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Raid Controllers

Redundancy Array of Independent Disks controllers, aka: RAID controllers protect against data loss from a redundant drive in your infrastructure. This works as the raid controller communicates with your server and manages the storage medium, distributing your data across multiple disks. It’s important to have one in place to protect data from drive redundancy.

At ITinStock, we supply a wide range of high-quality new and refurbished raid controllers suitable for personal and enterprise use, from top brands including Dell, Fujitsu, HP/HPE and beyond to match your business needs. Please contact us for expert assistance.
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The Importance of a RAID Controller

RAID controllers provide a degree or protection for stored data and can also help to improve performance by speeding up access to stored data. No matter the RAID level, RAID controllers make sure that a single drive failure will not take an entire array down with it, meaning applications can continue to operate on remaining drives while a failed drive is repaired or replaced.

A RAID controller also ensures that the process of managing multiple drives is smooth and automatic, controlling how and where data is stored across different disks to achieve redundancy, speed, or both.

RAID controllers essentially act as a RAM cache and provides RAID functions. These can typically come in the form of RAID controller cards or RAID-on-chips connected to the motherboard. No matter the type, a RAID controller is essential for any business where downtime and data loss can carry a real cost.

Why Choose Refurbished RAID Controllers from ITinStock

We offer a huge stockholding of refurbished RAID controllers, which act identical to new units but often at a fraction of the cost. When it comes to RAID solutions, our team is happy to discuss your needs for your RAID level and drive type. We provide fast delivery throughout the UK and worldwide. Our knowledgeable support team is available to assist with technical requirements and any post-purchase support you may need.

Complement Your Setup

Maximise your server components with these complementary products:

  • CPUs Pair reliable storage with a powerful processor to ensure fast data processing and system responsiveness.
  • Memory (RAM) Improve multitasking and data handling by upgrading your system memory with our stock of DDR4, DDR5 RAM and more.
  • SSDs Store your data and access it quickly on our SATA, SAS or NVMe SSDs, with data controlled to your drives via your RAID controller.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a RAID controller and what does it do?
A RAID controller is a device used to manage drives in a storage array, acting as a layer of abstraction between the operating system and the physical drives in the server (by presenting groups of drives as logical units). In practical terms, it's the component that makes multiple physical drives appear and behave as a single, managed storage unit. RAID controllers are classified by multiple characteristics including supported drive types such as SATA or SAS, the number of ports and drives they can support, specific RAID levels, interface architecture, and how much cache memory they contain. For example, a controller built for a SATA environment will not work on a SAS array, and a controller limited to RAID 1 cannot be configured to run RAID 5 or RAID 10.

What are the main RAID levels and which one is right for me?
The most common RAID levels each offer a different balance of performance, redundancy, and storage efficiency. RAID 0 is the only level that provides no redundancy, since it stripes data across two or more disks to increase performance, but if one drive fails, all data is lost. RAID 1 mirrors data across two or more drives for redundancy and failover, so if one disk fails, the data is fully intact on the other. RAID 5 and 6 offer a balance of performance and fault tolerance through striping with parity, and RAID 10 combines mirroring and striping for both speed and redundancy. As a rough guide, RAID 5 is a popular choice in data centres for balancing performance, storage efficiency, and fault tolerance, whereas RAID 6 offers even greater fault tolerance by allowing for up to two simultaneous drive failures, which makes it suitable for environments where data availability is critical. If you're unsure which level suits your workload, our support team are happy to advise further, based on your needs.

What's the difference between a hardware RAID controller and software RAID?
The key distinction is where the RAID processing happens. Hardware RAID data access is usually faster because the controller manages disks independently of the associated computer and does not need to use the host's processing power, which makes it easy to replace a downed disk by simply removing and replacing the device. Software RAID, by contrast, relies on the server's own CPU and RAM to handle RAID functions, which can affect overall system performance under heavy load. For businesses that need more complex RAID configurations, hardware RAID is the better choice. Software RAID may be suitable if you're on a tighter budget and only require basic RAID 0 or RAID 1 configurations. Hardware RAID also has the added advantage of being cross-platform compatible, meaning multiple systems with different operating systems can access the same virtual disk.

Are RAID controllers compatible across different server brands and models?
Not universally. RAID controllers are typically designed and certified for specific server generations and manufacturers. Controllers are only supported on the generation they are intended for, and while they may function outside that specification, compatibility and results cannot be guaranteed. Major server brands each use their own controller ecosystems. For example, Dell PowerEdge servers use PERC controllers, while HP ProLiant servers use Smart Array controllers. If you need any assistance with this, our team is here to help identify the right controller for your specific server model and generation.

Are refurbished RAID controllers reliable?
Of course! Our RAID controllers go through comprehensive diagnostic testing to ensure they function reliably. This testing, which takes place in our secure facility, eliminates obvious issues and gives you a more reliable product than an untested ‘used’ controller would provide. As our RAID solutions also come with warranty support, our team will be happy to help should anything occur to your purchase within its warranty period.

Find Your Ideal RAID controllers Today

Browse our range of RAID controllers or contact our team for expert advice on the right components for your infrastructure.

Phone: +44 (0)20 4631 3555
Email: hello@itinstock.com

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