Exceed mobo maximum HD size with RAID?

On Sun, 20 Jul 2003 13:04:32 -0400, Jean-Philippe Houde
wrote:

Hi,

I would like to buy a Dell OptiPlex GX1 to use it as a little storage server
(with 80gig HD or larger). I've search the Dell web site and the maximum
drive size that someone reported to work was 40gig (after a BIOS
update...).

I wonder if I buy a RAID controller that support large drive would it work?
I guess RAID controller got their own BIOS and they manage the HD... or if
it will still be the Dell OptiPlex limit?


Thanks
Jean-Philippe

Yes, a RAID controller will offer HDD size support independent of, not
limited by, the motherboard's limit.

Are you sure it can't use the 80GB drive though? If someone reported
success with 40GB, might that only mean that no one has reported
failure yet with larger drives? It "might" support higher, like up to
128GB... I would try the drive on the mobo controller first, before
purchasing the RAID card, unless you want RAIDed drives anyway. If
the HDD size isn't supported by the mobo controller/bios and you don't
need RAID, a standard IDE controller (non-RAID) could likewise provide
support for the larger HDD.


Dave

kony wrote:

On Sun, 20 Jul 2003 13:04:32 -0400, Jean-Philippe Houde
wrote:

Hi,

I would like to buy a Dell OptiPlex GX1 to use it as a little storage
server (with 80gig HD or larger). I've search the Dell web site and the
maximum drive size that someone reported to work was 40gig (after a BIOS
update...).

I wonder if I buy a RAID controller that support large drive would it
work? I guess RAID controller got their own BIOS and they manage the HD...
or if it will still be the Dell OptiPlex limit?


Thanks
Jean-Philippe

Yes, a RAID controller will offer HDD size support independent of, not
limited by, the motherboard's limit.

Are you sure it can't use the 80GB drive though? If someone reported
success with 40GB, might that only mean that no one has reported
failure yet with larger drives? It "might" support higher, like up to
128GB... I would try the drive on the mobo controller first, before
purchasing the RAID card, unless you want RAIDed drives anyway. If
the HDD size isn't supported by the mobo controller/bios and you don't
need RAID, a standard IDE controller (non-RAID) could likewise provide
support for the larger HDD.


Dave

Thanks Dave for your answer!

Well my plan was to do software RAID with Linux... I know the performance is
less than hardware RAID, but if the 80gig HD are not supported by the
motherboard I will go for hardware RAID.

Thanks once again
Jean-Philippe