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

[Fred Hensley]

We'll give it a go and see how it works out.. Thanks very much!

-Fred-
fred at hensleyhome.org

On Thu, 2007-11-15 at 18:42 -0600, Stuart Johnston wrote:
> 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
> > 
> > 
> > _______________________________________________
> > http://www.ntlug.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> http://www.ntlug.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss