multiple hard drives + controllers

Brent_212 · Post by **Brent_212** » Sat Nov 24, 2001 5:33 pm

I currently have three hdd's and one cdrom hooked up to my motherboard's primary and secondary ide connectors. I want to add another hard drive and possibly another cdrom plus have room for future expansion. I'm pretty sure I need a pci controller card, but I have no knowledge on these. How exactly do they work? How many ide devices can I connect to one? Any suggestions for a reliable/cheap one (speed isn't as important as reliable data transfer). I've got a 266 FSB DFI motherboad with an Athlon 1 GHz and 256 DDR ram.

Thanks for your help,
-Brent_212

smaier69 · Post by **smaier69** » Sat Nov 24, 2001 5:50 pm

i would go with a Promise Ultra100 PCI controller card. they are consistant and reliable. not too expensive, either (roughly $25 to $40 or so depending on where you look). they provide you with another IDE controller (with 2 channels) just like your onboard controller. so in essence you could have 4 devices on that and 4 devices on the onboard controller.

and as far as how they work... they work exactly like the onboard unit. your onboard IDE controller is actually a PCI device, but since its an integrated unit, it doesnt look like it (doesnt actually plug into a PCI expansion slot).

here's a link to a Promise unit.... http://www.aberdeeninc.com/abcatg/control.htm . the Promise controllers are near the bottom.

AMPLIFRIER · Post by **AMPLIFRIER** » Sat Nov 24, 2001 5:53 pm

if you going to get a controller card.....consider RAID

you got 3 drives.......are they all the same size and rpm?

if so you could get a mojor speed boost out of it.

And like Samir was saying about Promise.........

i have promise and love mine

2 40g 7200rpm drives in a stipped array

zoom zoom zoom

(i hate that mazda commercial)

AMP

Brent_212 · Post by **Brent_212** » Sat Nov 24, 2001 6:19 pm

What's RAID? It seems like I've heard that termed used when people are talking about SCSI devices. Are there IDE RAID controllers? If so, what's the difference between a RAID and non-RAID controller?

smaier69 · Post by **smaier69** » Sat Nov 24, 2001 6:43 pm

yes there are IDE RAID as well as SCSI RAID controllers. if you have 2 or more identical hard drives when i would also suggest looking into an IDE RAID controller. they are a little more expensive (~$70 to $90 for an ATA100 RAID controller), and can also be used as a regular IDE controller.

if you would like to read all about what RAID is and how it works, take a look at http://www.storagereview.com/welcome.pl ... index.html .

its got a lot of information and a good way of describing RAID and its different levels.

Brent_212 · Post by **Brent_212** » Sat Nov 24, 2001 6:57 pm

Thanks for the very prompt help, guys. I'll take a look at that RAID link.

Your responses are much appreciated.

-Brent_212

poptom · Post by **poptom** » Sun Nov 25, 2001 3:11 am

If you're simply looking to expand your system, the first card suggested by smaier69 is probably the most suitable.

Grimson · Post by **Grimson** » Sun Nov 25, 2001 4:02 am

Yep, if you've got the drives for it, RAID is the way to go. I love it.

Learn here.

Oh and they just put out the ATA133 card.

yay

maroon · Post by **maroon** » Sun Nov 25, 2001 9:34 am

I have the Promise Ultra 100 TX2. Got it for around $25, shipping included. It gives you a little extra performance and you can put different speed drives on the same cable (80 wire, ATA 100) and not be limited by the speed of the slowest drive.