SATA II and SAS RAID CARD ROUNDUP

LSI MegaRAID 8708ELP

LSI is a veteran of the SCSI and RAID card industry, just like Adaptec.  They've fought for the top spot with Adaptec during the U320 SCSI times, and now are back in the arena with new SAS RAID adapters, still sporting the MegaRAID moniker.  LSI had gone through a few transformations over the past couple years.  Hopefully, their products retain the strong-performance and reliable bloodline that have made them top picks for storage. 

The MegaRAID 8708ELP is a low-profile card.  This product is categorized under the Value Line of SAS/SATA RAID adapters.  "Value" typically connotes "low-end", but there is actually an "Entry Level" set of products, making the "Value Line" the middle class.

 LSI had changed its packaging to a more attractive style, as shown below:

Manufacturer's specifications:

• LSISAS1078 RAID on Chip
  • 500MHz PowerPC
  • Hardware RAID 5 & 6 engines
• 8 SAS/SATA compatible ports
• 2 mini-SAS 4i connectors (8087)
  • 3 Gb/s throughput per port
• Fits PCI Express slot, x4 or x8
• 667Mhz DDRII cache (128MB)
• Optional battery backup module
• Connect up to 16 intermixed SAS and SATA devices within the same array
• RAID levels 0, 1, 5 and 6
• RAID Spans 10, 50 and 60
• Auto-resume on array rebuild
• Auto resume array reconstruction
• Online Capacity Expansion
• RAID Level Migration (RLM)
• Create 64 logical volumes
• Up to 32TB LUN support
• Comprehensive management tools
• Audible alarm circuit

LSI uses an application called MegaRAID storage manager.  It is not browser-based, but can access arrays throughout the LAN.  Just like the Adaptec management utility, it is also a  Java application, and requires the user to login using a system account:

Here are the benchmark results.  Poor write performance is likely attributed to the RAID engine's calculation capability.  It is much more evident in the RAD-5 and RAID-6 sets where parity data is calculated:

Hardware RAID-0, 8k Stripe, HD Tach 3.0 8MB Zones

Hardware RAID-0, 8k Stripe, HD Tach 3.0 32MB Zones

Hardware RAID-0, 8k Stripe, ATTO Mark

Hardware RAID-0, 1024k Stripe, HD Tach 3.0 8MB Zones

Hardware RAID-0, 1024k Stripe, HD Tach 3.0 32MB Zones

Hardware RAID-0, 1024k Stripe, ATTO Mark

Hardware RAID-1,  HD Tach 3.0 8MB Zones

Hardware RAID-1,  HD Tach 3.0 32MB Zones

Hardware RAID-1, ATTO Mark

Hardware RAID-5, 8k Stripe, HD Tach 3.0 8MB Zones

Hardware RAID-5, 8k Stripe, HD Tach 3.0 32MB Zones

Hardware RAID-5, 8k Stripe, ATTO Mark

Hardware RAID-5, 1024k Stripe, HD Tach 3.0 8MB Zones

Hardware RAID-5, 1024k Stripe, HD Tach 3.0 32MB Zones

Hardware RAID-5, 1024k Stripe, ATTO Mark

Hardware RAID-6, 8k Stripe, HD Tach 3.0 8MB Zones

Hardware RAID-6, 8k Stripe, HD Tach 3.0 32MB Zones

Hardware RAID-6, 8k Stripe, ATTO Mark

Hardware RAID-6, 1024k Stripe, HD Tach 3.0 8MB Zones

Hardware RAID-6, 1024k Stripe, HD Tach 3.0 32MB Zones

Hardware RAID-6, 1024k Stripe, ATTO Mark

Hardware RAID-10, 8k Stripe, HD Tach 3.0 8MB Zones

Hardware RAID-10, 8k Stripe, HD Tach 3.0 32MB Zones

Hardware RAID-10, 8k Stripe, ATTO Mark

Hardware RAID-10, 1024k Stripe, HD Tach 3.0 8MB Zones

Hardware RAID-10, 1024k Stripe, HD Tach 3.0 32MB Zones

Hardware RAID-10, 1024k Stripe, ATTO Mark

Hardware RAID-50, 8k Stripe, HD Tach 3.0 8MB Zones

Hardware RAID-50, 8k Stripe, HD Tach 3.0 32MB Zones

Hardware RAID-50, 8k Stripe, ATTO Mark

Hardware RAID-50, 1024k Stripe, HD Tach 3.0 8MB Zones

Hardware RAID-50, 1024k Stripe, HD Tach 3.0 32MB Zones

Hardware RAID-50, 1024k Stripe, ATTO Mark

Hardware RAID-60, 8k Stripe, HD Tach 3.0 8MB Zones

Hardware RAID-60, 8k Stripe, HD Tach 3.0 32MB Zones

Hardware RAID-60, 8k Stripe, ATTO Mark

Hardware RAID-60, 1024k Stripe, HD Tach 3.0 8MB Zones

Hardware RAID-60, 1024k Stripe, HD Tach 3.0 32MB Zones

Hardware RAID-60, 1024k Stripe, ATTO Mark

Software RAID-0, ATTO Mark