I-RAM & RAID Controller Compatibility

[Savage1701]

Knowing that 3Ware controllers don't support/recognize Gigabyte i-RAM drives, I was wondering if anyone out there had a high-performance controller brand that they knew would work. I'd like to stay away from Highpoint and was sort of hoping someone had tried them with Areca.

Thanks for any help.

P.S.: 3Ware tech support explicitly told me there controllers don't recognize i-RAM drives. I can confirm this for 9590SE and 9500S series controllers.

 

[Tmagic650]

Here's an example:
http://www.buy.com/prod/iram-storage-controller-card-support-up-to-4gb-ddr-memory/q/loc/101/202166258.html

 

[Savage1701]

That's just an ad for the i-RAM - I don't see any controller recommended for it.

 

[Tmagic650]

It looks like the iRam controller is what the iRam modules plug into, and this controller plugs into a PCI slot on the motherboard

 

[Savage1701]

Tmagic - I've got 5 of these, and I think you are missing the point of my question. The i-RAM card works by having standard 184 pin modules plugged into it, up to 1GB per stick max. It then plugs into a PCI slot but ONLY draws working and standby power from the PCI socket. Nothing else. No intelligence or data transfer occurs over the PCI bus and this card. i-RAM's have somewhat persnickety SATA controllers built into them. I have an old PIII board that serves as nothing more than a way of powering these cards. It does not even have a PIII cpu on board, just a shorted-on ATX PS. They actually serve a physically seperate CPU via a SATA to E-SATA cable. The cards have a SATA port on them that plugs into either a motherboard or RAID controller port.

My specific question is, given that I don't want my ICH5/7/9 controllers on my Intel MB's set up as SATA drives (I run them in enhanced IDE mode), I want to know if anyone has used a name brand RAID controller other than 3Ware or Highpoint with these to RAID 0 them and overcome their low capacity.

 

[xehqter]

I assume you want to do a RAID0 (Stripe). As iRAM’s use DDR memory (access time is the same throughout the media) there is almost no point in getting an expensive RAID card with onboard memory. That being said, you can use an inexpensive “software” RAID card as-long-as it supports the iRAM.

The inexpensive Silicon Image 3114 controller chip appears to work with the iRAM’s however they seem to max out around 80MB/s in benchmarks.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815124020
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816132013

 

[Savage1701]

Thanks !

Thank you - that's the info I was looking for. I agree - no point in getting a controller that's pricey. I just wanted one that I knew would work since i-RAMs have such low capacity they about have to be RAID 0'd together to matter. And I did not want to have to F6 my onboard Intel SATA ports; I want them running in IDE mode. Also, my particular MB's onboard Marvell controller won't recognize the i-RAM's either, although I have had other Marvell onboards that see them just fine. Go figure. All I can conclude is that the i-RAM's controller is flaky, but I don't have the coin right now to dump them all for new Acard RAM drives (which are an absolute thing of beauty if you are into RAM drives...)

Again, thanks for the helpful reply.