4-Port Internal Controller

[LunarMist]

I need a simple, cheap ($100) internal 4-port SATA card for PCIe (1x, 4x, 8x OK). It will be used with 3 independent drives, i.e., no RAID, ever. Thanks.

 

[Mercutio]

I use this Adaptec controller. The $75 Promise card is flakey under Windows.

 

[Bozo]

How about one of the SYBA cards. All under $100.
I believe they were used in the 67TB build.

http://www.storageforum.net/forum/showthread.php?t=7767

 

[Mercutio]

Having had a couple Syba cards fail in obnoxious ways, that's not a direction I'd be willing to contemplate.

 

[Stereodude]

I believe they were used in the 67TB build.

Just one of the areas they went wrong. :bstd:

 

[LunarMist]

How long does the Adaptec take to read its BIOS? The reviews mention an annoying delay.

 

[LunarMist]

I use this Adaptec controller. The $75 Promise card is flakey under Windows.

Thanks. I received the card today and got it working in both XP32 and XP64. The burst rates are a little slower than normal (225MB/sec) though that may be due to the slot. It supports the hot swapping just fine, but the external BlackX drives only run at SATA 150. It's not critical since I will reorganize the ports anyway. The primary goal was to achieve 17+ ports without using 4 add-in cards.

The BIOS delay is not an issue.

 

[LunarMist]

This card appears to be the root of the hard drive problems I have been having lately. I thought there were some bad drives, but not when moved around between controllers. I'm not sure if it is one port in particular or a general problem between the controller and certain drive brands. :crap:

 

[ddrueding]

I was informed by Areca support that they don't like Samsung drives. You'd think that that kind of crap would have been sorted in the decades of standards and testing.

 

[LunarMist]

You trust Areca's comments about Adaptec?

 

[ddrueding]

You trust Areca's comments about Adaptec?

No, my comment was more about the general state of controller/drive compatibility. The fact that 7 years (and countless generations of products) after SATA was created, the spec still has enough vagueness to cause basic incompatibility is ridiculous.

 

[Bozo]

No, my comment was more about the general state of controller/drive compatibility. The fact that 7 years (and countless generations of products) after SATA was created, the spec still has enough vagueness to cause basic incompatibility is ridiculous.

Adaptec is not much better. After fooling around with one of their SATA card for days, I finally found out the model of the hard drives wouldn't work. Other models of the same make were fine.
I found the answer buried deep in a help section on their website. :frusty:

Nothing was mentioned in the tech pages for the SATA card.

 

[Santilli]

HI
I've been using the Silcon Image SiL 3112 Sata Link Controller with excellent results.
It's an old two port, but, I'd have a look at them for such stuff.

I've found Granite Digital generally has had stuff that works, pretty much always. The problem is, they are some times too expensive.

http://www.granitedigital.com/satapciandcardbushostadapters.aspx

I'd give them a ring, see what they have for internal cards from S.I.

 

[LunarMist]

Whoa. The SIL3112 is the dinosaur of SATA. I think that was what Maxtor shipped with the old SATA 150 drives 7 or so years ago. irate:

 

[Chewy509]

Whoa. The SIL3112 is the dinosaur of SATA. I think that was what Maxtor shipped with the old SATA 150 drives 7 or so years ago. irate:

It is a dinosaur, considering my Tyan K8W motherboard (which is 5.5yrs old) has the Sil3114 controller on board for SATA connectivity. (The 3114 is the 4port version of the 3112).

 

[Santilli]

Whoa. The SIL3112 is the dinosaur of SATA. I think that was what Maxtor shipped with the old SATA 150 drives 7 or so years ago. irate:

Dinosaurs worked for a LONG TIME.;-)

Since Granite Digital specializes in removeable drive setups, and this seemed to be part of the issue, I would certainly check with them on their card experience.

SI may have made a new generation card that is worth it, or may not have.

 

[LunarMist]

The SIL3132 is the most popular of the line. There are dozens of brands of inexpensive little 2-port SATA 3Gbps PCIe cards based on that chip. For some reason they never made a native 4-port version. There are some 4-port PCI SATA cards today that are still based on the 3114. I use an old one for a 4-bay external case and do not care about the SATA 150 speeds. It supports hot swap, so the drives can be powered on or off without rebooting.

 

[MaxBurn]

Maybe this?

SUPERMICRO AOC-SASLP-MV8 8-PORT 3GB/S PCI-E X4 SAS/SATA CONTROLLER CARD - MARVELL HERCULES-2 CONTROLLER/IOP, 3GB/S PER PORT, 8 INTERNAL PORTS, HBA ONLY, LOW-PROFILE, SOFTWARE RAID SUPPORT
http://www.wiredzone.com/itemdesc.asp/ic/10018973/model/AOC-SASLP-MV8
$102.86 free ship

Downside you need SFF8087 breakout cables.

 

[LunarMist]

...and it's only 3Gbs.:bsmurf:

 

[Mercutio]

Why not buy a Perc5 from Ebay?