Dell Perc 5i vs HP Smart Array 5i

sampimpinthugsampimpinthug
edited December 2011 in Hardware
Hey guys,

New to the forum here.

I was just wondering if the Dell perc 5i Card is the same thing as the HP Smart Array 5i?

They both have similar specs, and pretty much do the same thing.

I have an HP Smart Array 5i plus, and would like to hook up 8 X 1TB WD black Sata drives to it on Raid 5. Is that doable?

I have seen a lot about the PERC 5i, and people hooking up their sata drives onto it, but nothing on the smart array 5i.

Any insights would be great.

Thanks

Comments

  • HatopHatop Alabama
    edited November 2011
    Sorry to dig up a post that hasn't been replied to since August, but I can shine some light here. The Dell PERC 5i card is NOT the HP Smart Array 5i Plus. They are not even in the same class of storage controller. The Dell card is an addon card which can control SAS drives(serial attached scsi) and is fairly modern. The HP card is meant strictly for older SCSI interfaces such as the ULTRA3 and ULTRA2 interfaces. They will both handle various RAID configurations, but both are also overkill for hooking up consumer hard drives. I would not use the HP card for anything slightly related to consumer goods. I would not buy the PERC 5i unless I could confirm the use of SAS on the purchased drives.
    Sources:
    HP Smart Array
    http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/11063_div/11063_div.HTML

    Dell PERC
    http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen&sku=341-3742
  • sampimpinthugsampimpinthug
    edited November 2011
    Hatop wrote:
    Sorry to dig up a post that hasn't been replied to since August, but I can shine some light here. The Dell PERC 5i card is NOT the HP Smart Array 5i Plus. They are not even in the same class of storage controller. The Dell card is an addon card which can control SAS drives(serial attached scsi) and is fairly modern. The HP card is meant strictly for older SCSI interfaces such as the ULTRA3 and ULTRA2 interfaces. They will both handle various RAID configurations, but both are also overkill for hooking up consumer hard drives. I would not use the HP card for anything slightly related to consumer goods. I would not buy the PERC 5i unless I could confirm the use of SAS on the purchased drives.
    Sources:
    HP Smart Array
    http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/11063_div/11063_div.HTML

    Dell PERC
    http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen&sku=341-3742

    Thanks Haptop for replying to my post. I actually figured out the hard way that the Smart Array 5i sucks, and Percs are the way to go.

    Can, you also tell me if the following is doable? I just purchased a Perc 6/i, and would be hooking it up to a Poweredge 2850(even though they are designed for 2950).

    From there on I intend to hook up 7X1tb Western Digital Black drives(3.5"), and raid them into Raid 5 or perhaps 6.

    Is that setup doable? If so what format would i need to format the drive in?

    Thanks again
  • HatopHatop Alabama
    edited December 2011
    You need to make sure the PERC 6/i connects over the same bus interface as the one designed for the 2850 series. Note that the drives NEED TO MATCH interfaces with the driver interfaces for the card. The PERC6/i is both an internal card designed for a custom PCIe interface AND uses SAS not sata. When designing a storage solution, always check that you can both attach the card and that you've purchased drives/an enclosure capable of connecting to the controller.
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