promise ide raid

col · Posted: Tue Aug 06, 2002 8:35 am Post subject: promise ide raid

Can I set up a promise ide raid mirror with hot swap support....so when I remove the mirror drive & plug in a new one it will do a rebuild ?

mglauche · Posted: Tue Aug 06, 2002 8:39 am Post subject:

yes.

use "modprobe pdcraid" before you make partitons on gentoo,

then use /dev/ataraid/discXX/disc as the device.

col · Posted: Tue Aug 06, 2002 8:59 am Post subject:

does it support hot swapping of drives ? is there a howto somewhere ?

mksoft · l33t Joined: 28 May 2002 Posts: 844

No it doesn't support hot swap. I tried installing one with Debian server last week (RAID1 config).

After the installation I pulled the plug from one of the HD's (to simulate HD crash), the system started timing out until it was completely unusable.

When I rebooted it could not even boot, looks like a joke of a RAID if it dones't helps the system keep going when HD crashes.

I ended up bying a real IDE RAID controller (from LSI Logic), which passed all the tests with flying colors, and when the HD reconncted it started rebuilding the RAID without intervention - the way it should work :!:

I also recommend using hotswap drive bays for the IDE drives, make replacing harddrives on failure while the system runs easier and safer.
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There's someone in my head but it's not me - Pink Floyd

klieber · Posted: Tue Aug 06, 2002 11:40 am Post subject:

moving to hardware forum. AFAIK, there is no way to hot-swap an IDE-based RAID. Something about the way ATA works that won't let it happen. (could be totally wrong, however.

)

--kurt
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The problem with political jokes is that they get elected

col · Posted: Tue Aug 06, 2002 10:58 pm Post subject:

hot swap is supported in windows....surprised there is no support for linux.

rommel · Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2002 1:36 am Post subject:

dont be surprised , its software based raid 'el chepo' stuff that needs windows drivers to work correctly...proprietary stuff like that isnt much good under linux....and its not like promise will release the info to the linux community to come up with a solution....i think unlike linux itself in thei instance you get what you paid for.

mksoft · l33t Joined: 28 May 2002 Posts: 844

col · Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2002 1:33 pm Post subject:

software raid ? but it does not support hot swap.....promise support a number of linux distros (not gentoo) as do highpoint but I cant find any open source support. I assume the binary drivers support hot swap.

mksoft · l33t Joined: 28 May 2002 Posts: 844

col · Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2002 12:36 am Post subject:

But Promise dont officially support Debian ? which version of thier drivers are you using out of these ?

http://www.promise.com/support/linux2_eng.asp?mode=linux_download&product_id=15

Interesting to see that highpoint have an open source driver :

http://www.highpoint-tech.com/hpt3xx-opensource-v13.tgz

I compiled this without probs on my gentoo system ..... the redhat release supports hot swap & with a bit of mucking about I reckon you could get it running on gentoo as well as the raid admin GUI ....?

mksoft · l33t Joined: 28 May 2002 Posts: 844

col · Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2002 11:30 pm Post subject:

Anyway possibly thats why you couldnt get it working with Debian ?? who knows ??....Promise & Highpoint controllers are commonly built into motherboards these days which is why I would prefer to use them but from what you say the LSI controller looks like a good option .... Personally I have the promise controller on my motherboard but wish I had the highpoint now since I have found there is no open source support for my Promise chip.

mksoft · l33t Joined: 28 May 2002 Posts: 844

Yes, HighPoint looks like a better solution from promise. I had the promise controller on the server's board (Intel ClearWater) as well, now it just sits there consuming power

Have you tried 3ware solutions :?:

I've read some good reviews about them in the past (regarding to Linux), wonder what experience others have with it.
_________________
There's someone in my head but it's not me - Pink Floyd

rommel · Posted: Fri Aug 09, 2002 12:02 am Post subject:

why dont you just use the raid controller as two more ide channels and use LSR raid 1 it will support hotwap

col · Posted: Fri Aug 09, 2002 1:38 am Post subject:

I am using my promise controller which supports UDMA6 with a UDMA6 maxtor drive in non raid mode which works fine. What is LSR ??

rommel · Posted: Sat Aug 10, 2002 7:20 pm Post subject:

LSR is linux software raid...you can set up a mirrored array using it...it would be the same as promise or highpoint in windows but its actually better ...better algorythm i guess cuz it tends to out perform in raid 0 anyway...as for mirroring well speed isnt the issue so it doesnt matter but i would think it is also more efficient at raid 1 also then its winblows counter parts.

the downside is you cannot have a windows on the array....its linux only..which is how it really should be...lol

col · Posted: Sun Aug 11, 2002 11:23 pm Post subject: