Data Backup Digest

A RAID controller is an integral part of modern server rooms, but choosing the right one for your purposes isn't an easy task. There are plenty of decisions to be made, and the answers to the questions you'll need to ask are based almost entirely on the specifics of your usage. The first fork in the road is whether to opt for an internal or external controller for your RAID system. An external controller offers up many of its own quirks and several more decisions to be made, so we're going to be focussing on the considerations to be made when looking for an internal solution.

An internal controller comes in the form of a card or chip that's integrated into your RAID system. It's unusual for the component to be purchased separately to the system itself for this reason, but be sure to pay close attention to the specifics of the controller you're purchasing. A good controller will ensure that your system as a whole works as you expect it to, but a poorly chosen controller will prevent it from living up to its full potential. For your company to enjoy the best results from the hardware, it's crucial that you make sure the controller is up to task. The most important consideration to be made when purchasing an internal RAID controller is whether SATA or SCSI is the right option for you.

For a long time, it was generally considered that SCSI was the king of the hill, with SATA a distant second — and pricing for both reflected that quite accurately. However, further tests demonstrated that both had their own strengths and weaknesses, and neither should be written off immediately. SCSI proved to be particularly potent when used to tackle databases, whereas file server functionality and media streaming was at its best when SATA drives were being used. The lesson here is not to think of one as better than the other in every situation; consider your needs, and purchase accordingly.

It's also important to remember that advances in the field of data management are being made all the time. There's plenty of documentation available on the Internet that will suggest that SATA is an outdated form of technology that can't match SCSI in the context of a RAID controller. However, much of this content was written as far back as the early 2000s. Since then, there has been constant iterative development on SATA technology — even the breakthrough of the SATA II standard wasn't in place when many publications were passing judgement on the relative worth of a SATA device.

SCSI drives are typically more expensive than their SATA counterparts, but in certain situations it's very much a smart investment to spend that extra money. If you don't, you run the risk of purchasing equipment that simply isn't fit to the task it's being used for, and that's never a smart decision. It might not seem prudent to spend more on an SCSI drive that otherwise seems comparable to a SATA model, but the up-front cost can be well worth it, depending on the needs of your enterprise.