RAID 0+1 across 4 drives or RAID 5? Controller card?

[talonts]

I have 4 identical Maxtor 80Gig U133 drives, I'm waffling back and forth on whether I should run RAID 0+1 or RAID 5. I'm not sure which box I'll be putting them in, but I'll have to get a controller card in any case, since none of my current systems have RAID onboard.

I will be running Windows2000 on whichever machine gets them. They will be the secondary drives, most likely, with a 40Gig Maxtor as the boot drive.

I mainly want to use the system as a file server that all other machines network to. The more bulletproof the data, the better.

But 0+1 (striped across 2, mirrored across the other 2) and RAID 5 (data across 3, parity across 4th, rotated) each have their pros/cons.

Someone convince me of one or the other, so I can start shopping for a RAID card ;-)

What RAID cards are good choices? I'm leaning towards the Promise FastTrak SX4000 right now, simply because it is a relatively cheap RAID 5 card, and that way if I go with 0+1 and then change my mind back to 5, I don't have to find another card.

 

[halkebul]

If your going with RAID 5, then get 3Ware "Raid 5 Optimized" ATA controller. RAID 1+0 is more reliable than RAID 0+1.

 

[talonts]

Hm, the 3Ware Escalade 7500-4 is $250+, and it seems to do about the same as the Promise FastTrak SX4000 that costs HALF as much.

Is the 3Ware that much better?

 

[halkebul]

The 3Ware 7500 is generally considered the best of the bunch, the Adaptec has support for operating systems that
the others do not, the Promise works and is the cheapest but not the best performer.