[ILUG] Hardware and Software raid

[Wynne, Conor]

Ciao Matt [I see other people have replied too but as I've already typed
this...]

Whatcha wanna know? Now that I no longer work there I can answer you :)

The 5i IS supported, works deadly actually, great cheap controler, very very
good considering the price. OK you can't do controller duplexing, but who
cares, its cheap and reliable!

There are applications in development for linux [ACU, diags etc], but not
available when I left two months ago, ask HP I suppose. If you wan't to add
drives, you'll have to use the smartarse CD, there is a BIOS on the 5i that
is accessible on some implentations, but just use smartstart and ACU [array
config util], and use the latest version you have, always. 

[Here are some crude examples]
Software raid uses /dev/md0 for the first RAID volume, 
Hardware RAID [smart array controlers] uses /dev/c0d0p1 [controller 0 drive
0 partition 1] 
It may be different for other manufacturers, highly likely is coz I
configured another wan, a digital box but I can't remember the format in
/dev/

Wanna know everything on the planet about CPQ and linux stuff, check out
Richard Blacks page, he is a really nice guy, very helpfull, very
knowledgeable and a big linux head [works for cpqlinux development team]

His page is here:  http://www.geocities.com/rlcomp_1999/

Have fun,
CW


--------------------
I am sure this must be a FAQ, but I cannot find the answer anywhere.

How can I tell if I am using software or hardware RAID? (Kernel 2.4.19pre10)

I presume that I need to run controller specific software to create a
hardware raid device. So if I ran mkraid, this would make it a software raid
device? This is on a Sun Ultra 3000, and I did not check the available
hardware before wiping off Solaris.

On a similar note, has anyone used the Compaq SmartArray 5i controller with
Linux? I see that Compaq have some RAID drivers on SourceForge. Therefore
(using spurious logic) I assume that this controller is supported.

Thanks,

- Matthew



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