Raid 5 s-ata controllers and RHEL5 install

[Marius Schrecker]

Thanks Roger!

     Sorry all for the top posting, but am sending this pravate thread to
the list for any further comments. Please feel free to bottom post
;-).

> Marius,
>
> I previously did a private reply, so you reply to mine did not go
> to the list.  See below for my comments.
>
> Marius Schrecker wrote:
>>> Marius Schrecker wrote:
>>>> Hi,
>>>>
>>>>    I've been trying to install RHEL5 x86_64 on an ASUS DSBF-D/SAS
>>>> motherboard with 2 RAID5 S-ATA arrays running on the:
>>>>
>>>>  Intel® 6321ESB I/O Controller Hub:
>>>> 6 SATA2 300MB/s ports
>>>> Intel Matrix Storage (Windows) support RAID 0, 1, 0+1, RAID 5 (S/W).
>>>>
>>>> I haven't found a diskett image for RHEL5, and even live cd's (debian
>>>> based) fail to show the arrays in /dev, although mdadm does see the
>>>> arrays.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I have 3 questions:
>>>>
>>>> 1.   Does anybody have any Experience getting RHEL5 installed on a
>>>> RAID5
>>>> array using this kind of controller?
>>>>
>>>> 2. As the machine in question doesn't have a diskett drive, I will
>>>> have
>>>> to
>>>> re-engineer the disk 1 iso including modules for the anaconda kernel.
>>>> Does
>>>> anyone know the kernel version for anaconda, and whether it is 32 or
>>>> 64
>>>> bit, which gcc to use, etc.
>>>>
>>>> 3.  Better would be to find a proper hardware RAID controller (pci-e).
>>>> Does anyone have any recommendations for a card (preferably 8 port for
>>>> 2
>>>> 3-4 disk arrays) which will provide TRANSPARENT support for the
>>>> installer,
>>>> or which anaconda will find natively?
>>>>
>>>>
>>> 1:
>>> Since the controllers are fake-raid that makes it somewhat less
>>> likely that the drivers exist at all and are open source (ie will
>>> ever be in a shipped OS).
>>>
>>> 2:
>>> If the controller makers has a driver floppy, get a usb floppy, that
>>> should work, you may need to do "dd update", or if they have source
>>> code
>>> you may need to engineer a driver floppy from an older one, but if the
>>> driver is never going to be in the kernel, then kernel updates will
>>> be a pain.
>>>
>>> 3:
>>> A number of the new HW raid controllers don't yet have drivers in
>>> RHEL5,
>>> I know that the PCI-e type 3ware controllers are not in default RHEL5,
>>> I
>>> suspect
>>> that most other recent new cards (pretty much all of the decent
>>> high-end
>>> HW
>>> raid PCI-E controllers) aren't there either, and require a driver
>>> floppy.
>>>
>>> I don't believe the 3ware driver went into the kernel.org kernels until
>>> 2.6.19, and I am suprised by the fact that RedHat did not back port
>>> that
>>> to their initial RHEL5 release.
>>>
>>>                            Roger
>>>
>>
>> Okay, looks like we forget option 1. at least.
>>
>> Most of the controllers I've looked at don't seem to support RHEL5
>> explicitly, and the (binary) drivers available on the install images are
>> for much older kernels (assuming anaconda runs on 2.6.18).
>>
>> These two at least look like they fit my needs, and ship with source
>> code.
>> What kernel and gcc versions do I need to build against??
>>
>> :: HighPoint RocketRAID 2320
>>
>> (http://www.highpoint-tech.com/USA/rr2320.htm)
>>
>>
>> or Promise SuperTrak EX8350:
>>
>> (http://www.promise.com/product/product_detail_eng.asp?segment=RAID%205%20HBAs&product_id=156)
>>
>
> I would go with either Areca or 3ware, my 3rd choice would be Highpoint.
>
> The Areca and 3ware drivers are in 2.6.19+ kernels, and 3wares driver
> source
> listed for 2.6 kernels should work find on RHEL5.   I know it works fine
> on the FC6 - 2.6.18 kernel.   I suspect that the Areca driver is similar,
> I know Areca's and 3ware's drivers, and I believe Highpoint's driver for
> that card are included in the kernel.org kernels (I have no idea about
> the promise driver), but if they are in the kernel.org kernel then it is
> very likely the driver will be in RHEL5U1, and you won't need to worry
> about the driver when you do the kernel update.
>
> I believe we have used that highpoint controller and it did work, we have
> not used it on that OS.   The 3ware and Areca drivers and controllers
> appear
> (in my experience) to be more mature and well tested than the Highpoint
> stuff,
> the company I work for resells, installs and integrates all 3 (3ware,
> Areca, and Highpoint).   I don't believe 3ware or Areca sell any fake raid
> controllers, most of the older highpoint controllers are fakeraid, the one
> you specified is I believe a real raid controller.
>
>  From past experiences with Promise I don't use them,  Their early
> controllers
> were junk, that may have changed, but they were one of the first fake raid
> controllers out there, and early on they were alot of trouble, and only
> had
> a binary driver.
>
>
>
>> Does anyone have experience with either and can say if I will be able to
>> load the drivers for RHEL5 anaconda (I'm still going for a cd
>> re-engineer
>> as the easiest approach)?
>>
>> I've also ben toying with doing a chroot install if I gan get the system
>> (with arrays) up and running from a live distro but can't get anaconda
>> to
>> work. Anyone know how RHEL5 handles that?
>>
>> Cheers!
>>
>> Marius
>>
>>
>