[dba-Tech] Petulant PC

The promise card is good, just not great.  Slower in all aspects by quite a
bit.  That level card doesn't have the co-processor so the CPU is being used
for working the raid.  Another thing I like about the Areca is that it is
one of the few that offers raid 6.

As for support, I can't really address that issue.  I think Promise is a
bigger company which probably translates to better support.  I like Newegg
because there are often a lot of user feedback reports so you can see other
folks experiences. 

I hear you about the wallet!  If you just don't have it, then you look for
something else.  Mine is paid for by my consulting and I happen to need huge
arrays.  

That particular Promise card is limited to 4 drives which means 3 for data
and one for the Raid 5 support.  With 750 gb drives coming into the range
where you can afford them, that may be plenty for a long time.  2.1
terabytes is a lot of storage, and with raid protection that makes it a lot
safer than just having a bunch of disks out there.

John W. Colby
Colby Consulting
www.ColbyConsulting.com 
-----Original Message-----
From: dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
[mailto:dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Arthur Fuller
Sent: Monday, June 04, 2007 6:28 AM
To: Discussion of Hardware and Software issues
Subject: Re: [dba-Tech] Petulant PC

JC:
On reading the reviews for the card you recommend, I'm uneasy about the
return policy etc. So I looked at some of the others newegg.com has. My
ambitions (and wallet) are more modest than yours. The card and
support/return policy that caught my eye was the Promise card (
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816102085). In the
past I have had hardware from Promise and was very satisfied.
Thanks for the pointer to newegg.