Anyone using/used hardware raid

Odos · Oct 30, 2007, 14:50:20

Hi all, just wondering if anyone here is familiar with hardware raid cards. I'm thinking of getting one of these http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=673487

What I'd like to know, and can't find the answer on the manufacturers site(s), is this. Seeing that all drive access / raid functions etc are performed by the onboard circuits, Does a hardware raid card present the array(s) to the OS as a standard drive or as an actual array ?

The reason I'm considering one is if it presents as a single drive then no drivers will be needed no matter which OS you prefer to run. It would just be a case of connect and use.

Cheers

Rik · Oct 30, 2007, 14:59:31

Hi Tony

Every RAID controller I have seen has needed drivers, so I would guess this one would too - but maybe a call to Scan might be the fastest way to make sure? I like the sound of the redundancy in that array though...

Odos · Oct 30, 2007, 15:19:35

Quote from: Rik on Oct 30, 2007, 14:59:31
Hi Tony

Every RAID controller I have seen has needed drivers, so I would guess this one would too - but maybe a call to Scan might be the fastest way to make sure? I like the sound of the redundancy in that array though...

Same here Rik, but I've only ever dealt with software or "fake hardware" raid and raid cards, never with a true hardware raid system.

To be honest, for what I use, that card would be a bit of overkill, BUT what I'm after is to be able to access all my partitions from the different OS's I run. Something I can't do at the moment as no drivers exist ( well I can't find any ) for Linux that can access my software raid system.

A call to Scan may be best, but that would get my other half on my case about spending again, even though I ain't yet.

Rik · Oct 30, 2007, 15:26:26

Quote from: Odos on Oct 30, 2007, 15:19:35
A call to Scan may be best, but that would get my other half on my case about spending again, even though I ain't yet.

I just wait till Sue is out of the room.

Odos · Oct 30, 2007, 15:38:51

Quote from: Rik on Oct 30, 2007, 15:26:26
I just wait till Sue is out of the room.

Not an option here, no matter which room I use she can still hear me

Anyways update on my original question, I've just stumbled across the answer on a debian forum and your right, it does still need drivers so it's back to the drawing board for me

Rik · Oct 30, 2007, 15:45:45

That's a drag - on both counts.

How about a NAS RAID, or would that be too slow?

Odos · Oct 30, 2007, 15:55:44

Too slow I'm afraid Rik. I is a very impatient person when it comes to waiting for things to load

Thanks for your time anyway

Bat · Nov 03, 2007, 10:35:35

Hi,
I don't think you'll find one without drivers. The O/S will need something to tell it what to do with that card you've fitted. The server I run loads "array bios" after post and drivers in the O/S too. Even then it's not fool proof when you slot in an extra drive.
Cheers,
Gavin

Odos · Nov 03, 2007, 20:52:20

Actually I did find a driverless raid card
http://www.xfxforce.com/web/product/listConfigurationDetails.jspa?series=Revo64&productConfigurationId=20302

Trouble is it's only 5 port and only PCI not PCI-e which limits the speed quite a bit.

Otherwise it's quite an attractive card for what I'm after.

Adam · Nov 04, 2007, 04:47:01

How about this? It looks like it meets all your specs, and works on most operating systems.

Odos · Nov 04, 2007, 16:24:15

Quote from: Adam on Nov 04, 2007, 04:47:01
How about this? It looks like it meets all your specs, and works on most operating systems.

Not quite Adam, that particular one is PCI-X not PCI-e but Adaptec do have some cards that come close. The 3085 for instance, which is Adaptec's version of the 3ware 9650SE-8LPML. The main problem with both is that only certain flavours of Linux are supported, Red Hat and Suse being the ones supported by Adaptec. I'm still living in hopes of finding a suitable driverless card which I could use with any OS.

Thanks for your time and suggestion though