ATA Raid

[Samuel Flory]

Bill Gradwohl wrote:
> Thank you Matthias & Alexander.
> 
> I find it difficult to trust "software" RAID from past experience on other
> O/S platforms, and from the purely logical perspective. It may be better
> than the Promise junk, but not as good as "real" RAID.

   I think you are confusing the Promise Fasttrak Raid controller with a 
hardware raid controller.  It does all raid in software.  All raid 
occurs in the driver with exception of minimal boot support in the bios. 
  The only difference between using the promise driver, and the linux md 
driver is the promise driver sucks.

> 
> A true hardware based array only offers the O/S its controlled interface to
> the array. i.e. One gadget that requires a driver to communicate requests
> thru, but all the RAID logic happens via silicon that is not corruptible
> from the O/S. There is no access to the arrays hardware parts like hde and
> hdf as in my example. Software RAID is corruptible by definition. 
> 
> To those users of other on mobo RAID chip sets - Does the O/S see the
> underlying hdX devices that the array is utilizing? I'm hoping that a real
> RAID chipset mobo exists so I don't have to fork over lots of $$$ for a
> RAIDCORE, 3WARE, or ADAPTEC controller.
> 

   You are going have shell out a fair bit for a hardware raid controller.

-- 
Unless you can't avoid it never put a
serial number on any of your systems!!
(The Numberless Rule of Hardware Acquisition)
Sam Flory  <sflory at rackable.com>