[NTLUG:Discuss] Linux Hardware RAID 1 card recommendation?

[Stuart Johnston]

This looks like a good guide:

http://advosys.ca/viewpoints/2007/04/setting-up-software-raid-in-ubuntu-server/

BTW, Linux uses the SCSI subsystem for SATA drives so they get named 
like /dev/sda1...  That may be the source of the confusion.

Stuart Johnston wrote:
> Sounds like you have SATA drives not SCSI.  Seagate doesn't list a 160GB 
> SCSI drive on their website.  SCSI drive capacities generally don't seem 
> to be rounded the same way ATA drives are.  73GB or 146GB would be more 
> common for SCSI.  Also, the FAQ you point to is referring to SATA, not SCSI.
> 
> None of this really matters though.  Software RAID doesn't care what 
> interface or controller your drives are connected to.  As long as Linux 
> can find the block devices, you can install software RAID.
> 
> Unfortunately, I don't know anything about Ubuntu server's RAID 
> installation to suggest why it might have failed.  One option is to 
> simply install to a single drive and then mirror it once the system is 
> up and running.
> 
> Fred Hensley wrote:
>> Thanks Stuart for the suggestion.. I too was scratching my head when
>> considering the concept of a non-software-raid capable system, but RAID
>> 1 was DOA after installation, and I later found the following reference
>> at http://www.wikifaq.com/Dell_PowerEdge_400SC_FAQs
>>
>> ---------------- begin FAQ Quote --------------
>> Does the 400SC support SATA RAID?
>>
>> No Sadly. Officially, the word from Dell is "no", and further
>> investigation reveals that the 400SC uses the ICH5 (82801EB)
>> southbridge, as shown in this picture. The Intel data sheet confirms
>> that RAID support is only available on the ICH5R (82801ER) chipsets.
>> Additionally, the BIOS only shows the option to enable/disable SATA, no
>> RAID configuration. Also, Intel's Application Accelerator is not
>> supported by the 400SC's chipset. It has become a RAID only utility.
>>
>> ----------------end FAQ Quote -------------------------
>>
>> Frankly, I was simply looking for an inexpensive work around, but
>> perhaps that just isn't possible.
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> -Fred-
>> fred at hensleyhome.org
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Thu, 2007-11-15 at 10:12 -0600, Stuart Johnston wrote:
>>> Fred Hensley wrote:
>>>> Hey Gang,
>>>>
>>>> Must be that time of the year again for a raid conversation, eh?   :)
>>>>
>>>> I have inherited a 5-year old Dell server (400SC) which is a pentium 4,
>>>> 2.4Ghz, 4gb memory, and recently installed 2x160GB seagate scsi hard
>>>> drives. 
>>>>
>>>> While loading Ubuntu server 7.10, I attempted to setup software raid 1
>>>> configuration for these drives (which I do regularly), but learned after
>>>> the fact that this particular server doesn't support software raid...
>>> Huh?  How does a server not support software raid?  Isn't the point of 
>>> software raid that is isn't dependent on the hardware?
>>>
>>>> Okey-dokey, back to the drawing board...
>>>>
>>>> Can someone suggest a decent, inexpensive pci hardware raid controller
>>>> card for mirroring these two scsi hard drives under a raid 1
>>>> configuration using ubuntu?  Oh, and one that is hopefully pretty simple
>>>> to install/configure too.
>>> For SCSI RAID, I like the LSI MegaRAID controllers.  When model you need 
>>> will depend on which type of SCSI interface your drives are and what 
>>> type of PCI slots you have available.  They are not exactly cheap, though.
>>>
>>> You might get a better deal on one of the Dell branded versions. 
>>> http://linux.dell.com/storage.shtml#megaraid_scsi
> 
> 
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