Specs for new server! Opinions Please

I only have 5k so I am limited with my build but I am completely open to new ideas. This is my plan so far for a high availability database server.

3x Adaptec Serial Attached SCSI 44300http://www.adaptec.com/en-US/products/sas/host/SAS-44300/

6x Fujitsu MAX3073RC 74GB 15,000 RPM 16MB Cache Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) Hard Drive

TYAN S2895UA2NRF Dual Socket 940 NVIDIA nForce4 Professional SSI EEB 3.5 Server Motherboard

2X AMD Dual-Core Opteron 275 Italy 1000MHz HT 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket 940 Processor

CORSAIR XMS 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM ECC Registered DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel

I am going to take the drives and connect two to each adaptec scsi card configured in RAID 1.

0/1 Operating System and SQL Binaries
2/3 Databases
4/5 Transaction Logs and Temp DB

What are the pros and cons of this config and should I try something different. Thanks for your help.

you don't need 3 SAS controllers for 6 drives,
i would suggest dropping to the 36GB 15K drives,
or
2 x 73GB 10K for OS, bin and temp
2 x 73GB 10K for log
4 x 36GB 15 for data

then get 4x1GB mem even if you are on SQL Std Ed

After reading another post. I am thinking that maybe I only need to get one very nice RAID controller. Maybe something like this

http://www.adaptec.com/en-US/products/sas/raid/SAS-4800/


Or what controller would you recommend.

on the 4 x 36GB 15 for data is that RAID 5 or 10?

i am inclined to recommend the LSI SAS controller,
I had really bad experience with Adaptec SCSI RAID several years ago,
they may have fixed these problems, but i have not revisited this

i really don't bother with the RAID 5 vs 10 arguments
if you have enough disks, this is a non-issue
test it for yourself.
one of these posts has my disk io test scripts

So should I get one LSI SAS controller? If so which one should I get. Thank you very much for you help. I really appreciate it.

one of the megaraid, which are raid controller, while the other is a SAS HBA, analogous to a SCSI controller

i think your system has PCI-X bus, not PCI-E, so get one with the PCI-X bus
then pick the connectors

never mind, it looks like all the LSI SAS RAID controllers are PCI-E,
just get the adaptec and lets see how it goes

Sorry for all the questions which adaptec.

This one for all the drives

http://www.adaptec.com/en-US/products/sas/raid/SAS-4800/

or

3 of the

http://www.adaptec.com/en-US/products/sas/host/SAS-44300/

to segregate the drives.

Also what is your opinion of this PowerVault 220S/221S Dell Product. Does it have the speed and segregation to keep up for high database availability or is this more of a cheaper storage solution

my inclination is to direct new purchases to SAS, not SCSI

as i said above, 8 drives is not enough to worry about multiple adapters
a single adapter is fine

Wanted to double check on the drives for the data.

4 x 36GB 15 for data

Is it adventageous to use 36gb drives? I was thinking 72gig. Or does it make any difference. Thanks again for all of your help. I really appreciate it.

Also forgot to ask. What brand of SAS disks would you recommend?