Provided you have an Internet connection and functional Web browser, gather information on three different commercial RAID controllers that perform RAID level 5, and write a short report (at least 1 page) that compares and contrasts their features and cost. In what situations would you use each one?

1). Serial ATA (SATA): SATA drives are base hard drives. Serial ATA was designed to  replace the older parallel ATA (PATA) standard (often called by the old name IDE), offering several advantages  over the older interface: reduced cable size and cost (7 conductors instead of 40), native hot swapping, faster  data transfer through higher signaling rates, and more efficient transfer through a I/O queuing protocol. On  some systems without a controller, these can be cabled instead to the onboard SATA connections on the  motherboard. On smaller servers with a controller, they can still be cabled because these systems will not have  a backplane. Cabled hard drives are not hot swappable.

2). Near Line SAS: Near Line SAS are enterprise SATA drives with a SAS interface, head, media, and rotational  speed of traditional enterprise-class SATA drives with the fully capable SAS interface typical for classic SAS

drives. This provides better performance and reliability over SATA. Basically it is a hybrid between SATA and SAS.

3). Serial Attached SCSI (SAS): SAS is a communication protocol used in Enterprise hard drives and tape drives.  SAS is a point-to-point serial protocol that replaces the older based parallel SCSI bus technology (SCSI). It uses  the standard SCSI command set. These have extra connections through the top of the SATA connection. These  are the top end in performance for electromechanical drives.

4). Solid-State Drive (SSD): An SSD is a data storage device that uses integrated circuit assemblies as memory to  store data persistently. SSD technology uses electronic interfaces compatible with traditional block  input/output (I/O) hard disk drives. SSDs do not employ any moving mechanical components, which  distinguishes them from traditional magnetic disks such as hard disk drives, which are electromechanical  devices containing spinning disks and movable read/write heads. Compared with electromechanical disks, SSDs  are typically less susceptible to physical shock, are silent, and have lower access time and latency. Typically  because of these features, SSD drives can be the fastest I/O in the market today in standard hard drive form factor.

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