RAID 5 versus RAID 0+1 really depends on how large an array total and how much space you are willing to use for parity... probably a discussion best suited for another message board...

The promise card will not work at all in raid without drivers, and does not work under say... linux. The performance numbers also bear this out, it is very much dependant on the host CPU to think for it. The escalande does work in linux and will work in windows without any kind of drivers, though of course it does work better with the drivers installed.

In the end, it doesn't really matter as long as whatever you are using works for you, however you choose to define "works".

I prefer the 3ware product for a number of reasons, not the least of which being linux support, open source drivers, and better performance.

Promise won't release their specs allowing someone to build a linux driver, so I won't buy any more promise technology even though I was a great fan of their cards when they first came out and sold quite a lot of them.

I try to do my best to vote with my dollar and I think that having support for your favorite OS is a good thing, especially in the light of reverse engineering potentially being interpreted as everything from an act of treason on down...

Ramble ramble, I'm going home to contemplate hawking the rio car I just got on ebay for twice what I bought it for...