Adaptec RAID 6805 2271200-R 6Gb/s SATA/SAS 8 internal ports w/ 512MB cache memory Controller Card, Kit

Pros: This card does exactly what it is supposed to do and seems to do it well. No problems installing and getting everything up and running.

Cons: I wish I had read the review about the heat issue, because it was a significant issue in my case. I thought I had sufficient cooling in the case, but I have never had a component get as hot as this one does. It got so hot it caused my system to shutdown and I had to rebuild the array. After putting a fan on it everything is fine now, but really on a part this expensive, couldn't they put a five dollar fan on to cool this mini heater?

Other Thoughts: Adaptec, does us a favor and stick a fan on this thing.

Pros: I give it a 2 1/2 eggs, because it's still a really great controller, but I knocked it because of the lack of SAS support.

Easy to use, great interface, reliable brand, great features

Cons: This card has 2 SFF-8087 mSASx4-4SATA connectors. This works great for SATA drives, but not for SAS drives as you can't plug it in. At the time of this writing, you can not get the cable to for SFF-8087 mSASx4-4SAS connectors. So I ordered the adapters, but the adapters are SATA Female ends which is the same connectors that are already on the Adaptec cables, so you end up with female to female. Nobody seems to make SAS to SATA Male adapters which is what you need to connect to this dongle. The assumption is that you can connect the SATA/SAS adapters directly to male SATA connectors on the controller card, but you can't on this one because of the mini SASx4 connector dongles.

Bottom line, even though they advertise this controller as SAS, the only way to connect SAS drives is by buying a cable with SFF-8087 connectors on both ends where a SAS backplane will except the SFF-8087 fitting and mount your drives that way. Without a SAS backplane, it just doesn't seem possible.

Reminder, SATA drives can plug into a SAS connector, but SAS drives can not connect into a SATA connector. This thing should have SAS connectors, not SATA connectors especially since it's advertised as a SAS controller.

Other Thoughts: Works wonderful with SATA drives

Pros: Upgrading from a Adaptec 31205 (SATAII) to this. Massively improved the performance of my new SSDs:
31205 - 451 MBs Read / 157 MBs Writes
6805 - 713 MBs Read / 567 MBs Writes
(3-disk RAID5 using the Samsung 840 500GBs disks)

Upgrading my current Win7/64U system was a bit of a pain. But managed, thanks to having a spare PCIe X16 slot available.

Windows currently does not 'provide' a driver for this card, so you have to be sure the driver is installed before attempting to use it.

Before swapping out the cards, install the new card in a spare slot, don't remove your old card or move the drive cables. Boot to Windows, then download and install the drivers for the new card. Shutdown. Move your cables to the new card, remove the old card, then boot. Not hard, but would have been great if the printed manual had this info.

The RAID sets from Adaptec 3 series and above will migrate effortlessly to the new card. I verified with Adaptec before purchasing.

Cons: Only slightly improved the performance of my spinning disk drives, the Seagate 3TB Cudas, only gained about 3% boost from the switch to SATAIII.

Other Thoughts: I'd recommend for anyone with newer SATAIII SSDs to have one of these cards. It is faster than any built-in (Intel chipset) RAID and far safer as well. Because if the computer failed you could move the drives and controller to another machine without worrying about chipset compatibility issues on different motherboards.

Pros: Rock solid, highly reliable, and great performance. I'm getting 150MB/s read throughput and 259MB/s write throughput in CrystalDiskMark from a five-disk RAID5 array on the virtual file server.

Cons: None.

Other Thoughts: In retrospect, I regret no biting the bullet and buying the 6805Q that allows you to cache data to SSD and gain higher IOPS.

Pros: Does what its supposed to do,

Cons: There was a time long ago when just the name Adaptec was all I needed to to know I was going to get a solid product. But the bean counters have arrived here too.
The issue is heat, heat heat heat & HEAT. This device can not perform its function without external air being applied directly. The itty bitty heat sink is pre-drilled for a much needed fan but no fan is supplied. If you can live 24/7 with an alarm condition for overheating then this little smoker is for you, otherwise plan on compensating for poor engineering out of your own pocket. Quality is dead.

Pros: Easy to set up as I am new to RAID set ups. Labeled, numbered and sleeved SAS/SATA cables. Takes up little space in my case.

Cons: None that I can think of.

Other Thoughts: This was my first RAID card and my first RAID set up for a server build used for mass storage. I am a quick learner though but for my needs this RAID controller did the trick.

Pros: Awesome RAID card! I am extremely happy with this controller!

GA-X58A-UD3R
24GB RAM
two GTX470

Cons: NONE

Other Thoughts: For Windows 7 USER -- >>>>INSTALL THE RAID DRIVER<<< ---- BEFORE GOING TO STORAGE MANGER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! everything will be good!!!!!!

Pros: FAST
Separate BIOS
Labeled cables
Cache battery support

Cons: Ubuntu tools lacking

Pros: Easy setup, included everything needed to connect SATA drives. Firmware upgrade was a breeze through GUI. Very fast, tripled performance over onboard controller (though not a surprise)

Cons: None yet.

Pros: - easy to set up
- easy to configure
- compatible with my OS
- cables are included
- fast performance
- 512MB cache memory and no need for BBU

Cons: can't seem to get the email notification to work with gmail or my webserver with an external host.

wish newegg had an option to do a will call on this card if i ever needed a replacement. but it's not enough to drop an egg on.

Other Thoughts: i tried highpoint - conflicted with the onboard raid and sometimes the raid disappears when i reboot.
it tried supermicro but had issues with it as well. i was gonna try LSI but since i'm getting up there in price, i may as well get adaptect.

i'm running 8x2TB seagate ST2000DL003 drives in a RAID6. crystaldiskmark gives me 588MB/s read and 705MB/s write (seq).

- i3 2100
- 8GB ddr3 1600 ram
- 120GB SSD OS drive
- gigabyte ga-z68ma-d2h-b3
- 2x intel gigabit ct nics
- WHS 2011
- 8x2TB seagate ST2000DL003 RAID6 - 10.9TB using GPT

overall, it's been a great investment. runs quiet and kill-a-watt gives me around 100-105W on idle and 110-120W during transfers.