[KLUG Members] Re: SuSe 9.1 Linux Software RAID

[Peter Buxton]

On Fri, Jul 09, 2004 at 05:09:39PM -0400, Mike Williams was only escaped
   alone to tell thee:

> > It turns out that the Promise Fasttrack doesn't work with the 2.6
> > kernel. It looks like the ataraid no longer exists in the 2.6 kernel
> > in SuSe for the time being.

> Take a look at the details of how it's "not supported".  Hardware-wise
> the Promise cards, and most others like them, are a standard IDE
> controller and a bit of BIOS that lets you boot.  The RAID
> calculations are done in a fancy driver.

True.

While doing some research on 2.6 and RAID, I found a thread with Alan
Cox with the following points:

1. Many of those IDE RAID cards are entirely software driven. Like
   WinModems, you're not getting the meat of RAID, mirroring and
   striping -- you're just getting a controller with extra IDE busses.

2. Most RAID cards use proprietary formats on the disks. Meaning, you'd
   better ALWAYS have one spare controller to pull your data off in case
   of probelms.

If work is paying for this, obviously #2 isn't a problem. But if work is
paying for it, get real RAID controllers, and get SCSI while you're at
it. Otherwise, md is probably a cheaper, more portable deal.

-- 
Would you rather live as a normal citizen and no demigod
in Roddenberry's Federation or Lucas' Empire? -- D. Brin