Economic hardware raid solution for Mac Pro existing internal 4-bays

[tankalf]

Hello world!

I've just filled all internal 4-bays of my Mac Pro with 4 Western Digital RE2 hard drives.

And I created a software raid with Disk Utility.

I would like to know if there is the possibility to add a raid card inside the mac pro that can use internal 4-bays drives without adding cables, like the "original" Apple raid card does.
The only thing is that I would like to spend less money

I found the CalDigit Raid Card (it's awesome but expensive) that do this, but do you know if someone else do this?

Thank you very much, and sorry for my bad english

Bye everybody from Italy

 

[Tesselator]

I guess there won't be any speed difference. Just stick with the software RAID.

 

[joaoferro37]

Hello world!

I've just filled all internal 4-bays of my Mac Pro with 4 Western Digital RE2 hard drives.

And I created a software raid with Disk Utility.

I would like to know if there is the possibility to add a raid card inside the mac pro that can use internal 4-bays drives without adding cables, like the "original" Apple raid card does.
The only thing is that I would like to spend less money

I found the CalDigit Raid Card (it's awesome but expensive) that do this, but do you know if someone else do this?

Thank you very much, and sorry for my bad english

Bye everybody from Italy

If you like to use calDigit card, you will have few problems,
1. Whenever Apple release OS update, you will have to wait for at least few weeks to get the RAID up and running. Apple supports Areca and High Point 4XXX card, not the CalDigit.
2. CalDigit's RAID card only supports its own enclosure. Meaning, you have to pay twice or even more for the same solution that you can get from any body else.
Take you pick.
3. CalDigit's is not designed by CalDigit, it's made by Maxtrnoic / Accusys.

 

[VirtualRain]

"Economic hardware raid" = oxymoron

"for Mac Pro existing internal 4-bays" = Apple Card or SW (assuming it's a 2009 MP)

 

[tankalf]

"Economic hardware raid" = oxymoron

"for Mac Pro existing internal 4-bays" = Apple Card or SW (assuming it's a 2009 MP)

Sorry for "economic"
In italian "economico" means "cheap"/"inexpensive" and I made a mistake in english...

So, also with Highpoint Raid cards aren't possible to use internal drives for raid?

It's a pity...

 

[Cynicalone]

I have the Apple RAID card in my 09 Pro. Simple easy to use, but also very slow.

 

[nanofrog]

RAID and cheap are mortal enemies!

I'll assume that you're running RAID 0, and it's not an '09. If this is the case, and you don't need to have the stripe available to multiple OS's, then leave things alone. Just make sure you have a good backup solution.

If for some reason, you do need a hardware solution, I'd recommend avoiding the CalDigit or Apple cards. My first choice would be Areca. Specifics would help aim you at the right model.

 

[jcpenn]

I have the Apple RAID card in my 09 Pro. Simple easy to use, but also very slow.

how slow is that? I am in the market searching a new RAID card.

 

[poobah]

RAID and cheap are mortal enemies!

Ironic, isn't it?

 

[Cynicalone]

how slow is that? I am in the market searching a new RAID card.

Here is a link to a post a made with some disk speed test's.

https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/7893101/

When I initially setup my RAID 1 with Bay 1 & 2 it took over 12 hours to complete. The card is dead simple to use, but speedy it is not.

 

[nanofrog]

Ironic, isn't it?

For idividuals/SOHO, Yes. Corporations and hopefully SMB (properly funded), not really. Different needs and ideas of cheap, influenced by:

Little budget vs. much larger budget.

 

[tankalf]

Thanks everybody for your replies.

I don't know Areca cards...

What model do you suggest me?
I need a simple card that works with 4 internal sata hard disks. With Raid 0 or 5.

I know quiet all these cards use external case for raid hard disks, but I found these 2 solutions that are great :

using a raid card with 4 sata connector :

http://www.maxupgrades.com/istore/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&product_id=176&CFID=2338336&CFTOKEN=64264669

using a raid card with 1 sas internal connector :

http://www.maxupgrades.com/istore/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&product_id=177

What do you think about?

 

[nanofrog]

Thanks everybody for your replies.

I don't know Areca cards...

What model do you suggest me?
I need a simple card that works with 4 internal sata hard disks. With Raid 0 or 5.

Take a look at the ARC-1210, as it meets the minimum specs you listed. And others you didn't, such as the ability to boot OS X, Windows, and Linux.

Do a search for reviews and forum posts as to it's performance though, as I've not used this model.

You might also want to consider getting an 8 port card instead for future expansion. They can give better througputs, as it has 2x the drives available for the array, and in some cases, a faster processor, which also helps improve throughputs.

using a raid card with 4 sata connector :

http://www.maxupgrades.com/istore/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&product_id=176&CFID=2338336&CFTOKEN=64264669

You'd need one of these to connect to the card linked.