On Tue, 15 Jan 2008, Troy.A Johnson wrote:

>> The two 500 GB disks we are using cost only $250 together.  It sounds 
>> like hardware RAID controllers are very overpriced.  Seriously, with 
>> those prices, if the software RAID was impacting on performance, I 
>> might go for a faster CPU or dual CPU system instead of buying a RAID 
>> controller.
>
> The more expensive hardware RAID solutions (like many of the 3ware 
> products) usually give you more than enough value for your money. On the 
> other hand, if you don't need the features they offer (like dedicated 
> I/O processing, hotswap, and easy config/monitoring tools) then you 
> probably don't need an expensive hardware RAID solution. *shrug*

OK, so I'd be getting a lot more than a RAID 1 controller.  We got on this 
topic because someone suggested that use of software RAID might be a 
really bad idea, so I wanted to check on that because I just had one set 
up.  Right now I think that software RAID is a really good idea.

Mike