37 Posts
0
3208
DELL T130: Is this software or hardware RAID?
Our Powerdge PowerEdge T130 Server Invoice states
- S130, Software RAID (for Microsoft OS Only)
- RAID 1 for S130
Does this means this is software-only RAID? Is this reliable? I have read about software RAID being deprecated...
Anonymous
5 Practitioner
5 Practitioner
•
274.2K Posts
1
October 3rd, 2018 07:00
Hi Riccardo,
The PERC S130 is software RAID, intended as an economical solution where performance isn't a concern. A dedicated controller card (H730 for example, supported on the T130) would give you better performance. Most controllers without cache have limited write speeds. This article explains in more detail: https://www.dell.com/support/article/sln164091.
Thanks,
theflash1932
9 Legend
9 Legend
•
16.3K Posts
1
October 3rd, 2018 20:00
No, software RAID itself is not deprecated. As was previously noted, the S130 is a software RAID solution … technically it is a driver-based RAID solution - a Dell rebranding of the Intel chipset RAID controller. Main thing to remember about any of Dell's S-series RAID controllers: They are garbage. No ifs, ands, or buts … they are garbage. They are marketed as an economical choice for RAID, but it is all marketing hype. Unreliable, extremely poor performance, and very limited in recovery and troubleshooting options. If you are in the market for an economical choice, then pure software (OS-managed) RAID is what you should be looking at … implement it in Windows Disk Management (Linux OS-managed software RAID is even more robust).
The H730 controller is not out of this world expensive (~$400), but when working with a T130, chances are the H730 costs nearly as much as the server itself and the server will lack other hardware needed to compliment the H730's level of performance (CPU, RAM, etc.).