultrastar is Hitachi's enterprise class.

Here's what Areca had to say:

Dear Sir/Madam,

generally drive with 3TB capacity is supported.
and the drive you asking is scheduled for certification now.


Best Regards,


Kevin Wang

Areca Technology Tech-support Division
Tel : 886-2-87974060 Ext. 223
Fax : 886-2-87975970
Http://www.areca.com.tw
Ftp://ftp.areca.com.tw
Mirror Ftp :
ftp://areca.starline.de
----- Original Message -----
From: Sarge
To: support@areca.com.tw ; billion.wu@areca.com.tw
Sent: Friday, March 25, 2011 10:16 AM
Subject: Ask a question

YourName=Sarge
YourEmail=[redacted]
Category=PCIe/PCI-X RAID controller
Model name=1880i
Firmware Version=
Serial Number=
Disk Vendor=hitachi
Disk module=ultrastar 7k3000
Disk Firmware Version=
Operating System=
Driver version=
HBA Vendor=
HBA Model Name=
Motherboard Vendor=Apple
Motherboard Model name=Mac Pro 3.3ghz 6-cor
Motherboard BIOS Version=
Your Question=I'm considering purchasing an 1880i card for my mac pro, and would like to know if the 3TB Hitachi Ultrastar is or will soon be supported by the 1880i?

Thanks for any insight or explanation.

- Sarge

[nanofrog]

Originally Posted by sarge-

I'm not contemplating using anything but enterprise class drives. Ultrastar is Hitachi's enterprise class.

With the link from yesterday, I wanted to make sure you realized that the Hitachi's used by that person were consumer grade (Deskstar series), not enterprise.

Originally Posted by sarge-

Here's what Areca had to say:

[I][COLOR="Blue"]Dear Sir/Madam,

generally drive with 3TB capacity is supported.
and the drive you asking is scheduled for certification now.

This takes time, and isn't as simple as you may think. The card and drive makers work together to get it sorted out. What this means is, they tinker with the firmware (both disk and card) in order to try and get drives not only mounted, but stable as well.

If you notice the HDD Compatibility List includes both card and disk firmware revisions (minimum) necessary for it to work. If you buy them too soon, you may either have to return the disks, or flash the drive's firmware (which you cannot do in a MP) in the event they don't work, or aren't stable.

This is a major PITA, thus my recommendation for you to wait until a 3TB model is published on that list (almost certain the Hitachi will make it). I can't underscore how important this is (avoid issues from the beginning due to incompatible/unstable disks).