EVGA

790i Ultra SLI as Ubuntu Server: Onboard SATA2 Array or Add-In SATA3 Controller?

Author
Post
Essentials Only Full Version
lrjfamily
iCX Member
  • Total Posts : 290
  • Reward points : 0
  • Joined: 2007/08/18 12:32:24
  • Status: offline
  • Ribbons : 0
2016/02/07 09:00:56 (permalink)
I have two aging servers in the house that have long needed to be combined. Since their OS's are about out of support I thought I'd start putting together their ultimate replacement in the form of an Ubuntu server. I have a lifetime warranty 790i that's had very little use. I installed a QX9650 processor and 4GB of RAM. I have a number of smaller SATA HDs and acquired four Hitachi Deskstar 3TB HDs I want to put into RAID 5.
 
Questions:
A) Will a four drive RAID 5 array saturate SATA2? Stated another way: is there any benefit to using a 3rd party SATA3 controller or should I just attach them all to the onboard SATA2 ports?
B) I *think* RAID is available in the 790i BIOS. What are the pluses and minuses of using onboard RAID vs. RAID supplied in Ubuntu?
 
I'm committed to making this MB & Ubuntu work. So I appreciate sticking to my storage issues given those assumptions.
 
Thanks!

Primary Gaming: 
EVGA X58 SLI (132-BL-E758-A1)
Core i7-920 OC'd @ 3.561Ghz
24GB Triple-Channel RAM
EVGA GTX 980 SC ACX 2.0  


#1

6 Replies Related Threads
    lrjfamily
    iCX Member
    • Total Posts : 290
    • Reward points : 0
    • Joined: 2007/08/18 12:32:24
    • Status: offline
    • Ribbons : 0
    Re: 790i Ultra SLI as Ubuntu Server: Onboard SATA2 Array or Add-In SATA3 Controller? 2016/02/08 05:04:29 (permalink)
    After doing some research and having issues finding the right drivers, properly installing, etc., etc. everything associated with the add-in SATA3 controller I just connected all 4 3TB drives to the remaining 4 SATA2 ports. All's running well so far. And, from what I can discern given their max transfer rates, there should be no performance penalty.

    Primary Gaming: 
    EVGA X58 SLI (132-BL-E758-A1)
    Core i7-920 OC'd @ 3.561Ghz
    24GB Triple-Channel RAM
    EVGA GTX 980 SC ACX 2.0  


    #2
    _JoseR
    SSC Member
    • Total Posts : 826
    • Reward points : 0
    • Joined: 2014/04/11 09:39:05
    • Status: offline
    • Ribbons : 1
    Re: 790i Ultra SLI as Ubuntu Server: Onboard SATA2 Array or Add-In SATA3 Controller? 2016/02/08 07:40:14 (permalink)
    A 4 drive SATA RAID using RAID 5 will perform just fine on this motherboard. Some years ago I installed a similar set up using RAID 5 but on an older 680i motherboard and it ran rock solid with the supplied RAID drivers. 
     
    RAID on Linux is a pretty interesting configuration which I have not had an experience with personally but from the benchmarks I have seen comparing the Windows RAID drivers vs. the Fake RAID driver package offered by Ubuntu the performance is only ok but I think some of this is also largely dependent on the media being used (SSD vs. HDD) andn the level of driver support. Hardware RAID on the other hand can be a pain to configure if you were to purchase a dedicated RAID controller which may or may not be compatible with this motherboard but if you did get one working your read write speeds would definitely be through the roof and  you would have much better control over the array using the included software.

     
     
    #3
    NO_sauce
    iCX Member
    • Total Posts : 268
    • Reward points : 0
    • Joined: 2016/01/25 13:37:44
    • Status: offline
    • Ribbons : 3
    Re: 790i Ultra SLI as Ubuntu Server: Onboard SATA2 Array or Add-In SATA3 Controller? 2016/02/08 07:58:59 (permalink)
    I have 5) 2 TB drives running RAID on the exact same motherboard so I can also confirm that this works. +1 to EVGATech_JoseR.
    post edited by NO_sauce - 2016/02/08 08:08:16

    If you have a moment, please rate my service  Agent: Joseph L
    #4
    lrjfamily
    iCX Member
    • Total Posts : 290
    • Reward points : 0
    • Joined: 2007/08/18 12:32:24
    • Status: offline
    • Ribbons : 0
    Re: 790i Ultra SLI as Ubuntu Server: Onboard SATA2 Array or Add-In SATA3 Controller? 2016/02/08 08:05:08 (permalink)
    Yep, 4 drives in a ZFS filesystem zpool and connected directly to the motherboard. Should have a good amount of data on them today and start making the drives work - testing before I move the live data over.
     
    Thanks!

    Primary Gaming: 
    EVGA X58 SLI (132-BL-E758-A1)
    Core i7-920 OC'd @ 3.561Ghz
    24GB Triple-Channel RAM
    EVGA GTX 980 SC ACX 2.0  


    #5
    lrjfamily
    iCX Member
    • Total Posts : 290
    • Reward points : 0
    • Joined: 2007/08/18 12:32:24
    • Status: offline
    • Ribbons : 0
    Re: 790i Ultra SLI as Ubuntu Server: Onboard SATA2 Array or Add-In SATA3 Controller? 2016/02/19 06:48:24 (permalink)
    There seem to be issues with the nVidia SATA controllers and Ubuntu centered around Native Command Queuing (NCQ), a technology that's been around for decades. So that's rather surprising. I've created another post about it: http://forums.evga.com/79...agement-m2448206.aspx. I may resurrect trying to make the 3rd-party adapter work but for now I'm looking at letting the BIOS create the array.

    Primary Gaming: 
    EVGA X58 SLI (132-BL-E758-A1)
    Core i7-920 OC'd @ 3.561Ghz
    24GB Triple-Channel RAM
    EVGA GTX 980 SC ACX 2.0  


    #6
    lrjfamily
    iCX Member
    • Total Posts : 290
    • Reward points : 0
    • Joined: 2007/08/18 12:32:24
    • Status: offline
    • Ribbons : 0
    Re: 790i Ultra SLI as Ubuntu Server: Onboard SATA2 Array or Add-In SATA3 Controller? 2016/02/20 17:23:41 (permalink)
    Just FYI: the Highpoint add-in 640L RAID adapter doesn't have the problem whether it's an array created by the 640L's BIOS or the Ubuntu OS.

    Primary Gaming: 
    EVGA X58 SLI (132-BL-E758-A1)
    Core i7-920 OC'd @ 3.561Ghz
    24GB Triple-Channel RAM
    EVGA GTX 980 SC ACX 2.0  


    #7
    Jump to:
  • Back to Mobile