Recommended RAID controller

[KC Somaratne]

On Fri, 07 Jan 2005 00:14:06 -0700, Scott Long <scottl at freebsd.org> wrote:
> KC Somaratne wrote:
> >>>Walter Vaughan wrote:
> >>>
> >>>I am looking to build two new servers, and
> >>>plan on using freeBSD. I've read the last
> >>>5 months of this list and while I haven't seen
> >>>anything to scare me, I'm looking for advice on
> >>>something that'll work pretty much out of the block
> >>>with 5.2.1 that has pretty good tools support.
> >>>I was all fired up about a Zero-channel Adaptec,
> >>>but after reading it's only 4.* tools supported
> >>>I not so sure.
> >>>I liked what I've read about Intel's SATA
> >>>raid that uses the iir driver, but again
> >>>I am worried about administrative tools.
> >>>
> >>>Thanks
> >>>--
> >>
> >>Let me go through the list:
> >>
> >>Adaptec:
> >> - There are two families of controller here.  The 2010/2015
> >>   ZCR cards are all that is left of the old family.  It is
> >>   supported under 4.x and 5.x, though there are issues with
> >>   the management tools that require a few tricks to overcome
> >>   in 5.x.  I'm also not terribly happy with the driver, but
> >>   I recently started cleaning it up.  Adaptec provides no
> >>   support nor updates for the driver.  If you have a strong
> >>   desire to use Adaptec ZCR, this is the only choice right now,
> >>   but a lot of people use it and are happy with it.
> >> - The newer family of cards is a bit better in my opinion.
> >>   Adaptec hasn't released a newer version of the management
> >>   app for FreeBSD in several years, but the one that shipped
> >>   with the 5400S will work for all cards in the family.
> >>   Alternatively, the Linux CLI tool that Adaptec does ship
> >>   will work under FreeBSD in linux emulation mode.  The driver
> >>   is well maintained.
> >>
> >>Intel:
> >> - The ICP/Vortex/Intel controllers are actually owned and
> >>   produced by Adaptec now.  The driver is fairly good and is
> >>   actively maintained by the vendor.  A management app is
> >>   available for FreeBSD, but it will not work with FreeBSD 5.2.x
> >>   due to an inadvertent IOCTL incompatibility.  I have changes
> >>   from the vendor pending right now that should hopefully fix
> >>   this for 5.3.  In the mean time, the patch that I committed to
> >>   5.2-CURRENT last month should work ok.
> >>
> >>AMI/LSI MegaRAID:
> >> - This hardware used to be well supported, but the vendor no
> >>   longer provides regular updates.  I don't know whether a
> >>   management app exists or not, though I doubt that it does.
> >>
> >>3Ware:
> >> - Both the 6xxx/7xxx/8xxx and the 9xxx generation cards are
> >>   actively supported on FreeBSD by the vendor and are used by a
> >>   large, well-known web portal company.  Not sure what the
> >>   status of management apps are.
> >>
> >>Compaq CISS:
> >> - Driver is well supported by the FreeBSD community and is popular
> >>   amoung users.
> >>
> >>IBM ServeRAID:
> >> - IBM provided an initial driver, and work has gone on over the
> >>   past year to clean it up and make it more robust.  It only exists
> >>   for 5.x, but backporting it to 4.x would only take a few days.
> >>   No management app exists, nor can the Linux apps run on FreeBSD.
> >>   This hardware is owned and produced by Adaptec also.
> >>
> >>If I were to go the ZCR route right now, it would likely be with the
> >>Intel card.  I've just started playing with them, and it has been a
> >>generally positive experience.  The fact that they actively support
> >>FreeBSD is a big plus.  For SATA, it would be a toss-up between 3ware
> >>and Adaptec.  For U320 SCSI that you can buy in the channel (as opposed
> >>to only buying from the vendor), Adaptec probably wins.
> >>
> >>Scott
> >
> >
> > Hi,
> >
> > With respect to the support for the IBM ServeRAID cards, has there been a change
> > of status since then. I am looking at getting two IBM servers with ServeRAID-6M
> > cards to run 5.3-R.
> >
> > Also, are there any management apps available in 5.3 for the ServeRAID-6M card?
> >
> > thanks n rgds,
> > -kc.
> 
> There really is no way to monitor or manage a serveraid card under
> FreeBSD.  IBM/Adaptec seems to have no interest in releasing specs or
> porting their apps, and there is no way to make the linux apps work.
> 
> Scott
> 
Hi,

Do I have any other choices of well supported SCSI RAID cards that I
can use on a IBM eServer xSeries255 that you can recommend to use with
FreeBSD 5.3-R?

Thnks in advance,
-kc.