In a 1:1 configuration, No (ports to disks). This type of configuration is a bit simpler, and cheaper (also faster for things like Online Expansion and Online Migration due to dedicated bandwidth per disk rather than sharing each port with multiples controlled by a SAS Expander).
So you've two primary options:
Option 1:
Get a card with more ports (that would put you at the ARC-1880ix12), and I generally recommend getting an additional 4x ports for future expansion (just add a 4 bay enclosure + disks). Which would put you into the http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=ARC1880I16. This reduces the need to replace every single disk once all bays are full in order to gain additional capacity.
Now if you notice, you get an additional 4x ports on the ARC-1880ix12 for just a couple of dollars more than the ARC-1880X (~ a massive $15
). Even when you add in the cost of the HDD adapter kit and the smaller enclosure (4x bay), it's still a bit cheaper.In such a case, it's a bit more of a challenge to keep internal disks on the ICH as well, but it's doable (up to 2x max without the need for a SATA controller card, which can be had very inexpensively = under $30).
The ARC-1880ix16 will add costs now, but it's cheaper in the long run, which is why I recommend taking this route, as it's cheaper to add up to 4x disks vs. all disks at once in order to increase capacity (think of this like Intel's Tick Tock cycle, as you'll find yourself in an alternating pattern of this).
But 4x + 12x disks is cheaper for a "full cycle" than 2x all disks for the same period. Shouldn't be too hard to understand.
Option 2:
The Areca 1880 series can actually control up to 128 disks, but requires SAS Expander based enclosures (example). Using one of these however, you'd be able to leverage that single SFF-8088 port on the back of the ARC-1880LP you linked, and it would work. The downsides are cost and bottlenecking (4x ports = shared with all external disks via the SAS Expander chip - it's a switch, and performs the same function as a Port Multiplier switch, only for SAS disks <also handles SATA disks, but a PM chip cannot handle SAS disks>).
It's actually possible to use separate SAS Expanders or even make your own SAS Expander enclosure (get a SAS Expander board meant for an enclosure, and install it yourself). That latter method can save quite a bit of money, but this takes skill, and could be disastrous if you get it wrong (there are different port counts to SAS Expanders as well, and you'd have to plan this out as well as power and cable routing). I've no idea of your technical capabilities, so this is up to you (I'm willing to guide you if you're game).
On the boot, scratch, and clone disks, Yes. If you use an internal port card and have it connected to the HDD bays, you'd need to get a SATA controller for 2x additional ports (ICH contains 6x total; 2x are used for the optical bays, and 4x for the HDD bays). Assuming you don't want to remove your optical drive (and I don't blame you if you don't), then adding an inexpensive card will give you 2x ports = 3x total = exact number of ports needed for these particular drives.
Physically, you can locate them in the empty optical bay if they're 2.5" models. If you want at least one of them as a 3.5" model, there are ways of doing that as well, as an SSD can be mounted anywhere you can find room (Velcro or Zip Ties work brilliantly
).OWC has HDD mounting kits for the ODD bay, so take a look.
In the case of the SAS port however, each one is only able to connect to 4x disks without the use of a SAS Expander. So the Sans Digital TR8X (or any other non-SAS Expander based 8 bay enclosure), has 2x SFF-8088 ports on the rear = need 2x ports from the card.
The ARC-1880X is the simplest way to go, but it will use all of it's ports for the Sans Digital enclosure (or similar), and it's full (can't add any more drives to it since it's not a SAS Expander based unit).
Hopefully this clears things up a bit.
6.0Gb/s drives will step down to 3.0Gb/s when attached to a controller using that data rate.
It will depend on if everything is running full tilt, and how much time you want to have on battery.
Ideally, you'll need two.
However, the backup is less likely to be active, so one will get you started at least (you can always manually stop a backup process, and shut the system down until the power is restored). I certainly realize budget limitations, and this is something that can be lived with for a short period of time (if there are any issues to begin with; it all depends on what you expect of/how you use the UPS when the power is out in terms of run time when on the batteries).
The differences are so stark, it's not funny. Understanding the basics is necessary, but it's just the beginning (i.e. understanding how a RAID 5 stores it's data tells you absolutely nothing about how the write hole is dealt with in hardware, and why software isn't suitable). And then there's the features and recovery options to deal with.Totally, which is why I really appreciate that you're willing to explain it so well. The funny part is that I have a pretty good understanding of how the technology works at a low level, but using it in the field is obviously completely different from reading about it in a book
To top it off, we're still only dealing with one basic implementation, known as DAS (Direct Attached Storage)... There's NAS and SAN as well, and SAN in particular, adds a lot more complexity due to the fail-over in both system and networking (NAS adds networking to the mix, but not a lot in terms of fail-over, such as what I've described previously with SAN).
Not bad, but that's about as fast as most can get, particularly if the location is zoned as residential (you may be in an area that has AT&T U-verse or FiOS, but it's expensive). T1/T3 or SONET is very hard to get, and insanely expensive (found in certain commercial zoning that's within the distance limitations).
