SATA RAID-1 redundant boot?

[Patrick Boutilier]

Stewart Nelson wrote:
> I have an FC2 system with six SATA drives, configured as
> three software RAID-1 pairs.  Unfortunately, the /boot partition
> (and MBR, etc.) is non-RAID, so the system cannot boot if the
> drive containing /boot has failed.  How can I configure redundant
> boot?
> 
> One pair of drives is connected to an Intel ICH5 controller on the
> motherboard.  This can be configured as 'hardware' RAID in the BIOS,
> but there is no corresponding driver in FC2.  There is a proprietary
> (binary) driver available, but I found several postings advising
> against using it.
> 
> A second pair of drives is connected to an on-board Promise 378
> controller.  The BIOS does not seem to allow booting from it.
> 
> The third pair is connected to a PCI card with a Silicon Image 3112
> controller.  Same situation as with the ICH5.
> 
> As a result, I was forced to use software RAID for all drives.
> 
> 1. Could you please recommend a reliable and reasonably priced SATA
>    controller with hardware RAID-1 capability, BIOS boot code and a
>    compatible Linux driver? or,


3ware cards (http://www.3ware.com) are pretty good. Not sure how you 
define "reasonably priced" though so they may be too expensive for your 
liking.




> 
> 2. Has anyone had a good experience using any of the above controllers
>    with proprietary drivers in RAID-1 mode, and achieved redundant boot?
>    or,
> 
> 3. Is there a way to set up two separate boot partitions, MBRs, etc.,
>    so that either can boot the system?
> 
> TIA,
> 
> Stewart
> 
>