SSD RAID controller

[vladnik]

Heyho,

I'm currently on the lookout for a good SSD RAID controller. In order for you guys to understand just why I would need that, heres what I'm planning:

Windows will boot from 2x Samsung 840 Pro 256GB in RAID0, running on Intel X79 chipset. On that array will also be multiple virtual machines running and video transcoding will take place. The processed data would then be offloaded to a RAID5 array of 4 Crucial M500 960GB drives. Also on that RAID5 there will be some music as well as movies for convenient access. Nightly backups of the RAID0 and RAID5 will be stored on the local server which has ~20TB capacity.

I have some experience with RAID and RAID controllers (I built the above mentioned server myself, runs flawlessly), just not with SSDs. The reason I don't run the RAID5 off the chipset is performance. RAID0/1/10 runs perfectly fine on chipset RAID, but RAID5 performance is ridiculous (50MB/s read/write speed...). Therefore, I need a good controller.

Now, what do I expect from that controller? (sorted in order of importance)

1. At least 4 ports
2. Decent performance (min. read/write of a single SSD)
3. Fast initialization (>10s would be nice, if possible)
4. TRIM support (I don't know if this is possible yet. If it is, I want it )

Price should be around 1.000€ if possible (of course, cheaper is always better ) I have asked Google previously to posting, but I am unable to find what I am looking for. Maybe I use the wrong search terms...
Anyway, I'm looking forward to your replies. If you know of a better way to do this, please share.

Cheers,
~nik


PS: No, I won't use regular HDDs. They are just too noisy ;P

 

[tinytomlogan]

Any decent 4 port raid card should handle 4x SSD's - its beyond that point that you have to spend a HUGE amount of money.

Demanding speeds etc isnt how it works tbh matey but when testing RAID speeds it all comes down to the benchmark.

I personally use Adaptec cards and really like the control programs that go along with it. You are talking about spending a good few hundred quid though to get away from the shitty raid cards.

 

[hmmblah]

I'd second Adaptec. You can also look at LSI and 3Ware. I'm not a fan of the 3Ware software, but they do get the job done.

 

[vladnik]

Tom, hmmblah, thanks for your responses. I know that RAID speeds ultimately come down to the benchmark used, but as the only thing I'm really doing is moving a sh*tload of files to and from the array, I see that as my benchmark^^ And chipset RAID just doesn't cut it for me there...
I'll give the internetz a read about which Adaptec controller suits my needs and doesn't cost an arm and a leg. Will post back on what I'm looking at to hear your thoughts.

Cheers,
~nik