Test: HighPoint - RocketRAID 3522

Konklusion:

Mangler du en controller til dine nyindkøbte SSD diske, eller er der bare ikke mere plads til diske på dit bundkort? Så er Highpoint 3522 en controller der ville være værd at tage et kig på. Med PCIe 8x og support for alle tænkelige styresystemer, er der ingen undskyldning for ikke at kunne bruge en controller som denne.

Innovation/Teknologi - 4
Med understøttelse af så godt som alle RAID former, sammen med mulighed for SAS300 tilslutning, batteribackup og en ethernet port, scorer denne controller højt i teknologi, men med Intel der lige er kommet med deres første SAS/SATA600 controller, kan jeg ikke give mere til denne controller.

Bundle/Tilbehør - 3
Der medfølger de ting der forventes og intet mere. Et bundlet kabel ville være at ønske sig, da man kan få kabler der fungerer med både SAS og SATA på samme tid. Men da controlleren primært er ment imod eksterne HDD kabinetter, er valget af ikke at inkludere dette forståeligt.

Design/Layout - 4
En controller der kan køre uden det vilde airflow hen over heatsinket og med mulighed for lowbracket (dog forsvinder muligheden for ethernet så), skal der næsten gives et 4 tal. Flere andre producenter kunne lære lidt her.

Software/BIOS - 3
BIOS er meget enkel og med de muligheder der forventes, webinterfacet skuffer mig derimod lidt. Det ligner noget fra 1995 og er heller ikke mere funktionelt end et website fra den tid. Tingene kan løses, men det kræver at man bruger lidt tid på det. Det kan nævnes at det tog mig 5 minutter at finde standart koden i manualen. 3 tallet gives kun pga. de gode drivere der medfølger til stort set alle styresystemer.

Ydelse - 4
Enhver onboard controller kommer hurtigt til kort overfor dette monster. Og selvom du kun får 256 mb cache, er det mere end rigeligt til at sætte fut under et par SSD diske. Du får altså muligheden for at sætte op til 8 diske sammen, eller hver for sig, samtidig med at hastigheden altid er i top. Meget mere kan man jo ikke ønske sig.

Pris - 4
Highpoint 3522 findes ikke på edbpriser, men i de shops jeg har set den, ligger den 100$ under tilsvarende Areca produkter og 30-40$ under produkter fra Adaptec og LSI. Prisen fejler altså ikke noget, men det er meget svært direkte at sammenligne, da hver producent har hver deres stærke side. Blandt andet forskel på ydelse under forskellige raidformer. Alt i alt er prisen på 550$ god, uden at være noget vildt.

Test: HighPoint - RocketRAID 3522

Innovation / Teknologi	4
Bundle - Tilbehør	3
Design - Layout	4
Software - BIOS	3
Ydelse	4
Pris	4
Samlet	73%

UK summary

Looking for a controller for your lewly purchased SSD drives, or is there just no more room for drives on your motherboard? Then Highpoint 3522 is a controller that would be worth taking a look at. With PCIe 8x and support for all possible operating systems, there is no excuse for not being able to use a controller such as this.

Innovation / Technology - 4
With support for virtually all RAID types, along with the possibility of SAS300 connections, battery backup and an ethernet port controller that scores high in technology, but since Intel has just come up with their first SAS/SATA600 controller, I can not give more to this controller.
 
Bundle / Accessories - 3
Includes what is expected and nothing more. A cable bundle would be desirable, as it can get cables that operates with both SAS and SATA at the same time. But when the controller is primarily meant for external HDD cabinets, choosing not to include this is understandable.
 
Design / Layout - 4
A controller that can operate without wild Airflow over Heatsinks and with the possibility of lowbracket (you however loose the possibility for ethernet then) deserves a grade of 4. Several other manufacturers could learn a bit here.
 
Software / BIOS - 3
BIOS is very simple and with the expected options. The webinterface disappoints me a little. It looks like something from 1995, and it is not a lot more functional than a website from that time. Things can be fixed, but it takes a bit of time to do. It should be mentioned that it took me 5 minutes to find the standard code in the manual. A score of 3 is only due to the good drivers that are included for virtually all operating systems.
 
Performance - 4
Every other onboard controller quickly falls short of this monster. And even if you only get 256 mb cache, it is more than enough to liven up a few SSD drives. You therefore get the possibility of putting up to 8 discs together, or individually, while the speed is always top notch. We can not wish for much more.

Price - 4
High Point 3522 is not on edbpriser, but in the shops I have seen it at $100 less than the equivalent Areca products and $30-40 below products from Adaptec and LSI. So there is nothing wrong with the price, but it is very difficult to compare directly to the others, because each manufacturer has their strengths. Like the differences in performance under different raid types. All in all the price of $550 is fair, without being anything amazing.