Apple Mac Pro RAID Controller > Can't buy it from Apple?

[Armando Serrano]

I just purchased a new Mac Pro with two 3-GHz Quad Core Intel Xeons with four internal 750-Gb 7200-rpm Serial ATA drives giving me 3-Terrabytes of hard drive space.

Since my new Mac Pro DID NOT come with the Apple RAID card, I decided to contact Apple to order it and that's when I was told by the Apple Store Rep. and also later by Tech-Support that the ONLY WAY to obtain the Apple RAID card and installation software was to order the Mac Pro directly from Apple as a "customizable-option", configured by Apple at their factory. Period, end-of-story.

Being a PC user since the Commodore-64, I just coudn't believe what I was hearing as it didn't make any sence to me and now brings me to my question...

Has anyone ordered, obtained, upgraded, etc., their Mac Pro with Apple's RAID Controller card where the RAID upgrade WAS NOT done at the Apple factory when custom ordered?

If so, could you please consider saving me 2-3 hours of research and phone calls (probably more!) and let me know how you were able to do this?

By the way, Apple's Tech-Support did provide me their part number for the Mac Pro RAID Controller Card which is p/n 661-4313. Please keep in mind that I have NOT verified this part number with anyone else and hope that it is the correct one.

Your collective help will be greatly appreciated.

PS: Do you or someone you know have the Apple Mac Pro RAID controller card and "installation CD's" for sale? ; )

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Below is Apple's description of the RAID card;

The Mac Pro RAID card offers improved performance and data protection to your Mac Pro system — up to 304MB/s of sequential read performance in RAID 0. Ideal for video and creative professionals with demanding storage needs as well as for tower server applications, this hardware RAID option supports RAID levels 0, 1, 5, 0+1, and Enhanced JBOD. It has 256MB of cache and an integrated 72-hour battery for protecting the RAID cache. The card occupies the top PCI Express slot (slot 4) and connects to the four internal drive bays.

To enable your Mac Pro for hardware RAID, select the Mac Pro RAID card option and two or more hard drives in bays 1 through 4. Each RAID level has minimum requirements for the number of hard drives:

RAID Level Drive Requirements Benefit
Enhanced JBOD One to four drives A non-RAID configuration with the ability to migrate to a RAID set at any time
RAID 0 (striping) Two to four hard drives Maximum performance and capacity for the most demanding I/O requirements
RAID 1 (mirroring) Two hard drives Maximum protection for critical data
RAID 5 Three or four hard drives Data protection, up to 199MB/s of sequential read performance, and efficient capacity utilization
RAID 0+1 Four hard drives A mirror of striped drive pairs providing performance and data protection

The Mac Pro RAID card supports the creation of multiple RAID sets in a system and multiple volumes per RAID set. For optimal disk utilization in a RAID set, all hard drives should be the same size. Your Mac Pro system ships with each hard drive individually configured in the Enhanced JBOD level with Mac OS X installed on the drive in bay 1. Using Apple's RAID Utility software, you can migrate the drives into a RAID set without reinstalling Mac OS X or reformatting the drives, or you can customize your RAID volumes to meet your exact requirements.

Please note: The Mac Pro RAID card occupies one of the available PCI Express expansion slots.

[Chris Luker]

Apparently, they rewire part of the motherboard to get the raid card to tie in with the stock drive bays.
So, it is probably a bit of a task to install one yourself.

[Armando Serrano]

Hi Chris,

Just clarifying if you know the re-wiring is a fact or are you guessing?

I don't want anyone to assume your post is true when in fact it may not be.

Thanks again!

[Chris Luker]

This is from the Apple press release when it came out:
"The Mac Pro RAID card offers improved performance and data protection to your Mac Pro system -- up to 304MB/s of sequential read performance in RAID 0. Ideal for video and creative professionals with demanding storage needs as well as for tower server applications, this hardware RAID option supports RAID levels 0, 1, 5, 0+1, and Enhanced JBOD. It has 256MB of cache and an integrated 72-hour battery for protecting the RAID cache. ...The card occupies the top PCI Express slot (slot 4) and connects to the four internal drive bays...."

I also remember reading about someone that tried to install one on his Mac Pro, but to no avail...
I'll try and find more concrete evidence.

[Armando Serrano]

Hello again Chris and thank you for the follow up post.

Yes, please, if you find any information related to the Apple Mac Pro RAID card, its required installation software DVDs, and any notes or instructions to upgrade the system, it will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again!

PS: I still can't believe the Apple factory is the only option for an Apple user to upgrade a Mac Pro to a RAID system (and only when the Mac Pro is initially ordered/cofigured/upgraded, and NOT anytime after!). Truly amazing...

[Chris Luker]

Looks like you can buy the raid card directly now. It comes with the installation tool:

http://www.macnn.com/articles/07/11/...ps.raid.cards/