>> Another route you can go is getting a PCI/PCIe/PCI-X BBU >> RAM/NVRAM card >> to put an external journal on to speed up fsync performance for >> filesystems like ext3 over software raid since these cards >> can go beyond >> 1GB of memory unlike hardware raid cards that usually max out >> at 256MB. > > What are some of these BBU NVRAM cards that I keep hearing people > talk about? I would love to check them out. http://www.umem.com/Umem_NVRAM_Cards.html http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Storage/Products_Overview.aspx?ProductID=2180 Weird...I thought the umem cards were more than just BBU SDRAM but...hmm... > >> Software RAID is also good if you need to be able to transfer >> the disks >> to another box that does not have a hardware raid controller >> or the same >> controller. >> >> Weigh these in your decision. :-) > > For 2 SATA hard disks used for the OS I think HW RAID is overkill. Depends. HW RAID + BBU CACHE vs SW RAID vs SW RAID + NVRAM...You cannot say overkill in certain cases. > > Besides I do not believe the PERC 5IR has BBU cache, that > controller is really only meant as a simple RAID1 controller for > the OS. Dell certainly has a BBU cache option, not sure if OP's Poweredge box has that option. > > If you use HW RAID you will need to install the manufacturer's > software for monitoring it for a hard disk failure. Yes, likely a negative but with Dell supporting Linux maybe not so. > > If you wanted to add additional storage, say a SAS/SATA enclosure > of 15 disks, then I would definitely invest in a HW RAID card for > that! > Depends :-D. How many hardware RAID cards offer 1GB of cache?