HighPoint RocketRaid 2640X4 Review on BareFeats

[nanofrog]

2640X4 looks like the best choice. BTW Can I buy the adapter in canada?

"Does Newegg.com ship internationally?

Newegg.com does not currently ship internationally; we only deliver to locations within the United States and to Puerto Rico."

Sorry. I checked NewEgg after posting.

But still, there would have to be someplace to get it.
Not sure if there is a delay between US and Canada though..

Couldn't find out on the adapter. Try an e-mail to MaxUpgrades.

 

[nightfly13]

Next idea:

Run both OSs from the 250gb factory drive, boot from that in the second optical bay ($25 adapter?)

Buy a 4th 500gb Spinpoint (already have 3) - $100

Buy the 2640X4 - $150 on Newegg

Buy the freaking over-priced adapter - $90

So I'm shelling out $365 to gain RAID 5 redundancy on the 1.5TB (ish) data I already have.

ZFS and Snow Leopard can't come soon enough! I think I lean toward the unRAID for expansion flexibility and honestly it's not that much more up front. Very helpful insights! I put this Mac Pro, Power Mac forum in my 'daily' safari tabs I check all the time.

 

[nanofrog]

Next idea:

Run both OSs from the 250gb factory drive, boot from that in the second optical bay ($25 adapter?)

Yup! Forgo boot capability, and save yourself a small fortune.

You can get it cheaper on e-bay.

Buy a 4th 500gb Spinpoint (already have 3) - $100

The fourth drive will be nice. Greater capacity and speed.

Buy the 2640X4 - $150 on Newegg

Likely the best price around on a new product.

Buy the freaking over-priced adapter - $90

There are possible solutions, if your willing to investigate.
1. If you can solder & terminate wire, it is possible to make an adapter.
2. Rewire the drive bays with separate SATA cables (either the power + SATA or separate power + separate SATA). You just lose the convenience of sliding drives in.

So I'm shelling out $365 to gain RAID 5 redundancy on the 1.5TB (ish) data I already have.

If you are willing to make your own connections, you could likely save something around the $50 mark on this area alone. Add $20 for the drive adapter, and you are just under the $300 mark.

ZFS and Snow Leopard can't come soon enough! I think I lean toward the unRAID for expansion flexibility and honestly it's not that much more up front. Very helpful insights! I put this Mac Pro, Power Mac forum in my 'daily' safari tabs I check all the time.

Just remember, Snow Leopard Server will set you back $500.

 

[nightfly13]

Hmm do we think that ZFS will only be available on SL Server? I know that's the extent that's been announced thus far, but I'd been assuming it would also be part of the optimization of SL.

I could not solder to save my life.

I'm going to take a couple days to just think through my options. unRAID sure is compelling as a long term growable option. I'm also moving to a new part of India that has only 1-2 hours of power outages, not 6-8 like we have here, so that makes running a dedicated server all the time more tenable.

BWT the $25 adapter I was referring to was the SATA cable and power snaking up into the optical drive. I never thought to get rail adapters. Right now I have an old IDE drive attached by 2 screws (on the same side) into the bottom optical drive bay - good enough for me I use that drive for time machine backups of my system files.

 

[nanofrog]

Hmm do we think that ZFS will only be available on SL Server? I know that's the extent that's been announced thus far, but I'd been assuming it would also be part of the optimization of SL.

Initially, Yes. Server only.
It would likely become available for the consumer version later. Possibly not until the next major revision (10.7?).
So, for the short term, ZFS won't be available.

I could not solder to save my life.

Sorry.
Not a bad skill to pick up though.

I'm going to take a couple days to just think through my options. unRAID sure is compelling as a long term growable option. I'm also moving to a new part of India that has only 1-2 hours of power outages, not 6-8 like we have here, so that makes running a dedicated server all the time more tenable.

unRAID isn't just a drive box. When I looked at the products they offer, it actually does have a motherboard in it. Look under the Features section. Its needed to run the "Server" stored on the USB. Thats why I asked about an old computer.

BWT the $25 adapter I was referring to was the SATA cable and power snaking up into the optical drive. I never thought to get rail adapters. Right now I have an old IDE drive attached by 2 screws (on the same side) into the bottom optical drive bay - good enough for me I use that drive for time machine backups of my system files.

A little ingenuity can go a long way. Especially at saving cash.

 

[Thiol]

Sorry to bring up an old post. I don't know much about this RAID card, so this might be a silly question. Is it possible to set it up such that 1 drive operates normally as a boot drive, but the other three function in a RAID5 or RAID0 array?

 

[nanofrog]

Sorry to bring up an old post. I don't know much about this RAID card, so this might be a silly question. Is it possible to set it up such that 1 drive operates normally as a boot drive, but the other three function in a RAID5 or RAID0 array?

Yes.

Why though? Are you wanting to boot from a SAS drive?

BTW, HighPoint's updated the lineup. Here.
Touch products tab, select Serial Attached SCSI, then Value/RR2600 series. (It won't give a specific page to take you directly though).

Some of the cards are now using miniSAS ports, which makes use in a Mac Pro easier, as well as cheaper.

 

[Thiol]

Yes.

Why though? Are you wanting to boot from a SAS drive?

BTW, HighPoint's updated the lineup. Here.
Touch products tab, select Serial Attached SCSI, then Value/RR2600 series. (It won't give a specific page to take you directly though).

Some of the cards are now using miniSAS ports, which makes use in a Mac Pro easier, as well as cheaper.

No, booting off a SATA drive...

 

[nanofrog]

No, booting off a SATA drive...

You might be better off using an iPass to 4 SATA cable (SFF-8087 to 4 SATA), and attach the iPass end to the logic board, and one of the SATA connectors to a boot drive. Physically mount the boot drive in the empty optical bay with a standard 3.5" to 5.25" adapter.

This would leave all 4 drive slots available for use by the RAID controller.