Basic Information About LSI RAID Controllers
LSI is a brand of Broadcom Inc., and produces a variety of networking equipment, storage solutions, controller cards, and other electronics hardware for your computer or server. Equipment like a RAID controller can help to backup and restore your data in the event of hardware failure. When selecting a controller card, there are different styles and models available.
What is a RAID controller?
A RAID controller is a card or software system that controls a collection of hard drives linked in a RAID controller setup. This RAID card setup provides some redundancy and backup to the data on device hard drives, regardless of whether they are SSD or SATA hard drives. Some RAID controllers are also built into the motherboard as a chip on the frame. Independent controllers will be socketed into one of the slots on the controller card board.
How do you select a RAID controller?
- Review controller card motherboard information: You will want to review your existing system to see what slots are available for expanding with a RAID controller.
- Select a controller type: You can select from a variety of slots that include PCI, PCI-E AGP, CardBus, and many others.
- Choose a speed: This feature of a RAID controller will determine the read and write speed of the connected hard disks and drives.
- Select an interface: This will determine what types of hard drives can be connected to the LSI RAID Controller.
What are some types of RAID controller cards?
LSI offers a variety of different RAID cards, some of which include the following:
- RAID 0: This setup is used with two or more disks and splits the data evenly across the connected disks. Disks of varying sizes can be used, but will be limited by the smallest hard disk capacity used.
- RAID 1: This controller creates an exact copy of the data from the first disk and writes it onto the second disk.
- RAID 5: This array takes three or more hard disks and splits the data blocks across all of the hard disks. It also splits the parity disk across all of the disks to reduce the pull from a single disk.
What is MegaRAID?
This RAID controller card from LSI provides bandwidth of 6 or 12Gbps, depending on the model. MegaRAID cards use a PCI Express slot and has ports between four through eight. These RAID cards are designed to work with SSD drives in addition to HDDs, server storage, and other direct attached storage solutions for your device.
What is the difference between hardware, software, and HBA RAID?
- Hardware: This controller uses a separate card that is able to process and make the calculations needed for a RAID controller. This RAID card will have its own memory, and some models will also have their own backup power supplies.
- Software: This controller is built into an OS and uses the processor to handle the tasks of a RAID controller. These features include mirroring, striping, and the parity calculations.
- HBA: This controller is also used in software RAID setups and provides the computer with an interface connected to the disks for the OS to access.
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