Subject: Re: RAID controllers
To: Stephan Thesing <thesing@cs.uni-sb.de>
From: David Maxwell <david@crlf.net>
List: port-i386
Date: 11/26/2005 00:18:43
On Fri, 25 Nov 2005, Stephan Thesing wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> we are looking for a new server, which should have a RAID array (probably 
> with SATA disks, as the SCSI price tag is a little bit high) and run under 
> NetBSD.
> 
> Can anybody share his experience with RAID controllers/setups and/or give a 
> recommendation?

3 RAIDframe setups here. a) 2*200G RAID1 b) 5*40G RAID5 c) 6*200G RAID5

I really like knowing that I can put these drives in any machine with enough
ports and bring my FS back up (if it ever came to that). No questions of 
"where will I find a model xxx-yyy rev zzz card so I can read my data again?"

With cache taken out of the picture, on c) I'm seeing about 25MB/s for large
writes, and 115MB/s for reads. That's sufficient for me. All drives are
P-IDE, and on their own controllers.

On b) I've been through 3 disk failures (over 4 1/2 years). Since I'm
using a non-hot-swap interface, that does mean a reboot - but it's not
an issue for my set of requirements.

-- 
David Maxwell, david@vex.net|david@maxwell.net --> Although some of you out
there might find a microwave oven controlled by a Unix system an attractive
idea, controlling a microwave oven is easily accomplished with the smallest
of microcontrollers. - Russ Hersch - (Microcontroller primer and FAQ)