Linux Hardware RAID Configuration

[Dan Lund]

Maybe I'm out of place in thinking this, but with all of the hassle of
making SATA "raid" controllers work... why not just use the linux
software raid.
I've been using it for going on 2-3 years now in "economy" hardware
when SCSI hardware raid is an overkill for the situation.

--Dan

On 3/5/06, Jeff Garland <jeff at crystalclearsoftware.com> wrote:
> Darrin Chandler wrote:
>
> > Is the nv_raid info in your dmesg? Might be worth looking at...
>
> Good point.  Sure enough it shows:
>
> sata_nv version 0.6
>
> followed by drive specs and a couple blocks like this:
>
> nv_sata: Primary device added
> nv_sata: Primary device removed
> nv_sata: Secondary device added
> nv_sata: Secondary device removed
>
> followed by:
> scsi0 : stat_nv
> ata2: dev 0 ... //not sure what this is since ata2 is unused
>
> scsi1 : sata_nv
>    ...drive specs for the actual drives here...
>
> Strangely it loads up scsi stuff even when I tell it not to.  Oh well,
> looks like more googling.
>
> >> Maybe it's not worth goofing with the hardware RAID an just go for
> >> software RAID -- Linux can clearly do this. I would assume there is
> >> some performance penalty, but it probably doesn't matter -- this isn't
> >> for a high volume server or anything.
> >
> > Since nobody else has come out and said it yet, I feel compelled: don't
> > think that raid will guarantee your uptime or your data. If it's
> > important enough to use raid, it's important enough to keep good
> > backups.
>
> No worries...this is just a new addition to my current backup system
> which uses rsync and occasional cd backups.  Of course there's also the
> everything important goes in CVS habit I have as well ;-) It turns out
> that I'll be devoting a portion of these drives as 'the backup' for
> several other drives.
>
> > If it's important enough to use raid, learn how to use it.
> > Break the mirror. Rebuild the mirror with 1 good disk and 1 blank one.
> > Experiment and learn how to recover and make notes now, while you have
> > the chance.
>
> Point taken -- seems like the majority of backup strategies I've
> encountered over the years wind up not working at all when it comes time
> to restore.
>
> Jeff
>
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