Best RAID controller with cache for the least amount of money

[smileyscout]

Yo bros been a while since I've posted here so forgive me if this is in the wrong subforum.

I was up last night until 2 AM or so speccing out RAID controllers. Damn if the little bastards aren't fiddly. Gotta watch out for enough PCIe lanes to use all possible bandwidth, some terrible brands floating around, and the whole cache memory thing. Finally figured out I should get a card thats at least PCIe x4 (or PCIe 3.0 anything), has cache memory, and a battery backup module. Only problem is I don't know the market well enough to find a card which meets those specs for the least amount of money. What I came up with is a 5 year old LSI card and a $160 battery backup unit.

SAS9260-8I Sgl Raid 8PORT Int 6GB Sas/sata Pcie 2.0 512MB
LSI LSI00264 MegaRAID LSIiBBU08 Battery Backup Unit for 9260/1 and 9280 Series--Avago Technologies

Both together are $440 before any tax or shipping.

Does anyone know of a reliable solution with battery backup which costs less than $440? I saw some interesting cards from Adaptec which support some kind a SSD hybrid RAID but they sure weren't any cheaper.

Battery backup is probably overkill for the usage case I have but I want the RAID solution to be as bullet proof as possible.

 

[diehard]

There is absolutely no better use of Ebay than this situation. 9260's with a BBU can be found for $150 easily.

 

[Olga-SAN]

ebay or throw in some more bones to get one tested and with warranty from your next corner refurb shop

 

[ND40oz]

There is absolutely no better use of Ebay than this situation. 9260's with a BBU can be found for $150 easily.

Yup, look for the IBM M5014 and M5015 and then just flash them to a 9260.

 

[virtualheretic]

Well shit on me, I feel silly for paying full price for a 9260-8i now

 

[smileyscout]

I'm so getting a 9260-8i with BBU off eBay for this build. I don't know why I didn't think of looking for them there.

 

[ldrrp]

You should try one of these, They are really fast and reliable. Try finding one on ebay or if you have the money buy it directly from the company since they have great warranty and support.

http://www.attotech.com/products/category.php?id=1&catid=10

 

[olavgg]

What about IBM m5110? Newer model and still good price

 

[Deleted member 126051]

I'm so getting a 9260-8i with BBU off eBay for this build. I don't know why I didn't think of looking for them there.

Because, for many people, eBay is this:

 

[drescherjm]

Hmm. With the current buyer protection rules I am not at all fearing purchasing products on eBay. Selling is a different matter. The fees and the buyer protection prevents me from selling until they get some real seller protection.