Hello,

I plan to use the RocketRAID 2720SGL as aeen here (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816115100) in my computer.

I would like to connect the following disks to it:

A) four 2TB SATA3 HDDs in RAID 0
B) one 120GB SSD (with the operating system installed)
C) two 1TB SATA3 HDDs in RAID 0
D) one 1TB SATA2 or maybe SATA 3 HDD for selective backups.

My questions are:
1. Will that be possible? Specifically in regard to configuring four of the discs as one RAID and other discs as single volumes? Is it possible to configure more than one RAID as well as individual volumes using this card?

2. Does the card come with the cables required to attach any hard drives or must they be purchased separately? If they must be purchased separately, what type of cable(s) I must buy?

3. Is it definitely compatible with a Supermicro X7DWA-N motherboard? I've been told I need to choose carefully for comparability.

4. Would I be better off with two separate 4-port cards instead so that I can have the RAID configured discretely on one and the system disk and backups on the other? That way they wouldn't be sharing bandwidth?

Thank you,

-- John

The HPT RocketRAID 4322 allows you to configure multiple RAIDs. It would follow that this card can do it, too.

You need two of these cables: HighPoint Int-MS-1M4S Accessories - Newegg.com (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816115064)

I can't comment on specific mobo compatibility.

I would not put my boot drive on the card. There's absolutely no reason to. Plug it directly into the motherboard. If the card fails and your boot drive is on it, then you'll have to go inside and plug it directly into the motherboard anyway.

I would not put my boot drive on the card. There's absolutely no reason to. Plug it directly into the motherboard. If the card fails and your boot drive is on it, then you'll have to go inside and plug it directly into the motherboard anyway.

Thanks for your help.

The reason I have to put my boot drive on the card is that my motherboard only has SATA II ports, so I'd like to get the most from my drives by plugging them into a SATA III connection.

But I take your point about the risks involved.

My next question, if I did connect my boot disk to the card, would I have the facility to make it removable?

I ask because I have multiple installs on this machine (one for editing, another for games) with the OS installed on separate drives, which I can swap using a Vantec EZ-Swap. When I need to edit, I just put the edit OS disk in, when I want to fly the flight sim, I shut down, pull the edit disk out and insert the disk with the games installed.

Would the RAID card have any issues with that?

Probably not. As long as everything is powered down, I don't see why there would be a problem.

Cool. Thanks.

Now I just need to find a replacement for that Vantec EZ-Swap thing because it's only SATA II, so it will need to be replaced too!

You need two of these cables: HighPoint Int-MS-1M4S Accessories - Newegg.com (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816115064)

I can't find anywhere that states whether I'm buying SATA III capable cables or just SATA II...

Is there even a difference when it comes to the cables?