Is this real hardware-RAID, rather than the common motherboard "firmware raid" which needs driver support ? Want to use it in a linux-based NAS
160298
This is not a completely hardware RAID. It is called hardware assisted. That means it has logic on the board to calculate the RAID 5 "hashes". You still need a special driver on the host machine to do a lot of the work. I do that on an Ubuntu Linux server, but it's a pain. Every time a new kernel comes out that has new kernel headers, I have to recompile the driver source code. With disk space as cheap as it is these days, I gave up on RAID 5 and just mirror (RAID 2) each drive, so that if I have a failure of the interface card or the SansDigital drive enclosure, I can just pull out a drive and use it instead. I wouldn't even consider using a specialized RAID interface unless I had on-site spares of all parts or a disaster recovery plan. Too big a risk of losing everything because you can't get parts. There are disk enclosures ($$$) that do mirroring in hardware, but use a standard EIDE or USB interface so no special host interface is needed. Good Luck
1170960
In the past RAID has been a hardware supported function. I don't use this in a RAID setup as I only have two drives in it so far. You should view this as four separate USB to SATA bridges. Any RAID function you want to use will have to be 100% software implemented.
434527
This is not a RAID controller. This is a SAS expander. It works in conjunction with a separate SAS controller card, like the IBM M1015.
2235988
Don't use raid with FreeNAS, setup a zpool with raid-z1. Zfs is awesome, just put tons of ram in and make a zil cache.
104429
Yeah, most likely. I've used a variety of drives since I've owned it, some listed as "supported" and others not. All have worked fine. The only thing I'd recommend doing is checking the Synology Raid Calc to make sure you get it set up with the specific RAID you want to maximize space: https://www.synology.com/en-us/support/RAID_calculator
2093492
As far as I know from the documentation, if you place the drives in with the dip switches set to JBOD then you should be fine. I'm not sure how well that functions since I was mainly interested in the HW RAID.
347224
This card supports RAID-0 and RAID-1 only setup. It does not support RAID-5
663715
Use the Non-raid drivers. Don't bother using the PCI-e cards raid. It's complete garbage. If you're using Linux, use mdadm and LVM, if you're using windows use either the Dynamic Disks Strip or Storage Spaces. I leave the drives in Legacy mode using the mentioned driver, DrivePool to put them all together, and SnapRaid for backup. I gave up on any sort of raid a long time ago. There is NO way to get the data back should you loose a drive (raid 1 case.)
382264
You shouldn't have any issues. NAS firmware will work independently from the OS. You will control the drives from the NAS UI.
1160255
This card doesn't actually do RAID (it's all done in software) so there is not really any restriction in how you can use it. For instance I used mine with 4 drives connected to this card and another to the on-board controller, for a total of 5 drives in the array.
1147738
I believe you can only do a software RAID 0 or 1, but this card is really NOT meant for that! It is the best way to give your ssd a sata 6.0 connection on an older motherboard. Also, you only want to connect ONE ssd to this card to get the maximum speed!
1951198
That depends if your controller supports it, if so then yes. I am running raid 10 on mine.
2015609
Yes you can. Link to article I found. http://kb.netgear.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/22808/~/what-is-flex-raid-and-how-does-it-work-with-my-readynas-os-6-storage-system%3F
1392670
Yes, the default is Synology Hybrid Raid (SHR) which is like RAID1 but more versatile.
1611104
This is diskless - just be sure to get HD's that are made for NAS (Seegate ST4000VN000, WD WD40EFRX, etc) do not use energy savers or spin down disks, it will cause havoc on your RAID integrity. So plz do read what drives are supported and are recommended. I put the ST4000VN000, in all of my devices, works great.
558271
From their product page (http://www.synology.com/products/spec.php?product_name=DS213%2B#p_submenu):Supported RAID Type : Synology Hybrid RAID, Basic, JBOD, RAID 0, RAID 1
1267398
I have 8 of these NAS drives in a non-RAID case. They are all setup as individual drives. I move them from one computer to the next with no problems.