Yeah, I'm not all that concerned with cost - - under $1000 won't break the bank. I admit that I know more about the RAID levels and how they function, while knowing next to nothing about which cards do what and how they are compatible.
I'd go with an Areca 1880 series, but the question is, which one?
So think hard on the port count, as they can go up to 24 ports (24x disks without the need for a SAS Expander). Using SAS Expanders, they can actually run up to 128 disks.
The ARC-1880X has 8x external ports (2x connectors on the back).
Past that, you're dealing with primarily internal ports (there is 1x external port, but it tends to share one of the internal ports, so you have to pay attention so you're not throttling). But you can get special cables that take internal ports to external enclosures (
here), and there's a kit that allows you to use the HDD bays with the card (
here).
So you could go with an
ARC-1880ix12, use one port with the internal bays via the kit, and one of the internal to external cables per 4x disks.
I realize this stuff may be looking like top shelf, and in a sense, it is (excellent manufacturers). But step back a bit, and you'll realize it's not. To see what top shelf really is, take a look at High Availability Clusters and SAN (wiki has information on both; this is where it starts to get crazy).
Multiple servers, SAN's,... strung together to make sure there's no single point of failure that will prevent access.
Ok, another question:
On the pc-pitstop site, I was looking at their enclosures. I had a 4-bay in mind, and when I selected the
hot-swappable one here, it listed the 1212x card, but did not give a choice for the 1880x card. Is the 1880x not compatible with that enclosure? Which enclosure would you suggest if I want the 1880x?
I don't think I'm ready for the 15-bay enclosure they suggest with the 1880x,
shown here.
4 bay unit
8 bay unit
BTW, not only are they good on price, they include external to external cables. And their appearance better suits your MP vs. the "el cheapo black plastic front" units pc-pitstop sells (they do work though).
You would also need a SF8088 to SF8088 external cable to connect the enclosure to the card.
The Sans Digital enclosures linked have the external to external cables @ 1.0 meters.
BTW, do not exceed 1.0 meters of total cable length with SATA disks (you can go up to 10 meters with SAS disks, as they run at a much higher signal voltage). And stay away from the adapters, as SATA sets won't be stable (frequent dropouts which aren't a good thing).
