Non-Apple RAID card for Mac Pro 1,1

hello all,

i'm looking add raid-5 in mac pro. know it's not possible software. running os x 10.6.8, 17gb ram. want use 4x hitachi ultrastar 1tb drives in raid-5 config (tradeoff capacity , redundancy). thinking of installing adapter second optical bay use 2x 2.5" sata drives , booting there using 2 unused sata ports on mainboard. ssd, 1 os x boot, other windows 7 x64 dual boot. don't need capacity windows use anyway, couple of games not os x native, battlefield 3 , metro 2033 currently. have experience hardware raid in non-os x world, linux, windows, etc. raid support in os x more limited gather. normal "go to" manufacturer lsi , second, adaptec. understand lsi has made inroads in os x raid, , adaptec still not although wrong on this.

seems 3 companies primary choices os x hardware raid, atto, areca, , highpoint. i'd prefer stay away highpoint understand don't manufacture raid chips, merely put them on pcb. unless has better idea i'm trying decide between atto , areca. have seen atto expresssas r348 can configured in either 4/4 or 0/8. i'd interested in 4/4 config (obviously). i'm leaning towards 8 port model can in future (whether in mac or newer mac pro) add external sas enclosure , continue expand storage without replacing raid card or adding one. ideas, suggestions? has had experience r348 or similar? i've stated, have raid experience in non-os x world, far software raid os x. while have had no issues raid-0 stripe in os x, don't wish trust 4x1tb drives raid-o, nor want lose half capacity. understand cons of raid-5, slower write speeds, believe spread across 4x drives, write speeds still more sufficient uses.

primary usage heavy virtualization (and when time permits, gaming). not video editing, capture, etc. run in excess of 8 vms @ once though. in advance suggestions!

 

you won't able boot windows off 2 spare sata ports, there numerous threads this.

don't have experience hardware raid in osx, again, there number of threads topic.

luck.

 

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