114 lines
4.1 KiB
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114 lines
4.1 KiB
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<TITLE>Software-RAID HOWTO: Supported Hardware & Software</TITLE>
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<A HREF="Software-RAID-0.4x-HOWTO.html#toc6">Contents</A>
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<HR>
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<H2><A NAME="s6">6. Supported Hardware & Software</A></H2>
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<P>
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<OL>
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<LI><B>Q</B>:
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I have SCSI adapter brand XYZ (with or without several channels),
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and disk brand(s) PQR and LMN, will these work with md to create
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a linear/stripped/mirrored personality?
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<BLOCKQUOTE>
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<B>A</B>:
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Yes! Software RAID will work with any disk controller (IDE
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or SCSI) and any disks. The disks do not have to be identical,
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nor do the controllers. For example, a RAID mirror can be
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created with one half the mirror being a SCSI disk, and the
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other an IDE disk. The disks do not even have to be the same
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size. There are no restrictions on the mixing & matching of
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disks and controllers.
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<P>This is because Software RAID works with disk partitions, not
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with the raw disks themselves. The only recommendation is that
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for RAID levels 1 and 5, the disk partitions that are used as part
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of the same set be the same size. If the partitions used to make
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up the RAID 1 or 5 array are not the same size, then the excess
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space in the larger partitions is wasted (not used).
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</BLOCKQUOTE>
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</LI>
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<LI><B>Q</B>:
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I have a twin channel BT-952, and the box states that it supports
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hardware RAID 0, 1 and 0+1. I have made a RAID set with two
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drives, the card apparently recognizes them when it's doing it's
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BIOS startup routine. I've been reading in the driver source code,
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but found no reference to the hardware RAID support. Anybody out
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there working on that?
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<BLOCKQUOTE>
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<B>A</B>:
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The Mylex/BusLogic FlashPoint boards with RAIDPlus are
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actually software RAID, not hardware RAID at all. RAIDPlus
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is only supported on Windows 95 and Windows NT, not on
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Netware or any of the Unix platforms. Aside from booting and
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configuration, the RAID support is actually in the OS drivers.
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<P>While in theory Linux support for RAIDPlus is possible, the
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implementation of RAID-0/1/4/5 in the Linux kernel is much
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more flexible and should have superior performance, so
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there's little reason to support RAIDPlus directly.
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</BLOCKQUOTE>
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</LI>
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<LI><B>Q</B>:
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I want to run RAID with an SMP box. Is RAID SMP-safe?
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<BLOCKQUOTE>
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<B>A</B>:
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"I think so" is the best answer available at the time I write
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this (April 98). A number of users report that they have been
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using RAID with SMP for nearly a year, without problems.
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However, as of April 98 (circa kernel 2.1.9x), the following
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problems have been noted on the mailing list:
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<UL>
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<LI>Adaptec AIC7xxx SCSI drivers are not SMP safe
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(General note: Adaptec adapters have a long
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& lengthly history
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of problems & flakiness in general. Although
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they seem to be the most easily available, widespread
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and cheapest SCSI adapters, they should be avoided.
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After factoring for time lost, frustration, and
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corrupted data, Adaptec's will prove to be the
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costliest mistake you'll ever make. That said,
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if you have SMP problems with 2.1.88, try the patch
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ftp://ftp.bero-online.ml.org/pub/linux/aic7xxx-5.0.7-linux21.tar.gz
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I am not sure if this patch has been pulled into later
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2.1.x kernels.
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For further info, take a look at the mail archives for
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March 98 at
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http://www.linuxhq.com/lnxlists/linux-raid/lr_9803_01/
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As usual, due to the rapidly changing nature of the
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latest experimental 2.1.x kernels, the problems
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described in these mailing lists may or may not have
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been fixed by the time your read this. Caveat Emptor.
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)
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</LI>
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<LI>IO-APIC with RAID-0 on SMP has been reported
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to crash in 2.1.90</LI>
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</UL>
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</BLOCKQUOTE>
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</LI>
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</OL>
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<HR>
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