CalDigit RAID-Card Questions

Hey all,
I'm going to be upgrading my Mac Pro setup soon, as I'm in desperate need of more high-speed hard drive space. The CalDigit RAID-Card seems like a great product, with expandability in mind, as well as some other great features.
I'm planning on doing a RAID 5 setup with all four drives (as the CalDigit RAID-Card allows you to make a RAID set bootable). Now, I've been told time and time again to not make your Scratch Drive the same as the System Drive (advice which I've always followed). However, if all four drives were RAID'ed together via RAID 5, and then, two partitions were made (1.0 GB for the system, and 3.0 GBs for the Scratch Disk), does this solve the inherent risks / performance problems associated with making a Scratch Disk the same as the System Boot Drive?
Does having the System Software on a Bootable Hardware RAID get rid of the risks via RAID'ing via software?
Or, should I just RAID 5 three of the drives, and leave one for the System all by itself? Obviously, with 4 TBs of drive space, I'm trying to maximize that amount of storage I can get internally. Thanks!

I believe their RAID card is a software RAID card, & software RAID is definitely not recommended.
Dear Jon,
When it comes to striped RAID sets, I have not found a single hardware RAID setup that can out perform a Disk Utility software based RAID configuration. When it comes to RAID 5/6 - Intel IOP based hardware RAID cards provide superior performance. In addition, the Intel IOP hardware design usually dictates that all cards with the same processor will provide RAID 6 performance that is similar regardless of the manufacturer.
Saying that software RAID is not recommended really is too little information and untrue in many configurations. Hardware RAIDs carry their own problems. When a hardware RAID card fails the user needs a replacement card that is usually more expensive to obtain, requires additional down time and may not be available at all if the company has ended the life of the product.

Similar Messages

Viewing Bay 1 with CalDigit Raid Card

Hi all - I recently bought a Caldigit RAID card and 3 1 TB Hitachi HDs. I currently have 1 750 HD that has my OS and applications that I want to keep it so I can boot from that HD in Bay 1. As part of the install process of the Caldigit RAID card, I disconnected the iPass cable and connected it directly to the Caldigit RAID card. So I've installed the RAID card and the 3x 1 TB HDs into Bays 2-4 respectively. I've launched the RAID Shield Utility and have a RAID5 striped across the 3 HDs (for a total of 1.87 TB).
My problem is that the MacPro no longer "sees" Bay1 and can't boot. I literally had to take my 750 Seagate HD (w/ my OS and applications) and put that into an external enclosure and "option-key" boot from the external. This is not really ideal for me.
I'd like to see if you have any thoughts on how I can put the 750 GB HD back into Bay 1 but have my MacPro be able to see and boot from it. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Although I will hopefully appreciate the scalability of this RAID card - it's a bit more pain right now than it's worth.
Thanks in advance.

http://www.caldigit.com/support.asp
you will need to make sure your software, EFI, driver and firmware are the latest version.
or contact caldigit support guy for more info.

My Caldigit Raid Card problem and..

Hi everyone,
Recently I purchased a Caldigit Raid Card and Installed it to slot 3 in my 8-core Mac Pro(Early 2008).
But, my Mac Pro is making a loud fan noise.
According to Caldigit, if Mac Pro's iPass cable is not properly seated to Caldigit Raid Card's J18 Mini-SAS connector, there will be a fan issue that he's experienced.
But My Installation was absolutely correct and my Mac Pro is still making loud fan noise.
I'm not a novice for such a installation.
I sent several e-mails to Caldigit's Online Reseller in the USA, But they reject the refund.
They said that it is a special order, so it cannot be returned for an exchange for other parts.
But, They don't let me know about a special order before buying the Raid Card.
Also, They said that the product is not damaged nor broken, You just have to make sure it is installed properly. If you decide to return the item, there will be a restocking fee charge.
Really, I can't get refund from the Reseller?
Is it all is my fault?
Here is Asia, I can't go there.
Please give me some advice.
Thank you for reading.
p.s. I'm sorry for my poor englsih and this inconvenience post..

My suggestion is contact CalDigit directly. That is a very new product, not many users will have enough experience to assist you. CalDigit has a good support staff and they will help you out. http://www.CalDigit.com/contact.asp
Rick
macgurus.com

2009 Raid card questions...now shipping

I see the Apple Raid card for early 2009 Mac Pro is now shipping. Does anyone have any results from using this card? I'd like to know about sleep, any battery issues, or anything else good or bad. I will be using the Mac Pro mostly for Aperture and Photoshop. Working with Nikon D3 raw in Aperture, approx 25MB file size. Would a raid 0 offer any speed advantage in Aperture with raw images. My gut feeling is no, no speed increase. However I'd like to hear what others have to say. Thanks.
-Eric

How much ram are you running? Having a good amount of ram first will definitely help a lot with large photos. Plus a raid 0 for scratch would help too.
However, if you are planning on doing only a raid 0, I don't think the apple raid card is necessary. $700 can go pretty far with other decent options. External enclosures esata options for example.
http://www.amug.org/amug-web/html/amug/reviews/articles/firmtek/5pm/
http://www.sonnettech.com/product/temposatae4p.html
People that buy the apple raid card usually want to do raid 5 configs. I'm not saying that raid 0 on the apple card wouldn't smoke...I'm sure it would, but for that price, maybe other options would be more flexible and usable also in the future.

RAID card questions

I'll be ordering one of the new MPs shortly to replace my 3 ghz quad. While I use the OSX software RAID on 3 external Sonnet Fusions, I've never attempted to RAID the internal drives. Ideally, I'd like RAID 5 on the 4 internal drives on the new machine, but that would necessitate a RAID card. There seems to be (and I may be wrong) two different RAID cards in the Apple store - one for the late 2009 MPs and an older one that has many complaints concerning battery problems.
I could stripe the four drives and have more capacity but I like the idea of the RAID 5 drive failure tolerance. I know there are other RAID cards available but I'd rather stay with the Apple card if it would work well as my knowledge/skill in these areas is scant and I don't want to get in over my head.
Are the newer cards that come with the early 2009 MPs reliable or am I just asking for trouble?

I would forgo RAID5 internally.
Or just setup a 3-drive mirror. Very fault tolerant. And cheaper. If you want your mirror with stripped reads, that really helps performance, go to SoftRAID.com
If you have never attempted internal RAID, and I assume boot drive, use it for scratch for awhile first to experiment.
I like to have a dedicated boot drive, OS and apps, and nothing else. Very simple and easy to maintain.
The older units did have trouble, and also limited to 340MB/sec.

CalDigit's RAID Card or Highpoint's RocketRaid 4322

hi Everyone,
Are we having fun now or what eh? Congrats to Apple on it's Nehalem MacPro release! While a test of our patience, the wait was a fine process full of joyous anticipation!
I'll be placing my order shortly, and have decided that the 8-core 2.93ghz with Radeon's 4870 is the one for me. My primary softwares, 3D CAD (Vectorworks) and a rendering program (Artlantis) that I use for making concept presentations, are processor intensive. Moving up from my long serving PowerMac G5 is going to be quite the thrill, but I need some help please. It's about hard drive controller cards...
Six months ago, after doing my due diligence in the RAID research department, the CalDigit RAID Card was the front runner. Now, having read recent reviews, it looks as though I should purchase Highpoint's RocketRaid 4322 card. Price-wise, the Caldigit's $100 less expensive plus there's a $100 rebate deal on 'til the end of April ( http://www.caldigit.com/news/CalDigitVRShippingPR.pdf ) making it actually $200 less than the 4322.
Not that money's no object, (far from it actually!) but, when it comes to this kind of decision, I don't let price hold too much weight. Quality pays and, in this case, what I want to purchase is the best hard drive controller card for my purposes and for this machine,
so...
Which card should I buy? Speed and stability/dependability are the primary goals.
Setup-wise, my plan, at this point, is to run WD Velociraptor 150GB drives in the first two bays. These two drives would be set on RAID 0. On this set, I will install the OS, all my applications, and a few primary data files. In the third and fourth drive bays, I will be installing two Velociraptor 300GB drives also set up as a two-drive RAID 0 set. On this set, I will keep all of my data files.
I think this will be a good way to go. I have three external drives that I use for backup and I occasionally burn discs of my data files (which I'll happily be able to do onto Blu-ray discs using the second optical drive bay's soon to be installed Blu-ray RW drive. Yummy!). Thanks to all the backup, and having an eDrive, I comfortable having everything on RAID 0. Running this G5 on a similar configuration has been fantastic. No problems and great, great speed, especially for this, a nearing five-year-old computer.
I'd appreciate everyone's thoughts here. Which RAID card will you buy or have you bought?
Oh, and just what's the difference between Highpoint's 4322 and their 4320? Reading through the specs at the Highpoint website was entirely unhelpful!
I look forward to hearing from you.
thanks in advance,
yours,
JimQ,
Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada

Maybe this is why Highpoint's two top cards are getting more light on them?
Hi,
From my view, using the Mac Pro internal bays with any 3rd party RAID card is a disaster waiting to happen. Anytime Apple makes a change in the hardware or the OS it can easily cause the card to no longer be able to be installed or work properly. In addition, it is possible that some System updates may not like to be installed on RAID boot volumes and I bet the new Snow Leopard version of Mac OS X will break most current 3rd party RAID drivers.
When the boot system is used with an internal 3rd party RAID driver the possibility of a problem occurring when integrating a Mac OS X update rises exponentially. Having the internal Mac Pro drive bays connected to the motherboard gives the user a fighting chance
The reason I was never excited about the CalDigit RAID card is that it uses a slow, entry level, Intel RAID processor. Even with 16 hard disks connected the card is limited to less than 500MB/sec. In addition, it does not support SAS. The slow processor keeps the performance down even though the HDs can provide much higher performance. A 16 channel card with a slow processor is like a sports car with a 4 cylinder 70 horse power engine. It just doesn't make sense to me.
In contrast, the HighPoint RR 4322 includes the high powered Intel IOP 348 1.2GHz (1200MHz) processor with embedded SAS functionality. This card provides two mini-SAS ports (8-channels) that can provide almost twice the performance with eight hard disks in RAID 0. Using RAID 0, AMUG recorded 801MB/sec write and 748MB/sec read performance with the RR 4322. With a RAID 5 configuration 665MB/sec. performance was recorded. With RAID 6, 580MB/sec. was available. The HighPoint RR 4322 provides amazing performance and SAS compatibility. If performance is important, there is no contest between these two cards.
You can read more on the RR 4322 here:
http://www.amug.org/amug-web/html/amug/reviews/articles/highpoint/4322/
The RR 4322 also supports SAS expanders. This allows the HighPoint card to support up to 128 disks with the use of SAS expanders. AMUG tested the Enhance RS16 JS SAS expander enclosure with the RR 4322 and was able to achieve amazing performance with 16 hard disks. Even RAID 6 provided performance as high as 746MB/sec. write and 894MB/sec. read.
http://www.amug.org/amug-web/html/amug/reviews/articles/enhance/rs16js/
Using an external RAID with the RR 4322 provides great performance when needed and the ability to turn the RAID off when not required. Being able to turn off the RAID when not needed saves energy and provides for longer RAID disk life.
If you do find a system conflict with a Mac OS X update it is much easier to boot up from that backup disk that was created before the update than if the RAID is the internal boot disk
The HighPoint RR 4320 is the internal version of the RR 4322. While it is a great deal at newegg for $329, I would always prefer the external version given a choice. Especially since it sounds like Apple may have altered the internal Mac Pro SATA bay connections.
Have fun!

Raid card problem, migration from Caldigit to.... What else?

Hey,
So long story short apple has decided to crew my 2008 mac pro for a new 2009! Which is pretty awesome, except for one small (big) problem. I have a 4 drive raid 5 array off of the Caldigit raid card... however the new system does not have an ipass cable, correct? Meaning I can't connect my raid card..
So here's my problem, I already dropped a bunch of money on this raid card, but I really need a raid 5 array for what I do, any suggestions?

So here's my problem, I already dropped a bunch of money on this raid card, but I really need a raid 5 array for what I do, any suggestions?
Hi,
I would recommend the HighPoint RocketRAID 4322, SeriTek/2eEN4 4-bay, hot swap enclosures and mini-SAS to eSATA cables. You can read more about this configuration here:
http://www.amug.org/amug-web/html/amug/reviews/articles/intel/macpro-2009/
http://www.amug.org/amug-web/html/amug/reviews/articles/highpoint/4322/
http://www.amug.org/amug-web/html/amug/reviews/articles/firmtek/2eEN4/
http://firmtek.stores.yahoo.net/sata2een4.html
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000JQ51CM/arizomacinusergr
This external SATA solution supports RAID 5/6 and provides easy access to the hard disks. I like the external option best as it leaves the internal bays for boot camp, boot drives and backing up or importing data.
If you require an internal solution, and do not mind the limitations that come with it you may want to explore the new MaxUpgrades "SAS/SATA Backplane Attachment."
http://www.maxupgrades.com/istore/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&product_i d=189
http://www.barefeats.com/hard120.html
Happy hunting!

RAID 0 Questions - advice needed

I am stepping up to a new BTO Mac Pro (2.8Ghz with 8GB third-party RAM) and considering the Apple RAID Card vs. Software RAID. I have a few questions regarding RAID 0 on the startup volume and hardware vs. software RAID. I am a graphic designer and running Adobe CS3 and working often with pretty large files.
1. Does RAID 0 on a startup volume offer any performance boost if working data is on another volume? Does the working volume need to be in RAID 0 or RAID 5 to reap the performance beneftis. This is a point I am not entirely clear on yet.
2. I understand the risks of running RAID 0, especially on a startup volume. Any advice on whether or not this offers any real world performance boost?
- OR -
Would a single Raptor offer similar results. Or better yet, would a partial-stroked 500GB SATA II disk offer the same results as a single Raptor at a fraction of the cost, without the RAID 0 risks?
2. Is a hardware RAID card (i.e. the Apple RAID Card or better yet, the new CalDigit RAID Card for less $$$) a better option than software RAID (either Apple or SoftRAID)? With a RAID 0 startup volume and a RAID 1 pair for storage, will hardware RAID offer any performance gains? Or would a single startup volume with a 3-disk RAID 5 storage volume be a better option (I know RAID 5 is not possible with software RAID).
3. Any advice/feedback on the Apple RAID Card? I have read some horror stories about battery charging, at least initially. I have not seen much about the strange recharge cycle which apparently can cripple your machine for days every 3 months. The new CalDigit RAID card appears to be very promising. Supports the 4 internal drive bays as well as external drives, which the Apple card does not.
Thanks in advance for any help/advice.

I usually avoid linking to other forums, but in this case, there is a similar discussion over on MacNN forum setting up a Mac Pro to use RAID.
Apple RAID software has continued to improve. The difference in performance between Apple and SoftRAID has narrowed to the point both are excellent. SoftRAID though alerts you on any I/O time out or read/write errors, and use a stripped read which is nice, when or where it is needed.
I've never stopped upgrading and trying to improve on performance. The trick is not everyone can go out and spend $800 for a drive case and controller plus another $500 on disk drives for an external setup, and buy 3-6 drives for the existing SATA ports.
Rather than buying the fastest, I bought some 160GB RE WD drives, cheap, good for RAID, and planned to use those as the base. Then got the 320GB model. Then bought WD RE2 500GB $115 ea , which seems to be a nice price and still does nicely, optimized for writes. That means I can do some mix-and-matching.
Some can take their existing SATA drives to get started. And probably has some drives that can be used for backups and such.
Here is my own shopping list:
Sonnet Tempo E4P:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Sonnet%20Technology/TSATAIIE4P/
SeriTek Case: $525
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Firmtek/SATA5PM/
Or something cheaper,
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Norco%20Technologies/DS500N/
Dual bay case to use with 2 ODD ports and NewerTech kit:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/MESATATBEK/
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Newer%20Technology/MPQXES2/
(takes some work to access those two ODD SATA ports, but worth it, always on)
OWC XLR8 Specials, usually have Friday specials:
http://eshop.macsales.com/Specials/XLR8YourMac.cfm
10K Raptor $210 vs WD RE2 750GB $220 if you look under hard drives.

Raid 5 Questions

My company is finally committed to making the jump into the HD pool. We're going to make the first upgrade in the storage department, since everything else we can rent for the time being. We edit corporate video shot on DVCPRO HD. I know that firewire 800 is technically fast enough to handle DVCPRO HD, but for future proofing I want to go esata. It seems that Raid 5 is the best combo as far as backup and value. My questions are as follows:
Will disk utility stripe to raid 5, or do I have to get a tower that will stripe to raid 5 using it's own hardware / software? I am running tiger and can't find an option to stripe raid 5 in disk utility. Does Leopard offer this, or perhaps third party software? Or is raid 5 only configured via hardware on the drive tower itself?
What towers have people been using successfully? I would like it to have at least 4 drive bays.
What type of esata card will work well with a Quad G5 (which uses the PCI express slots)?
Of course, if I'm way off the mark and there is a better solution for my storage needs I'm open to suggestion. I know there is a raid 6, but couldn't find any towers that supported it during my search.
Thanks in Advance,
Brandon

Any kind of esata box and card can do disk utility raid 0, all you need just make sure is the performance. it has to be sustained. http://www.AJA.com has speed software to check the data rate.
Be aware that you might lose performance if choosing a software-based RAID 5.
it's entirely possible that you max out your resource in order to edit HD and maintain software RAID 5.
For a hardware RAID, I would 2nd to CalDigit's HDPro.
If you only need a 4-bay raid and want to use your own drives, take a look at caldigit's RAID card or Apple RAID card. Both are pretty inexpensive.
You are able to use 4 to 16 drives with caldigit RAID card, so they pretty much have all the systems that will fit your needs, the raid card or hdpro.
Good luck with the new RAID and let us know how it works. Storing all the data in a good hardware RAID without worrying about losing them is very stress relieving.

Caldigit raid migration problems

Hey,
So long story short apple has decided to crew my 2008 mac pro for a new 2009! Which is pretty awesome, except for one small (big) problem. I have a 4 drive raid 5 array off of the Caldigit raid card... however the new system does not have an ipass cable, correct? Meaning I can't connect my raid card..
So here's my problem, I already dropped a bunch of money on this raid card, but I really need a raid 5 array for what I do, any suggestions?

Thank you. You are correct about the built in drivers. My understanding is that those are just to allow the card/raid to function. The drivers do not allow for any manipulation or control of the raid or any alarms. That's what the Raid Shield is for. If you uninstall the Raid Shield, you cannot see or manipulate the card or raid set, install firmware, or change settings at all, while it will function fine as a drive under Lion or ML. I have uninstalled it and the raid works fine but I can't control it or see the details if I have to which leaves me uncomfortable.
Raid Shield does function.................you just have to clear the error, do what you want quickly, and execute before the error comes back or you just have to clear it again.
Frustrating.

I replaced the battery on my RAID card, when I booted my mac pro up, I get the folder with the question mark. I used a boot USB drive to boot and when I looked in the RAID utility, my RAID 5 volumes were no longer showing, advise.

I replaced the battery on my RAID card, when I booted my mac pro up, I get the folder with the question mark. I used a boot USB drive to boot and when I looked in the RAID utility, my RAID 5 volumes were no longer showing, advise.
Ernest

Not sure if I'm following you. I have 4 hard drives installed on my Mac Pro. I had a RAID 5 configured and functional for about 5 months. My battery died on the RAID card. I replaced the battery, seated the RAID card back in the slot I removed it from. When I booted to the USB drive to look in the RAID utility, I could see the battery is charged but my volumes are not showing.
The drives don't show in disk Utility. I built the RAID with the RAID Utility and they did show there. I have a early 2008 Mac Pro, Mavricks OS running Mac Server

XServe Early 2008 (MA882LL/A) + RAID card SAS drive capacity question

I've tried searching the web and support forums, but haven't been able to find a clear answer to the following question:
I have an XServe Early 2008 (MA882LL/A) with the Apple RAID card and three 73GB SAS ADMs. It's been working great for the last two years. I'm about to upgrade it to 10.6 Server, and if possible would like to swap in larger drives at the same time (since it'll be down for an afternoon anyway). However, only 73GB and 300GB SAS ADMs were ever offered for this model, and Apple says that the Promise 450GB ADM is not compatible with it. What I can't determine is whether I can put a larger drive (notably, a Seagate ST32000444SS) into the Apple ADM sled. The RAID controller seems to have no problem with large SATA drives in the SATA sleds, which seems like a good sign, but I'd rather not order $1K worth of new drives and discover in the data center that they don't work.
Does anyone know definitively whether or not larger drives will work in SAS ADMs with this model of XServe? The RAID controller firmware is current (hardware rev 1.0.0, firmware rev M-2.0.3.3), if that makes a difference. I've read all the docs I can fine--I'd be happiest with an "I tried it and it did/didn't work" kind of answer .
Thanks much,
Amanda Walker
Reston, VA

Good morning
I am watching this thread as well. I have two of the same servers (without the RAID card) and have wondered the same thing as I migrate to Snow Leopard and as my data drives continue to fill up. Apple techs and local service techs have not been willing to endorse Amanda's solution for me and have stuck to the Apple Drive Compatibility chart which certifies 73 and 300 GB SAS drives only for this model XServe.
Thanks for any info you might provide.
Greg
PS Amanda, I would be interested in one of your 73GB SAS drives in an ADM as a boot drive should you decide to surplus one or two of your drives.

Intel Xserve With Raid card Remote install Question

I am currently trying to remotely install OSX server on an Intel 2008 Xserve with a newly fitted raid card (Apple) I get as far as choosing which HD to install but none of the drives show? (there are all Apple brand 300GB SAS)
Can I only install it locally on the machine if a Raid card/SAS drives are in there??
Thanks

Hi,
I just started to do the same. Did you find a solution?
Thanks,
Hans

3-Drive/4-Drive RAID setup questions

I'm contemplating purchasing a new 8-core Mac Pro. I understand RAID but I'm not an expert. That said, I'm thinking of doing one of the following but I don't know if both are doable:
One setup is 1 hard drive for Mac OS X, and 3 RAID drives for the video capture (3TB total RAID 0 Seagate 7200rpm drives).
Or, my question, can I just RAID 0 all 4 drives together and then create a partition for Mac OS X? It seems like this would give A LOT faster bootable drive, plus the benefits of seperating the media storage from the operating system.
The reason I ask now is this makes a difference in my purchase decision. If I can RAID all 4 drives together, do they all have to be the same capacity for RAID 0? If not, I'll just get a standalone 320GB drive for the OS, and RAID the other three 1TB drives together.
Last question, would it help to use a dedicated RAID card like the CalDigit card (or Apple card) instead of software RAIDing within Mac OS X?
Thanks in advance.

First off - DO NOT put your system on your capture RAID. No no no. bad bad bad.
Yes you can RAID your other three drives into a RAID 0 configuration using Disk Utility. All drives should be the same size. Recognize two things with this setup --
1. If your system crashes, you loose the RAID partition as it is created and maintained through system software.
2. If you loose one of the three drives, you loose all the information on all three drives.
A more secure way to go is with a hardware RAID controller. Apple sells one with the MacPros and Caldigit has one as well.
With the Caldigit you can set up the 3 drives as a RAID 5 which will give you data security. I'm not sure what RAID configurations beyond 0 the Apple card supports.
Good luck.
x

Hated RAID card removed, now what?

Finally, after three years of pain and suffering, the RAID card is de-installed.
It was easier than expected. Backed up my three old drives (that were converted into "enhanced JBOD" long ago), installed an extra drive (formatted with DU) and cloned the startup drive on it.
Pulled the card, generally reversing the procedure described in www.caldigit.com/Support/CalDigitRAIDCardGettingStarted(2.2.0).pdf. Messing with the lower of the two screws holding the fan module was a *****.
Surprisingly, the "enhanced JBOD" drives (that I thought would be unreadable without the card) are perfectly readable. I was expecting that I'd have to reformat them. But the system booted up right away from one of them, and everything seems to be working.
The question is: do I still need to reformat those drives? Should I expect any troubles from them - since they were formatted with RAID utility and through the card that is no longer there?

Thanks!
Then I believe I'm done.
(Had I known it's that easy I'd get rid of it two years ago. The notion of a RAID controller that fails more often than any of the disks it manages with is ridiculous. But someone somewhere wrote that the disks that this card had touched would not work without it, even if they were JBOD.)

CalDigit RAID-Card Questions

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for