[CentOS] Re: Hardware RAID Controller

Tue May 10 19:09:17 UTC 2005
Bryan J. Smith <b.j.smith@ieee.org> <thebs413 at earthlink.net>

From: Lee W <centos-list at unassemble.co.uk>
> Has anyone had any experience of using the Promise FastTrak SX4000 or 
> SuperTrak SX6000 IDE RAID Controllers under Centos  (if it matters I'm 
> using version 4). I've seen it listed on linuxcompatible.org as working 
> but would prefer to find out any first-hand experince before I buy.

Avoid the FastTraks.  Most are FRAID (Fake/Free RAID), 100% software with
0% GPL drivers.

The SuperTraks are a "true hardware" microcontroller+DRAM solution with GPL
drivers.  Unfortunately, they use mega-yesteryear i960 microcontrollers not
able to keep up with today's drives.

When you want ATA and RAID-5, I recommend the LSI Logic with "x" in the
product model to indicate XScale (superscalar StrongARM) microcontrollers.

> If not, can anyone suggest another make of RAID Controller that will 
> support upto 4 IDE RAIDS (preferably with support for RAID 5). And is 
> also available in the UK.

Is there any consideration driving RAID-5?
For a majority of applications, RAID-0+1 tends to be better.

I prefer 3Ware Escalade 7506/8506 series cards for RAID-0+1.
They use a 64-bit ASIC and SRAM (static RAM).

The 9500S series is still maturing, although they should eventually show outstanding performance.
They add a large amount of DRAM to the existing ASIC+SRAM approach of the earlier Escalades.



--
Bryan J. Smith   mailto:b.j.smith at ieee.org