I have RH 8 running on a Abit BE7-RAID motherboard. My task is installing Centos 4.1 with limited knowledge on installing with hardware RAID. The arrays are still in place for the two pairs of drives.
HighPoint only shows drivers up through RH 9.
Is there anyone who can take me through the steps? Remove the existing arrays? Will the drivers work with Centos 4.1? Since I used Windows to download the HighPoint tar file for RH 9, I am not what I should do with it.
Todd
On Thu, 2005-09-08 at 19:26 -0700, Todd Cary wrote:
I have RH 8 running on a Abit BE7-RAID motherboard. My task is installing Centos 4.1 with limited knowledge on installing with hardware RAID. The arrays are still in place for the two pairs of drives.
HighPoint only shows drivers up through RH 9.
Will the drivers work with Centos 4.1?
Absolutely not. The kernel versions are far too different. Contact HighPoint for updated drivers.
When I try to do the install, the install causes a fatal error, but RH 9 installs fine. Is there a way around this?
Todd
Todd Cary wrote:
I have RH 8 running on a Abit BE7-RAID motherboard. My task is installing Centos 4.1 with limited knowledge on installing with hardware RAID. The arrays are still in place for the two pairs of drives.
HighPoint only shows drivers up through RH 9.
Is there anyone who can take me through the steps? Remove the existing arrays? Will the drivers work with Centos 4.1? Since I used Windows to download the HighPoint tar file for RH 9, I am not what I should do with it.
Todd
On Thu, 2005-09-08 at 19:26 -0700, Todd Cary wrote:
I have RH 8 running on a Abit BE7-RAID motherboard. My task is installing Centos 4.1 with limited knowledge on installing with hardware RAID.
It is _not_ hardware RAID, but FRAID (i.e., 100% software).
The arrays are still in place for the two pairs of drives.
Understand by "array" you are talking about "regular looking ATA drives" that have a specific disk organization the FRAID (100% software) driver can understand.
You either need to load an equivalent software driver under Linux (which may or may not be possible), or use the newer kernel 2.6 LVM2-DM (Device Mapper) which now has some FRAID meta-data support. I've found both to be largely _broken_ and untrustworthy in general, but I'm hopeful for the latter in the future.
HighPoint only shows drivers up through RH 9.
Correct, because the vendor has produced 100% proprietary, binary-only modules for _specific_ kernel versions. There is no GPL driver, there is _no_ general, linkable driver (AFAICT). FRAID has always suffered, and will always suffer, from the fact that 100% of the RAID logic is in the software, and that software is almost always licensed from a 3rd party and proprietary.
The Device Mapper approach is interesting though. Instead of relying on the vendor's proprietary driver/logic, it can read the meta-data and use the generic software RAID built in the Linux kernel -- by-passing any need for the proprietary FRAID software/logic.
Is there anyone who can take me through the steps? Remove the existing arrays? Will the drivers work with Centos 4.1?
The drivers won't even work on Fedora Core and even some newer Red Hat Linux kernel updates.
Since I used Windows to download the HighPoint tar file for RH 9, I am not what I should do with it.
Can you send me a link? I'd be interested in knowing what they offer.
Here is the link to HighPoint: http://www.highpoint-tech.com/USA/bios_rr133.htm
My board is a Abit BE7-RAID.
Todd
Bryan J. Smith wrote:
On Thu, 2005-09-08 at 19:26 -0700, Todd Cary wrote:
I have RH 8 running on a Abit BE7-RAID motherboard. My task is installing Centos 4.1 with limited knowledge on installing with hardware RAID.
It is _not_ hardware RAID, but FRAID (i.e., 100% software).
The arrays are still in place for the two pairs of drives.
Understand by "array" you are talking about "regular looking ATA drives" that have a specific disk organization the FRAID (100% software) driver can understand.
You either need to load an equivalent software driver under Linux (which may or may not be possible), or use the newer kernel 2.6 LVM2-DM (Device Mapper) which now has some FRAID meta-data support. I've found both to be largely _broken_ and untrustworthy in general, but I'm hopeful for the latter in the future.
HighPoint only shows drivers up through RH 9.
Correct, because the vendor has produced 100% proprietary, binary-only modules for _specific_ kernel versions. There is no GPL driver, there is _no_ general, linkable driver (AFAICT). FRAID has always suffered, and will always suffer, from the fact that 100% of the RAID logic is in the software, and that software is almost always licensed from a 3rd party and proprietary.
The Device Mapper approach is interesting though. Instead of relying on the vendor's proprietary driver/logic, it can read the meta-data and use the generic software RAID built in the Linux kernel -- by-passing any need for the proprietary FRAID software/logic.
Is there anyone who can take me through the steps? Remove the existing arrays? Will the drivers work with Centos 4.1?
The drivers won't even work on Fedora Core and even some newer Red Hat Linux kernel updates.
Since I used Windows to download the HighPoint tar file for RH 9, I am not what I should do with it.
Can you send me a link? I'd be interested in knowing what they offer.
Todd Cary todd@aristesoftware.com wrote:
Byron - Thank you for taking the time to explain my onboard RAID configuration. I use RAID 1 (mirrored) on my home office server(s).
I use RAID-1 and RAID-10, and RAID-5 on occassion. I use $125 3Ware Escalade 7006-2 (ATA) and 8006-2 (SATA) cards for 2-channel RAID-1, and various 8506-4/8/12 cards for RAID-10 and, limitedly, RAID-5.
I've even found pulls for under $50-75 at times.
For background information, my job over the years is creating DB programs using Delphi for my client and some PHP Web sites.
Given the critical nature of your data, I would recommend expending the small amount of money for 3Ware solutions.
My client does the administration of about 75% of class action lawsuites. As such, my experience is limited at the OS level; I just install it and then use the LAMP features as well as FTP. This results in my feeling like I am driving a one ton pickup alongside an 18 wheeler!
The great thing about 3Ware is that *0* additional configuration is required. At most you need to update your firmare to the latest for the 7000/8000 series if it's not already so. The newer 9000 series even includes firmware as part of the driver.
Here is a link to HighPoints Web site and the support for my BE7-RAID board: http://www.highpoint-tech.com/USA/bios_rr133.htm
Yep, there they are.
I see 2 sets of drivers:
- Binary-only, kernel-specific versions. These are older versions, let alone not updated for the latest kernels for each. I.e., they are largely installer driver disks, and you'll have to do the next (source code) anytime you update the kernel.
- Source code, there is 2 parts. Part 1 is the "raw" ATA channel/disk support available in source code form. Part 2 is the "FRAID" logic and _binary_ only. Part 2 might not link against various kernel versions (let alone probably not kernel 2.6, which CentOS 4.x is).
Is there a way to install Centos 4.1 and bypass the RAID features of the motherboard; avoid getting the Panic?
The panic is caused by your kernel not understanding the disk organization. You have to _break_ the RAID organization (typically done in the FRAID BIOS) _before_ installing.
But then you're no longer running redundant. You can attempt to get into the whole MD (any kernel) support, but it's really a PITA IMHO.
For CentOS 4.1, you could leave the FRAID organization intact and use the newer LVM2-MD FRAID meta-data support, but that's also a PITA to setup.
Or you could save yourself a crapload of headaches and get a 3Ware card for $125 -- Escalade 7006-2 for ATA, 8006-2 for SATA. They are well worth the cost -- Windows or Linux.
-
Bryan J. Smith -
Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams -
Todd Cary