Hardware RAID
I've been looking through kernel readme files, and trying to find a
hardware RAID solution that will run under Debian. It seems that all of
the RAID hardware that is supported in the 2.2 kernel is either very very
expensive, or impossible to find. The controllers that are affordable,
aren't supported. I did briefly look at the 2.3 kernel, but there didn't
seem to be any additional support.
We're planning to go with 5-7 U2W drives in a level 5 array, probably
sticking with 7200 RPM. The 160Mb standard on 10,000 RPM drives would be
very nice, but the price increases are staggering. We'll try to find the
current pricing sweet spot and purchase drives at that capacity. We don't
need the full redundant power, hot swappable setup - our concern is speed
and reliability. If we have to take it down because of a hardware failure,
we're OK with that. :)
Does anyone have any recommendations for a hardware RAID controller with a
good combination of price and Linux support, and at least one supplier who
carries it?
I know I can do software RAID, and this idea hasn't been completely
discounted, but I'm very interested in the potential for just letting the
hardware take care of it. The only case I know of with software RAID
(level 1) was difficult to work with, as it was extremely slow to
fsck/rebuild if there were any problems. Anyone have any other horror or
success stories with either hardware or software RAID to share?
If we go the software route, would there be any issue with simply getting
something like the Adaptec 2940U2W? Any other solid recommendations, and
reasoning to support the choice?
Thanks,
Shawn
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