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RocketRAID 6Gb/s PCI-Express Gen 2×8 SAS/SATA RAID Host Adapter; The simplified SGL package reduces up-front costs and provides Solution Providers with the freedom they need to configure storage platforms that meet clients’ exact specifications.
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Great Value,
Great value here – can’t think of anything else in this price range that offers this type of RAID support (0, 1, 5, 6, 10), port count (8) and PCI-E 2.0. I purchased this to upgrade a general-use server (Win2008) for a set of WD RE4 already on hand. 8-ports for sub-$200 – this thing is a bargain, and leaves lots of room for expansion. The negative reviews here raised no major concerns (common, general controller issues – easy to avoid). I’m not new to RAID, and this controller is based on existing product lines – no surprises, aside from RAID 6.
Installation
Standard and simple enough – physically install the card, boot the system and allow the card’s BIOS to post and pass, then install the driver when prompted by Windows (on the included CD, though I recommend downloading the current driver and Web interface, which now has RAID 6 support). No setup utility is needed – Device Manager was able to easily locate the driver. Installing the Web Interface is simple -double click, confirm messages, done. The SGL model does not include cables, so you will need to supply your own – a good thing in this case as I needed an SFF-8087 to SATA for this particular configuration.
Thoughts
The card is affordable, stable, and importantly, predictable – RR’cards have been on the market for eons, and their strengths and weaknesses are well documented. SATA/SAS backwards-compatibility, and stupid-cheap RAID 6 are bonuses. Linux support is a big plus (many from this series are recognized natively and ready for Linux software RAID configurations if you don’t want to deal with HighPoint’s set-up).
The Web Interface is archaic, but it gets the job done and has a lot of administrative features (probably overkill for many configurations). Useable, real-world performance is very good, great even. However, RAID 6 performance, and recovery time is average at best – this is the advantage of full hardware RAID. But, no surprises here – the features, performance, price-point, availability (Sourcing replacements should always be a concern – stuff breaks) make it one of the best deals around.
More Thoughts
The problems reported in the other reviews I’ve seen here are avoidable, and are certainly not exclusive to this controller. Nothing new either. If you use standard consumer-level hard disks with a RAID controller, any RAID controller (host RAID, software RAID, etc.), don’t be surprised if disks suddenly drop offline for no apparent reason, or the configuration goes belly up after a reboot or two (disk timing issues). Yes, disk firmware updates or controller “fixes” may be available, and the temptation to save $$ by using cheap desktop drives can be hard to ignore, but it’s not worth it in the long-term – the inevitable stability issues, wasted time, support hassles, the toll on your sanity…, no thanks.
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|Great card for the price,
Got this card for $119, very low cost knowing that you need at least one or two SFF-8087 Forward Breakout cables to connect from SAS to SATA your drives which run between $15 to $35 each.
As soon as I got the card I downloaded the new firmware 1.2 which grants you access to RAID 6, latest web interface (2.x) and drivers. I’m using Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard Edition and the card and drives are recognized perfectly.
I’m running 4*500GB Samsung F3 in RAID 5, I get 280MB Read/Write and 4*640GB WD in RAID 5, I get 230MB Write and 280 Read which I guess is pretty good.
The new web interface is pretty good and snappy compared to the former one which was buggy (as I was told) and setting the RAID array was easy. By default the foreground initialization is set. As I’m not patient, I set the quick initialization which takes a couple of second to prepare your drives. Looks like the Quick Format option in Windows vs Format which takes for ever.
The card still gets hot for my taste so I would make sure I have enough air flow in the case to avoid overheating.
The card came in a small box which contains a manual, CD and a low profile bracket.
Not more much to say about it. This card brings SATA III and RAID 0 to 6 to your computer for a low cost, thanks to the Marvell controller (good or bad as it may be incompatible with some drives or SSDs).
If you can find it for the price I paid or lower, it makes an even sweeter deal for what you get.
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|Absolute bargain RAID 6 controller!,
Perfect for general Windows-based servers – capacity and security are usually more important than performance, but the 6G SAS support doesn’t hurt.
I’m not new to RAID (or highpoint) controllers, so I was sure to pick this up sooner or later. Not disappointed!
The RAID 5 and 6 performance was surprising considering it lacks a BBU/memory option like some of HighPoint’s other RAID controllers (I have used their 4300 series for several years).
RAID 6 appears to be a new feature for this series, and it doesn’t support it out of the box (at least not what I was shipped). If you are interested (of course, right!) be sure to the download the updates from the product page.
Their driver support is also better than expected (all major Windows releases, and it appears to support many Linux dist.).
I haven’t contacted their support dept. for this model, but have had no major problems with them in the past. Broken record here (read the other reviews) but I advise using “RAID” drives like Seagate constellations. I had problems with WD Black drives and highpoint cards in the past, and initially blamed Highpoint. I later experienced dropped drives with other brands, so it was not the fault of the card. Black drives worked fine in non-RAID mode (the card will call it “legacy”) though, so don’t go blaming WD either!
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