Topic: SME56 with IDE Hardware RAID 5

[Deunan Knute]

Dearest all..

I'm setting up an online storage system strictly for internal intranet use.  The setup I'm thinking of is thus :-

A P4 processor
512mb - 1gb ram
Gigabit Ethernet
6 HDDs
Adaptec RAID 2400A

The first 2 HDD, I'm gonna software raid and mirror them, the other 4 will be hardware raid 5 on the Adaptec card.

I'm wondering whether it is possible to accomplish all this, using custom partitioning.  The 4 HDD on RAID 5 will be storing the data stuff.

BTW, is the Adaptec 2400A card supported? Or should I consider another card instead? How about the Gigabit Ethernet cards? Can anyone recommend any?

Or, just do away with the first 2 HDD and just use the 4 HDD on raid 5 for everything.

[blinky]

Check the red hat supported hardware list.
Buy only raid 5 cards with inbuilt support or ones with GPL driver source.
Warning - DO NOT  buy a promise controller card! -

[Deunan Knute]

Dearest blinky

I thank you for your response.

Noted, avoid Promises like the plague. Broken promises huh?

Can someone tell me what cards that you know proven to work successfully?  I read somewhere on the board about escalade cards and their GPL drivers..  Any other cards that is know to work okay?

Anyways, after googling a bit, I found this at http://www.essenz.com/support/2400raid.html

The driver available on the Adaptec CD and Adaptec website works for RedHat 7.1 and lower. RedHat 7.3 does not require a driver for this card since the proper code will be embedded in the kernel. However, RedHat 7.2 requires an updated driver.

Is this correct?

I appreciate every comments and feedback!