[conspire] (forw) Re: SATA and Linux Raid on a Intel Desktop 945 board

[Rick Moen]

----- Forwarded message from Andrew Jones <andrew-jones at lineone.net> -----

Reply-To: andrew-jones at lineone.net
From: Andrew Jones <andrew-jones at lineone.net>
To: 'Rick Moen' <rick at linuxmafia.com>
Date: Tue, 29 Nov 2005 17:04:19 -0000
Organization: Personal Email
X-Mailer: Microsoft Office Outlook, Build 11.0.6353
Subject: RE: SATA and Linux Raid on a Intel Desktop 945 board

Hi Rick,

Sounds to me like we should be using the Linux one.

I spoke to Intel and they say "We do not support Linux on our desktop board
at the moment" So I asked "when will you?" and they replied "You need to
speak to server support as I am only desktop support" So I said "Have a nice
day" and started looking somewhere else. 

I started to look at the LSI hardware one which is not too expensive for a
commercial product. But I just need to understand what I get over an above
the Linux one for our money. 

If you could point me to any good websites I would appreciate it. 

Thanks, 

Andrew

----- End forwarded message -----
----- Forwarded message from 'Rick Moen' <rick at linuxmafia.com> -----

Date: Tue, 29 Nov 2005 11:45:35 -0800
From: 'Rick Moen' <rick at linuxmafia.com>
To: Andrew Jones <andrew-jones at lineone.net>
Subject: Re: SATA and Linux Raid on a Intel Desktop 945 board

Quoting Andrew Jones (andrew-jones at lineone.net):

> Sounds to me like we should be using the Linux one.
> 
> I spoke to Intel and they say "We do not support Linux on our desktop board
> at the moment" So I asked "when will you?" and they replied "You need to
> speak to server support as I am only desktop support" So I said "Have a nice
> day" and started looking somewhere else. 

"Support" is a term with a great deal of baggage.  In asking the
question, you might have meant "Do you know of reliable drivers for 
your hardware under operating system [foo]?"  Unfortunately for you, the
support drone is under orders to interpret your question as "Are you
willing to commit to solving my detailed technical problems inside 
operating system [foo] and guarantee my results?"

So, you usually want to carefully avoid the term "support", as having
been booby-trapped from the executive boardroom.  You _could_ have asked
"What information resources do you know of concerning Linux drivers for
your hardware?", but even that question may be outside the boundaries of
what the support drone is allowed to answer.

In general:  Hardware manufacturers are the very _worst_ information
resources concerning driver coverage for Linux and other open-source
operating systems.  At best, they tend to be uninformative.  At worst,
consulting them is a subtractive process:  Before you talked to them,
you knew you weren't well informed.  Afterwards, you know things that
are _wrong_.

> I started to look at the LSI hardware one which is not too expensive for a
> commercial product. But I just need to understand what I get over an above
> the Linux one for our money. 

Indeed.  The LSI megaraid-type cards tend to be pricey -- but also very
good.  You'll note that I mentioned the Tecram ones in passing.  Entry
is here: http://linuxmafia.com/faq/Hardware/sata.html#tekram

But, you could try your luck with Linux software RAID.  If the results
please you, then you're done.  If not, you can look into hardware
solutions.

> If you could point me to any good websites I would appreciate it. 

For Linux software RAID, an obvious place to start is the Linux
Documentation Project:
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Software-RAID-HOWTO.html

Here's an interesting page that draws on mine as a resource:
http://www.clintoneast.com/articles/linux-sata-raid.php

-- 
Cheers,             
Rick Moen                 "Anger makes dull men witty, but it keeps them poor."
rick at linuxmafia.com                                   -- Elizabeth Tudor

----- End forwarded message -----