http://www.addonics.com/products/ad4mspx2.php
I'm looking at putting some SSDs in my computer, however I already have 6 sata devices. The issue, for me, is the cables. I can't really fit anymore SATA devices in my current case.
My solution was to get some mSATA controllers to put into my PCIe 3.0 slots. I have three free that can run at least 4x and another, that isn't covered by a dual-slot graphics card, that has a single lane. I've mostly seen a SIIG, Syba, and the Addonics. The SIIG seems over priced, and the Syba apparently runs all data through a jumper, which sounds like an excellent way to have data corruption. Both, also, have SATA ports, which I don't need since my motherboard offers three SATA controllers, and 14 ports. I do plan, at some point, of getting another controller since I do want all drives in an array to be on their own controller to reduce points of failure.
The SSDs, by the way, are to be used for caching. Most of what I do with my computer runs off of three 1TB WD Re4 disks, each on their own controller. My plan is to set up all of the partitions on the drive as Bcache backing devices and then use the entire SSD as a caching device -- one SSD per HDD. Also, one mSATA controller per SSD. I also may, one day, get some more SSDs to put on the cards and simply place my most demanding data directly on an SSD, but I'd likely do that after upgrading my 1TB RE4's to 3TB RE's some time in the somewhat distant future.
Also, I know it seems strange to have a RAID on top of a device with caching. Bcache was, after all, designed around the idea of preventing random writes to RAID 5 and 6 arrays. However, I'm using btrfs, and cannot put a cache on top of the array. I also can't use RAID 5 or 6 really either since the recover mechanism for these two levels hasn't been completed yet. I also expect to get a reduction in effectiveness due to the copy-on-write nature of btrfs, though I haven't seen such limitations in my preliminary examinations so far. (yes, btrfs and bcache are playing together nicely, at least as of kernel 3.17.6).
The issue is that I can't find much information on this company nor the product. I am, therefore, looking to you guys for an opinion other than my own.
I'm looking at putting some SSDs in my computer, however I already have 6 sata devices. The issue, for me, is the cables. I can't really fit anymore SATA devices in my current case.
My solution was to get some mSATA controllers to put into my PCIe 3.0 slots. I have three free that can run at least 4x and another, that isn't covered by a dual-slot graphics card, that has a single lane. I've mostly seen a SIIG, Syba, and the Addonics. The SIIG seems over priced, and the Syba apparently runs all data through a jumper, which sounds like an excellent way to have data corruption. Both, also, have SATA ports, which I don't need since my motherboard offers three SATA controllers, and 14 ports. I do plan, at some point, of getting another controller since I do want all drives in an array to be on their own controller to reduce points of failure.
The SSDs, by the way, are to be used for caching. Most of what I do with my computer runs off of three 1TB WD Re4 disks, each on their own controller. My plan is to set up all of the partitions on the drive as Bcache backing devices and then use the entire SSD as a caching device -- one SSD per HDD. Also, one mSATA controller per SSD. I also may, one day, get some more SSDs to put on the cards and simply place my most demanding data directly on an SSD, but I'd likely do that after upgrading my 1TB RE4's to 3TB RE's some time in the somewhat distant future.
Also, I know it seems strange to have a RAID on top of a device with caching. Bcache was, after all, designed around the idea of preventing random writes to RAID 5 and 6 arrays. However, I'm using btrfs, and cannot put a cache on top of the array. I also can't use RAID 5 or 6 really either since the recover mechanism for these two levels hasn't been completed yet. I also expect to get a reduction in effectiveness due to the copy-on-write nature of btrfs, though I haven't seen such limitations in my preliminary examinations so far. (yes, btrfs and bcache are playing together nicely, at least as of kernel 3.17.6).
The issue is that I can't find much information on this company nor the product. I am, therefore, looking to you guys for an opinion other than my own.
