RAID Controllers Gain Steam

processing RAID disk controller

The product family supports both the SCSI and SATA II specifications and are available as both PCI-X and PCI Express cards. The CRN Test Center tested the eight-port PCI Express RC5252 board. The board's software drivers are compatible with the Windows (XP, 2003, Vista) and Linux (Red Hat, Fedora and SuSE) operating systems.

Unlike many other RAID solutions that require the same size and often identical drives to be used in an array, RAIDCore is a welcome change. The mixed capacity support allows users to use all the available space to create multiple arrays using different parts of the same physical disk for different purposes.

Ideal for Intel-compatible servers, workstations and personal desktops, the RC5000 is also suitable for Web servers, desktop video-editing systems, digital media servers and video surveillance systems. The controller can be used for multiuser servers that process a lot of transaction data or stream large files.

For customers who have the 4000 series, the company said it is possible to expand or transfer an existing array onto a 5000 series card without losing the array configuration or data.