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Any idea how this controller perform with i7 MBP and Snow Leopard?
I am looking for a RAID solution for My MacBook Pro i7 running on Snow Leopard. Planning on the CalDigit or Dulce PCIe extender RAID for the Mac Pro, but for the Macbook Pro it is out of our budget for now. So the only solution now is looking for something that support both Firewire 800 and eSata.Since there is no way I can get the Sonnet Fusion D400QR5 here in Beijing, so I have to opt for brands that can give me local tech support here.
I came across Stardom (Partner of Raidon)which have a few models that support hardware RAID 5/6:
– SOHORAID SR4: Standard 4-bay enclosure which uses Oxford 936QS with 1x USB,2x Firewire 800 and 1x eSata.
Link: https://www.stardom.com.tw/sohoraid_sr4_feature.html
– SOHORAID SR5: 5-bay enclosure 1x usb, 2x Firewire 800 and 1x eSata, but the hardware embedded RAID controller is not listed and I tried google it to no result.
Link: https://www.raidon-usa.com/stardom/sohoraid_sr5_feature.html
Since the Oxford 936QS support only 4 drives max, so it cannot be the same chip that was being used in the SR4. I then tried looking for other 5-bay enclosure with the same interface and RAID level, the closest one I can find is from the Stardom partner – Raidon
Link: https://www.raidon.com.tw/content.php?sno=0000093&p_id=8
Raidon SR6600-5S-WBS2:
– Intel 80219 400MHz I/O processor
– 128MB on-board DDR200 SDRAM with ECC protection
– Marvell 8 channels SATA ll controller
– Stardom ASIC to support extreme performance RAID 6 functionI assumed the Stardom ASIC is some kind of RAID ASID which I am not familiar with. So I am curious as how this Intel + Marvell + ASIC going to perform with the Macbook Pro using ExpressCadr/34. I know eSata wouldn’t give me uncompressed HD, but I am just looking for something faster then Firewire 800 with at least RAID 5 protection.So my main concern is Size (6~8TB) + Protection (RAID5/6)
If you guys have to have to choose between the 4-bay SR4 which uses Oxford 936QS or the 5-bay SR5 which uses the Intel + Marvell + ASIC?
James
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6 Replies
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Stardom is a teriffic company, and Sonnet uses the Marvel chip on the E4P card, so yes, it will work with the MacBook Pro.
4 modern SATA drives will do over200MB/sec, so you can do uncompressed HD with this, but your slot34 adaptor in your MAC Book Pro will not let you have this bandwidth, no matter what you buy.
Bob Zelin
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Thanks your quick reply Bob. I am aware that all ExpressCard are only PCIe x1 compliant, and I would not get the full bandwidth of the Sata-II. My main concern is that with the Marvell chip on the Sonnet E4P I may have this problem:
Link: https://eshop.macsales.com/Search/displayFAQDetails.cfm?ID=482
And if I follow the advice and use a Silicon Image based chip I may have compatibility problem with the Snow Leopard. Or are both issues had been sorted out in the latest 10.6.3 update? Since I am going to buy the Sonnet E4P and the ExpressCard/34 from online dealer so I have to make sure I am getting the right card. The enclosure I will get it locally though.
James
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well, I didn’t know this. I have a GREAT idea. Instead of asking dopes like me, how about contacting Stardom. John Schilling (ex Cal Digit) runs Stardom – I am sure he would be thrilled to answer your questions – especially in a public forum.
Bob Zelin
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Thanks for the heads up! Will do.
James
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I’m here, happy to help. You’re welcome to call us (we answer our phones) or email us.
Jon Schilling | Vice President of Sales & Marketing
RAIDON-USA Technology
STARDOM Storage by RAIDON
15356 East Valley Blvd., Suite B
City of Industry, CA 91746
Tel: 626-333-7888
http://www.stardomstorage.com -
James,
The SR5, which is a STARDOM product is not yet shipping, at least not in the US.
You’ll get better throughput than FW 800 using an ExpressCard 34mm to eSATA with an SR4 with the eSATA I/O.
Anything else, please do feel free to drop us a line.
Jon Schilling | Vice President of Sales & Marketing
RAIDON-USA Technology
STARDOM Storage by RAIDON
15356 East Valley Blvd., Suite B
City of Industry, CA 91746
Tel: 626-333-7888
http://www.stardomstorage.com
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