Re: Cheapest "software" RAID card
> >I've had no issue using Sarge's Debian Installer to install to
> >Silicon Image SATA controllers.
As I mentioned, it can be detected, BUT there is no RAID function. That
is, it can detect the individual HDs connected to the SIL card, but it
cannot use the RAID function at all, even if it is setup on the SIL card's
BIOS.
> Mu understanding is that NONE of these cards are supported because the
> people writing the linux drivers for them (at least the ones included in
> the kernel) are not the people making the hardware, they are linux
> developers/users and they know that there is no point re-inventing the
> wheel when linux already has md which would outperform a new
> implementation of RAID as mentioned above. Also I doubt Linus would
> allow the bloat of another RAID implementation in the kernel, let alone
> several (one for each different card).
>
> What would be interesting is if the drivers for these cards could be
> modified to hook the md subsystem in linux and transparently create the
> array automatically, but thats not what currently happens.
Yes, that would be interesting.
One of the main points is that the SIL cards and others support Hotplug
(well, not all models do) while many on-board controllers do NOT support
hotplug. Also, I found that many times, if a HD connected to the
motherboard failed, then the system would crash or stall, while if the HD
is connected to one of these "cheap" RAID cards, at least the system would
continue to function.
So these cheap RAID cards do have their function if performance is not
your highest goal.
I guess right now the only option is to use a Silicon Image card (or
whatever) and then use md on top of that, but as I said, it would be much
more graceful if the Kernel supported the RAID card's implementation (like
it does with 3ware, or Megaraid, or the more expensive ones), OR if md
could somehow tie into the RAID card's system... or read the RAID card's
BIOS to get the config.
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