[K12OSN] Woe is me: Onboard SCSI/RAID Controller

[Petre Scheie]

I was over optimistic in the cost of a SCSI RAID controller.  Looking at 
pricewatch.com, while a plain Adaptec SCSI controller can be had for under $150, 
getting RAID bumps the price up to the $300-$400+ range.

Petre

Petre Scheie wrote:
> One idea to consider: if, as Les recommended, you try to install K12LTSP 
> and it does not work with the on-board SCSI controller, you might just 
> buy another SCSI controller card and use that instead.  You *should* be 
> able to disable the on-board SCSI.  That way you can still use the 
> system; it's only the SCSI controller that's apt to give you problems, 
> so just replace that part, effectively.  I think you can get a good SCSI 
> RAID controller for about $150, perhaps less.
> 
> Petre
> 
> Debbie Schiel wrote:
> 
>> Les Bell wrote:
>>
>>> Brian Chase <networkr0 at cfl.rr.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> It sounds
>>> like you went off and bought a motherboard and now that you've found it
>>> doesn't support a particular version of Redhat, you're completely
>>> willing to change your original plan.  Not a good idea.
>>> <<
>>>
>>> In all fairness to Debbie, she probably saw some Acer Altos blurb 
>>> that said
>>> "supports Red Hat Linux, supports SuSE Linux", etc. I got caught the 
>>> same
>>> way - bought a couple of Acer Altos G301 servers for a school, on the
>>> understanding that Red Hat 7.3 and 8.0 were supported (and 9 
>>> shouldn't be a
>>> problem, you'd think) - only to find out that the on-board RAID 
>>> controller
>>> was a MegaIDE chipset that only has precompiled binary drivers and only
>>> supports the kernel supplied on the RH 7.3 and 8.0 CD-ROMs. If you 
>>> want to
>>> download and use a later official RH kernel, as a bug fix or security
>>> patch, tough - you're out of luck. Acer tech support were less than 
>>> helpful
>>> - they had shipped a driver and as far as they were concerned, that was
>>> Linux support and if I didn't like it, I knew what I could do. . .  .
>>>
>>
>> Thanks Les & Brian for your advice.
>>
>> Unfortunately I was not the one responsible for buying the server. If 
>> I was I would've chosen something different. Some guys down in ACT 
>> (home of Samba) who were trialling K12ltsp gave me recommended 
>> hardware specs from their supplier specifically for K12ltsp. And my 
>> school got another quote from a different (non-linux) source. During 
>> the holidays in my absence they (the ones with the money & the final 
>> say) bought the Acer server from this other supplier. I am the IT 
>> co-ordinator/teacher by the way, but we're a small independant school 
>> and I don't feel like I can grumble about all the money spent on this 
>> server (even though I wish we could take the Acer back to the supplier 
>> this instant!)
>>
>> So I'll follow your suggestions, and try an install of K12ltsp on the 
>> Acer this weekend. Hopefully I'll have some good news to report!
>>
>> Debbie
> 
> 
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