[ale] To IDE RAID or not to RAID...

[Stuffed Crust]

On Sat, Mar 16, 2002 at 01:22:05AM -0500, Eric Webb wrote:
> I'm currently looking at either Adaptec's 2400A (four-channel, RAID5-capable) 
> or Promise's SX6000 (six-channel, RAID5).  Has anyone ever used these cards 
> under linux?  They're listed in the Linux Hardware FAQ as being supported, 
> but there's not a lot of detail on what facilities of these boards are 
> supported.

I've never used either.  However, I have used the 3Ware IDE RAID baords,
and they're fast and VERY well supported.   I've always been wary of
Adaptec's RAID boards (poor Linux track record in the past, but getting 
much better now) and Promise in particular has been terrible.

I can't seem to find source to the Adaptec 2400A driver.  It maynot
exist.  (And NEVER used binary-only drivers for something so critical)

The Promise card uses the I2O driver, which is good.  It is supposedly
flaky on some boards even as of the 2.4.17 kernel release.

So -- My advice is to go with a 3Ware 6xxx series card; you can get ones
that handle up to eight drives in RAID0/1/3/5 and various combinations
thereof.   They work out of the box, the driver is open source, in the
kernel, and extremely well suppored under Linux by 3Ware themselves.

> Also, note that I am trying to avoid software-based raid configurations (ie, 
> letting the kernel do it).

Beter to let the kernel do it than let the IDE driver do it (which is
what most IDE "raid" cards do..)

 - Pizza
-- 
Solomon Peachy                                    pizzaATfucktheusers.org
I ain't broke, but I'm badly bent.                           ICQ# 1318344
Patience comes to those who wait.
    ...It's not "Beanbag Love", it's a "Transanimate Relationship"...

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