RAID system recommendations/war stories

[Michael ODonnell]

We're currently using Promise M200p RAID units with mixed
results and wondering if others might care to share war
stories or recommendations.  We've had several M200p units
running flawlessly for approx 2yrs in our data center,
so we thought they'd be good a good choice as components
of systems deployed at customer sites.

Unfortunately, we've now seen several units that were
DOA or (worse) appeared to start and run but then locked
up at random points later on.  One refused even to power
up if a faulty drive was plugged into the chassis, which
is very bad considering that the whole point of using
(and paying for) a RAID unit is to shield you from the
consequences of drive failures...  :-/

So we're thinking maybe we don't trust Promise gear anymore
and we're wondering what other low-end, reasonably priced
RAID units people are using with Linux, as well as what to
stay away from.  Thanks.