From more than 1 year
1* 775 Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R GIGABYTE - Produits - Cartes Mères - Overview - GA-P35-DS3R (rev. 1.0) - 5*500 Raid5 + 1*500 for Primary (C windows + 2*1T Raid1 on Jmicron Sata
1* 478 - Msi 945GCM478 MSI Computer Corp. - Product -- 4 Sata Span (One volume/partition on 4 disks) How to Extend a Disk Partition in Windows Vista and Server 2008
I was using Raid card from many years (HighPoint 100 Iwill and 1640 Sata Pci) - I know that these cards aren't so powerful than an xor procesor raid card like Adaptec, Lsi, etc.. those are really more expensive .. than a simple Motherboard
So, i did some bench to compare between Raid Card and the Intel Ich9R. the performance were closed for read an effectively bad for writing. In fact performance decrease hardly as the volume is filled upon 60%. Most of Raid private usage is multimedia read on a server, no transaction process. More, the Intel Hard/soft seems really secure (i tested for hot unplug of disk & power interrupt)
I report a curious issue i had for some months was when stopping the server (1-2 per year) a i restarted it, a disk wasn't recognized by Bios and as i changed the cable and the allocated connector on motherboard i couldn't define was was the problem.... until i cleaned the motherboard removing all dust .. Incredible, but the dust was affected the connection of sata cable and it was invisible ..
What must be understood is :
Intel Product Comparison Chart
So, When Motherboard had more than 6 sata connectors, this is because
- ICH8,9,10,11 provide 6 Sata connectors
- Added chipset - Jmicron onlyor with Silicon are implemented on MB for others sata connectors - Jmicron combined with Silicon manage Cascaded Sata Device - In fact Jmicron manage 2 Sata but switch between the 2 silicon to adress Sata Device
Ex: 6(Ich10)+2*2(Silicon 5723) GIGABYTE - Produits - Cartes Mères - Specifications - GA-EP45-DQ6 (rev. 1.0)
Ex GA-P35 - 6(Ich9)+ 2(Jmicron363)
Ep45-ds5 & dq6 - TweakTown Forums
Be aware of consequences of those architecture :
Here was some tricks and information i grab and consolidate from my experience
I use 5 Ich Slot for a Raid-5 and One Sata for the PrimaryBoot&System and an other Raid1 with two disks on the Jmicron - All works fine .. performance hardly decrease when the disk filled upon 66% but the Intel hardware & Software are really really secure and really cheap ..
1* 775 Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R GIGABYTE - Produits - Cartes Mères - Overview - GA-P35-DS3R (rev. 1.0) - 5*500 Raid5 + 1*500 for Primary (C windows + 2*1T Raid1 on Jmicron Sata
1* 478 - Msi 945GCM478 MSI Computer Corp. - Product -- 4 Sata Span (One volume/partition on 4 disks) How to Extend a Disk Partition in Windows Vista and Server 2008
I was using Raid card from many years (HighPoint 100 Iwill and 1640 Sata Pci) - I know that these cards aren't so powerful than an xor procesor raid card like Adaptec, Lsi, etc.. those are really more expensive .. than a simple Motherboard
So, i did some bench to compare between Raid Card and the Intel Ich9R. the performance were closed for read an effectively bad for writing. In fact performance decrease hardly as the volume is filled upon 60%. Most of Raid private usage is multimedia read on a server, no transaction process. More, the Intel Hard/soft seems really secure (i tested for hot unplug of disk & power interrupt)
I report a curious issue i had for some months was when stopping the server (1-2 per year) a i restarted it, a disk wasn't recognized by Bios and as i changed the cable and the allocated connector on motherboard i couldn't define was was the problem.... until i cleaned the motherboard removing all dust .. Incredible, but the dust was affected the connection of sata cable and it was invisible ..
What must be understood is :
Intel Product Comparison Chart
- Intel Ich7 provide 4 Sata Slots
- Intel Ich8,9,10,11 .. provide 6 Sata wired Connector - but can manage more Sata device - look to architecture like Intel's HD Audio PC Sound Ambitions : Introduction - Review Tom's Hardware Or I/O Controller Hub - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - Gigabyte GA-EP45-DQ6 PCSTATS Review - Intel P45 Express and ICH10 Chipsets
- Ich10#Ich10R - 'R' provide Raid, Ahci (hot-plug) Ncq (queue managmnt) etc... Be careful
So, When Motherboard had more than 6 sata connectors, this is because
- ICH8,9,10,11 provide 6 Sata connectors
- Added chipset - Jmicron onlyor with Silicon are implemented on MB for others sata connectors - Jmicron combined with Silicon manage Cascaded Sata Device - In fact Jmicron manage 2 Sata but switch between the 2 silicon to adress Sata Device
Ex: 6(Ich10)+2*2(Silicon 5723) GIGABYTE - Produits - Cartes Mères - Specifications - GA-EP45-DQ6 (rev. 1.0)
Ex GA-P35 - 6(Ich9)+ 2(Jmicron363)
Ep45-ds5 & dq6 - TweakTown Forums
Be aware of consequences of those architecture :
- maximum number of disk in your Raid = must plug them to the ICH, so 6 max - Raid 5 will be (6-1)*Diskcapacity (same disk firm, model & series hardly recommended)
- 1) You can't combine a Raid with disks on Ich and Jmicron or others chipset. Each chipset provide its own RaidSata driver and software. So, and you can mount a Raid1 on the Jmicron with 2 Disks - 2) as with GA-EP45-DQ6 you have 4 Extra Sata Slot, you can't have a Raid with 4 Disks (i didn't try it but read a lot on this subject and there were the reason i decided to not buying this motherboard and choosed a simple P35-dS3R one
- Primary Boot Device - Don't use the Ich Raid as Primary Boot for you System (C:\windows) You can use a Sata disk connected to the extra Jmicron/Silicon chipset Some of those Motherboard and Windows don't manage so quietly this configuration - 1) you must when you install Windows have a usb/disk with the driver 2) poor Performance on the Added chipset (Micron) compared to the Ich 3) Some issue (blue screen) are reported
Here was some tricks and information i grab and consolidate from my experience
I use 5 Ich Slot for a Raid-5 and One Sata for the PrimaryBoot&System and an other Raid1 with two disks on the Jmicron - All works fine .. performance hardly decrease when the disk filled upon 66% but the Intel hardware & Software are really really secure and really cheap ..