[linux] SATA RAID

[Mark Wagner]

On Fri, Mar 23, 2007 at 11:28:13AM -0700, db wrote:
> 3ware, 3ware, 3ware!  
> 
> Don't be "penny wise, pound foolish..." trying to save pennies on 
> hardware at the expense of later spending MANY dollars in your labor as 
> you try to expand the volume, deal with firmware issues/ controller 
> support etc...
> 
> dan
> 
> Helen Petropoulos wrote:
> >Hi,
> >
> >Not long ago, some of you suggested that I install a SATA PCI card and 
> >four 250GB disks and
> >make a RAID for the purposes of backup, and I've decided that it was 
> >the best solution for our
> >lab.
> >
> >Now I want to ask, after shopping around on the web and looking at 
> >different disks and cards,
> >which brand would you recommend?  Has anyone had any problems with LaCie?

Check out http://linux-ata.org/driver-status.html for support status.

For example, Silicon Image 3124 based cards have full support:

	Summary: Full TCQ/NCQ support, with full SATA control including
	hotplug and PM.

	The 3124 is a nice, open design. 

Another consideration is whether you want hardware or software RAID (and
LVM). If you go the hardware route be advised that if your controller
fails you may need to get an identical controller and that controller
may no longer be available.

The HP Smart Array controllers
(http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/servers/proliantstorage/arraycontrollers/index.html)
are all compatible with each other. I don't know 3ware controllers.

On the other hand Linux software RAID and LVM tools are full-featured and
hardware-independent.

-- 
Mark Wagner <markwag at u.washington.edu>
System Administrator, UW Medicine IT Services
206-616-6119