Adaptec 2252700-R 16-Port Internal Connectors 256MB Cache PCI Express X8 SATA/SAS RAID Controller Review

We received Adaptec 31605 RAID controllers in two SuperMicro servers, ordered in early Dec 2007.Our primary server had 10 1TB Seagate hard drives - new drives with 32mb caches (1.2 msec. read seek time, 1.0 write seek time - NICE).After about a month of testing we deployed the server in production.A week later we discovered CATASTROPHIC data loss on the controller's RAID6 array.With our server vendor's assistance, we isolated the problem to the controller's lack of support for hard drives with 32mb cache.

We tried to work with Adaptec to resolve the problem with a BIOS firmware update, but their front-line support was very rude and condescending.They refused to acknowledge the problem, even though our server vendor told us that they'd gotten a CONFIRMATION from Adaptec that the problem was known and that a firmware update was pending that would resolve the problem.AND Adaptec charged us $75 just for the front-line support call!

We switched to an LSI Logic 84016E RAID controller, and so far we're much happier.The documentation is more detailed & easier to read, their customer support has been more friendly & MUCH more helpful, AND on top of all that the card's less expensive.We haven't deployed this card into production yet, but I have high hopes that it'll perform more reliably!

Bottom line:the Adaptec 31605 RAID controller card appeared to have very high performance, and the setup utility is easy to use.But if you're using it with recently-manufactured hard drives (32mb cache), BE AWARE that this card may not be reliable!It probably works fine when the RAID array's made of hard drives with 16mb caches (i.e, old drives), but we've lost too much time recovering from our data loss to care.

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Product Description:
The Adaptec RAID 31605 is a 16-port controller that supports SATA and SAS drives and next-generation PCIe connectivity. It features Adaptec RAID Code (ARC) with RAID levels 0, 1, 1E, 5, 5EE, 6, 10, 50, 60, JBOD, as well as Copyback Hot Spare and optional Snapshot Backup. The card has 256MB of DDR2 memory and a battery unit is optional. Adaptec Storage Manager provides one-view, centralized management for all Adaptec RAID controllers.

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