I'm attempting to build myself an external RAID1 system to both increase my storage capacity and have backups of everything in case a hard drive goes kaput. It's happened before and it's painful. I've used externals for a while but I'm tired of buying new externals and I've run out of USB ports. I'm using Windows 7 Pro x64. I'm probably more knowledgeable than the very average user, but am far from knowing exactly what I'm doing. This is all a personal project, so money is of course a huge issue. I don't want to sacrifice quality though, so any suggestions for better/cheaper hardware will be much appreciated. So far I have this: 4-bay Enclosure: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5592688&CatId=2780 4 3TB HDDs: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=57012&CatId=4357 and a RAID controller card: ?? I've read often that a good RAID controller card is integral, but I don't know what I should look for. My motherboard might have one built-in, but I don't know if it does, if it's good quality, etc. 1) Would you guys be willing to suggest some good RAID controller cards that aren't costlier than the Ferrari in my garage (lies!) but still get the job done well? 2) Would you guys please look at the hardware I'm about to buy and maybe approve/suggest changes depending on price and/or quality? 3) Any decent RAID management software suggestions?
