Lacie Raid 1 Controller Requirements for Dell

[krzma22]

I would like to build a Raid 1 system for my photographer business and would like to start with a Lacie 1.5 TB 2big Dual eSATA II Hard Drive with 2-Disk Raid unit. The controller interface type is a Serial ASA-300. I would like to get a Dell desktop computer to run it. I am trying to find out what Dell desktops can run this array. Dell is trying to sell me internal harddrives but I want external with 1.5 TB's. The Dell internal mirroring Raids are only 1 TB.

[saphalline]

If the LaCie unit is eSATA, then the requirements for your new desktop would simply be "eSATA". It's an external port on the back I/O panel, just like a USB port would be. The only difference is that eSATA is relatively new and has been difficult to get going. It is not a common port right now by any means! However, if your intention is to get a new desktop system to go with your new RAID 1 external enclosure, then matching them up should be easy! Just look for a computer that boasts eSATA. I'm sure Dell and others have plenty such systems available right now, even if they do cost a bit more than the "cheapie" computers.

In terms of preferred RAID capabilities, why is it that you want an external RAID 1 enclosure? Capacity? I ask because RAID 1 is fairly common these days internally, although if you don't know a lot about computers then an external enclosure is pretty fool-proof. It's also portable, I guess, if you take precautions, but I don't know if this is important to you?

On a side note, don't let anyone push you over as far as internal SATA being faster than eSATA! The 300 MB/s bandwidth limit is not going to be exceeded by any external enclosure nor internal hard drive! Modern hard drives push a mere 55-65 MB/s continuous on a good day! 5 of them through a single SATA or eSATA port would be acceptable, so don't listen to anyone who tells you that 1 drive vs 2 is going to make a difference!

[rond36]

Is this the unit that you have in mind:
http://www.lacie.com/us/products/product.htm?pid=10964
If so it will work on any PC that has an eSATA port, an empty PCIe expansion slot using the card in the link below, or an USB 2.0 port (but that would be very slow). The RAID controller (hardware based) is built into the drive enclosure and the host PC does not even need to be RAID capable.

The capacity of that unit in RAID 1 mode is 750GB and the usable capacity will be less then that. That is one of the disadvantages of RAID 1, you loose 50% of your total drive space. If you need 1.5TB of disk space you would need to buy 2 of those drives, or buy a 3TB solution.

If you buy an extra drive for that enclosure you can use it as a backup device by swapping (it is hot swap capable) the extra drive with the mirror drive, you will always have a copy of the working drive at the point that the mirror drive was last swapped.

If you find a PC that you like that doesn't have an eSATA port you can buy an expansion card that will add eSATA using a PCIe X1 slot for $15.99.

As far as portability goes, if your operating system and applications are on the Lacie drive it is not portable. If your OS and apps are on an internal hard drive, the Lacie drive is portable to any PC that has an eSATA or USB 2.0 port.

saph:
Welcome back, we missed you!