[K12OSN] Onboard RAID or Software RAID

[Dan Young]

Krsnendu dasa wrote:
> I am just not sure whether to use the RAID on the motherboard or
> software RAID.
> I know addon RAID cards (e.g . 3ware) have been recommended, but for now
> I just want to use what I have.
> 
> I have a motherboard with VIA VT8237 SATA RAID BIOS Ver 2.31
> 
> In addition how do I monitor the disks. Basically, if one disk fails,
> how will I know?
> 
> What are the pluses and minuses of going with either option.

http://linuxmafia.com/faq/Hardware/sata.html#via8237
It's fakeraid, i.e. it relies on software drivers rather than hardware
to provide RAID.

The dmraid driver might work; looks like work in progress.
http://people.redhat.com/~heinzm/sw/dmraid/readme
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/DmraidStatus

VIA apparently has proprietary RAID drivers, I tried to look deeper on
their page but it made my eyes bleed:
http://www.viaarena.com

Software RAID (the md driver) works great. "cat /proc/mdstat" to see
status; I think the mdadm tools come with a cron job to test the arrays
and send you mail if the array degrades. Probably a winner if you want
your stuff to actually work.

-- 
Dan Young <dyoung at mesd.k12.or.us>
Multnomah ESD - Technology Services
503-257-1562