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<blockquote data-quote="milhouse" data-source="post: 358314" data-attributes="member: 26653">The rational for software is explained early in the thread.&nbsp; 1) I don't mind the performance hit for software RAID, because it's write once for a media server.&nbsp; 2) It's a hell of a lot cheaper - 2 PCI-X 12 port RAID cards?&nbsp; That's about $1500 right there.&nbsp; 3) Software is more portable.&nbsp; If my server blows up, I can physically attached the array to any Windows computer - I don't have to find a compatible RAID card.&nbsp; And I don't have to buy another RAID card if it breaks (see COST again).&nbsp; 4) I would absolutely prefer to use Linux software RAID over Windows - it's a lot more stable and flexible (like OCE), but I wanted to use it for my TV Server, so needed Windows, and I am much more comfortable with administering a Windows box.&nbsp; Not sure I could fix Linux if I had to...&nbsp; 5) This is, simply, not irreplaceable data.&nbsp; Painful to re-rip everything, but certainly possible.&nbsp; I only backup my personal video, not the DVD rips or TV recordings.I do NOT use the RAID on the motherboard - I know it's fake RAID.&nbsp; It also puts in the same spot for portability.&nbsp; I don't use the motherboard RAID functionality - I just let WIndows see 15 individual drives, and set up the RAID in Windows.I am curious what drive problems hardware RAID could have avoided?&nbsp; Near as I can tell, I've just had some disks go bad for unknown reasons.&nbsp; Replace, let the array rebuild, move on.&nbsp; Or do you mean moving the array from one machine to the other and having to rebuild when I first built this server?I didn't take this as a flame - no problem challenging my decisions or clarify why I went a certain direction.&nbsp; It's been running over a year now, and quite stable other than a few drives that have gone bad.&nbsp; RAID 5 did what it's supposed to do.&nbsp; <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile&nbsp; &nbsp; :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" />&nbsp; Really, my only complaint is that there's no good way to notify myself when a drive goes bad.&nbsp; I have to literally check disk manager on a regular basis and look to see if I am in failed redundancy mode.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="milhouse, post: 358314, member: 26653"] The rational for software is explained early in the thread. 1) I don't mind the performance hit for software RAID, because it's write once for a media server. 2) It's a hell of a lot cheaper - 2 PCI-X 12 port RAID cards? That's about $1500 right there. 3) Software is more portable. If my server blows up, I can physically attached the array to any Windows computer - I don't have to find a compatible RAID card. And I don't have to buy another RAID card if it breaks (see COST again). 4) I would absolutely prefer to use Linux software RAID over Windows - it's a lot more stable and flexible (like OCE), but I wanted to use it for my TV Server, so needed Windows, and I am much more comfortable with administering a Windows box. Not sure I could fix Linux if I had to... 5) This is, simply, not irreplaceable data. Painful to re-rip everything, but certainly possible. I only backup my personal video, not the DVD rips or TV recordings. I do NOT use the RAID on the motherboard - I know it's fake RAID. It also puts in the same spot for portability. I don't use the motherboard RAID functionality - I just let WIndows see 15 individual drives, and set up the RAID in Windows. I am curious what drive problems hardware RAID could have avoided? Near as I can tell, I've just had some disks go bad for unknown reasons. Replace, let the array rebuild, move on. Or do you mean moving the array from one machine to the other and having to rebuild when I first built this server? I didn't take this as a flame - no problem challenging my decisions or clarify why I went a certain direction. It's been running over a year now, and quite stable other than a few drives that have gone bad. RAID 5 did what it's supposed to do. :) Really, my only complaint is that there's no good way to notify myself when a drive goes bad. I have to literally check disk manager on a regular basis and look to see if I am in failed redundancy mode. [/QUOTE]

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