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</head><BODY ><div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;">Michael</SPAN></div>
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<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;">thanks for the info. Here is an update to what I did.</SPAN></div>
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<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;">I understand the soft raid thing here. However, I am sure the LSI card I have is not a soft raid. Most of them have no memory or processor. The ones I have do. Also, this is an add in card, not onboard raid!</SPAN></div>
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<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;">Anyways, you made sense with the support for future kernel's. So, I returned the LSI and bought a 3ware card, the one recommended here on the list. The 3ware card worked out of the box. I first setup my raid, then installed BX. BX installed with no problems! Yeah.. </SPAN></div>
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<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;">I am sure it loaded drivers, but they were built into the os install which was nice. I also found problems on the CentOS forum with the LSI card. Seems that its not supported very well by CentOS. One interesting note is that LSI owns 3ware now. I may try an Adaptec card next.</SPAN></div>
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<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;">A higher end card would also let me use sas hard drives, which I originally wanted to do and the LSI would allow. </SPAN></div>
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<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;">As for raid 1 being useless. I know its used alot! yet in my short 30 some odd years I have never had a mirror save any data. With Nix, Windows or back when I did alot of Novell. The mirror was as useless as the original drive. I have not used mirroring for along time and don't plan on doing so. Just my experience and now personal preference. Nothing beats a tape library for backups. I have yet to lose data that was on my dlt or on my lto library. Know on wood and spin 3 times..</SPAN></div>
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<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;">Thanks all for the support and help!</SPAN></div>
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<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;">tony</SPAN></div>
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<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;"><br /><br /></span></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">> Hi Tony,</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">></SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:maroon;">>> I have checked the card I have and I am pretty sure its a</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:maroon;">>> hardware raid. I have used many raid cards and they all require</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:maroon;">>> drivers, for windows, novell and nix. Either the driver is built</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:maroon;">>> in with the os, or I have always had to load the drivers. Same</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:maroon;">>> with the good old SCSI stuff I used in days past.</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:maroon;">>></SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">></SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">> The problem with the LSI Megaraid is that LSI really went "cheap</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">> ass" there. Yes, of course you usually need drivers in order for</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">> the OS to use certain hardware like disk controllers. Linux</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">> typically handles this through kernel modules. Usually those</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">> drivers just tell the kernel how to "talk" to certain pieces of</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">> hardware. Like "Hey, if you want to use the HDs I have attached,</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">> just use those commands here." So the drivers just act as</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">> "translators" that allow the OS and the controller to "talk to each</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">> others".</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">></SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">> What LSI did here was to offload some of the logic that's normally</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">> included in the hardware of the controller *into* the drivers. So</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">> the hardware in their disk controller is dumb like a doorknob and</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">> totally simplicistic. The *real* work has to be done by the driver</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">> and the CPU of the host system. That allows them to offer a</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">> controller to motherboard makers that costs like 10x less (hardware</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">> wise), but at the expense of extra load on the host system and less</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">> cross platform support as the drivers are now much more important.</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">></SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">> Remember the "Winmodem" devices? Same story. Under Linux you were</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">> screwed if you had one of those.</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">></SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">> I once did run into the LSI MegaRaid controller on an Intel</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">> SR1530HSH/SH server chassis. I basically had the same issues as</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">> you've encountered:</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">></SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">> If you attempted to install any Linux on this server, chances were</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">> that it either would not find any disk drives. Or it found the</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">> disks, but the installed OS didn't boot after installation. That</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">> somewhat depended on the Linux you tried, or on the configuration</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">> of the LSI controller (set to hardware RAID or no RAID, meaning</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">> you'd use software RAID or no RAID during setup).</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">></SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">> I spent several days on that issue and eventually devised a</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">> procedure that allowd to install Aventurin{e}:</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">></SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">> <a href="http://www.solarspeed.net/otrs/public.pl?Action=PublicFAQ&CategoryID=2">http://www.solarspeed.net/otrs/public.pl?Action=PublicFAQ&CategoryID=2</a></SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">> &ItemID=43</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">></SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">> But all in all it's NOT worth the hassles. Because the available</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">> Linux drivers from LSI only work for certain Linux distributions</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">> and ONLY in the stock kernel. So during the next major YUM update</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">> which includes a new kernel your system may end up dead in the</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">> water after the next reboot, as the driver is now gone again or no</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">> longer works with the newer kernel.</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">></SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">> Save you some grief there and get a motherboard that has a "real"</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">> controller that's supported by Linux, or invest some extra bucks</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">> into in an add on card with a real controller.</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">></SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">> Pretty much anything from Adaptec ought to work under Linux -</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">> straight out of the box. I've also used the "3Ware 9650SE-2LP 2-</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">> Port SATA-2" with BlueOnyx and Aventurin{e}. The four port variant</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">> of it should also work just fine.</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">></SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">> The benefit of using a "real" SATA controller is of course also</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">> that you can use real hardware RAID and not the crippled variants</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">> that some of the onboard SATA chip makers often offer.</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">></SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:maroon;">>> Also, the bx install forces a raid 1, which also useless. (imho)</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:maroon;">>></SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">> Why is RAID1 useless? It's probably the most used RAID level for</SPAN></div>
<div><SPAN style="font-size:10pt;color:navy;">> good reasons.</SPAN></div>
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