PCIe Drives for the customer / small business market seem to be introduced by more and more companies these days. What I have not found so far and would really like to see here on AnandTech would be a direct comparison of one of these with the PCIe RAID Controller + 2/4 Drives Combination. Is there really any advantage on buying the drive package, or are you better of with the flexibility of Controller + independant SSDs?
Sure, the package should have lower latencies in theory, and should have a lower cost to produce, and may not increase your boot-time as much as a dedicated controller. But is any of these really evident in reality, and how does it compare to the drawbacks, e.g. the much higher energy-density on such a card? Does that decrease lifetime and power consumption?
The only 2 advantages I see with PCI-e based RAID is that the RAID is intact even moving between systems, and is not limited by the controller; and that the bandwidth is higher than motherboard based SATA controllers, which usually run only on PCIex1 interfaces.
I thought the modern Intel On-Board SATA controllers interface directly to the DMI link, and not use the PCH PCIe interfaces? Sandy Bridge DMI should be good for at least 3 SATA 6Gbps ports under perfect conditions.
But yes, I assume using an on-board controller instead of a PCIe-Controller would significantly reduce performance of a 4-SSD-RAID based on SF-22xx.
I thought the Super Talent rep said March or thereabouts, but that might be off. (A lot of stuff seems to be "coming around March or early Q2" at CES.) If I can find any additional information I'll let you know.
We’ve updated our terms. By continuing to use the site and/or by logging into your account, you agree to the Site’s updated Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
5 Comments
Back to Article
ShieTar - Friday, January 13, 2012 - link
PCIe Drives for the customer / small business market seem to be introduced by more and more companies these days. What I have not found so far and would really like to see here on AnandTech would be a direct comparison of one of these with the PCIe RAID Controller + 2/4 Drives Combination. Is there really any advantage on buying the drive package, or are you better of with the flexibility of Controller + independant SSDs?Sure, the package should have lower latencies in theory, and should have a lower cost to produce, and may not increase your boot-time as much as a dedicated controller. But is any of these really evident in reality, and how does it compare to the drawbacks, e.g. the much higher energy-density on such a card? Does that decrease lifetime and power consumption?
AnnihilatorX - Friday, January 13, 2012 - link
Latency of the bus wouldn't matter too much.The only 2 advantages I see with PCI-e based RAID is that the RAID is intact even moving between systems, and is not limited by the controller; and that the bandwidth is higher than motherboard based SATA controllers, which usually run only on PCIex1 interfaces.
ShieTar - Friday, January 13, 2012 - link
I thought the modern Intel On-Board SATA controllers interface directly to the DMI link, and not use the PCH PCIe interfaces? Sandy Bridge DMI should be good for at least 3 SATA 6Gbps ports under perfect conditions.But yes, I assume using an on-board controller instead of a PCIe-Controller would significantly reduce performance of a 4-SSD-RAID based on SF-22xx.
bmo98 - Friday, January 13, 2012 - link
Any estimate of when this monster will hit the shelves?JarredWalton - Friday, January 13, 2012 - link
I thought the Super Talent rep said March or thereabouts, but that might be off. (A lot of stuff seems to be "coming around March or early Q2" at CES.) If I can find any additional information I'll let you know.