I've had a few issues running software raid on XenServer, and I would also like to try out VMware ESXi which won't easily be combined with a software raid.
Are there any low cost PCI cards that would run 8 s-ata spindles in raid 5 and is supported by VMware ESXi 4? Performance don't need to be great, but a few hundred iops and somwhere around 100 MB/s sequential transfer would be nice.
To clearify, I was originally looking for a standard PCI card, however I also have a PCIe x16 slot that can be used instead.
As for the definition of low cost, i was hoping for a little less than $400-500.
Best Answer
First, you're going to have to define 'low' cost as 8-ports is not cheap. Maybe it would be cheaper to break it into 2x 4-port SATA II RAID cards. That might be slightly less than one 8-port card. A good PCI express card with 8-ports can cost up over $400 easily (link). Is that 'low' cost enough for you? I mean, 8 SATA HDDs in a RAID solution for $400-$500 to me is fair. Maybe you can get a little cheaper if you get older versions/models from manufacturers.
Second, specify the PCI flavor: PCIe 8x/4x/1x, PCI-X (32/64-bit), etc. etc. Off the top of my head, I don't know many (if any) plain old PCI 3.3v/5v that support 8-port SATA RAID, so odds are PCI express is the bus that can do what you're asking for.
Third, I'd argue that you ought to give XenServer another shot (with hardware RAID of course). ESXi is a great product as well, but running software RAID (period) IMO does more harm than good regardless of the product. I'm sure others may refute my statement, but software RAID to me is still a joke (if you're serious about any level of redundancy IMO).