From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Thu Dec 30 06:49:08 2004 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 8EE6616A4CE for ; Thu, 30 Dec 2004 06:49:08 +0000 (GMT) Received: from mta9.adelphia.net (mta9.adelphia.net [68.168.78.199]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id E3FCE43D3F for ; Thu, 30 Dec 2004 06:49:07 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from mike@pcmedx.com) Received: from srv01.pcmedx.com ([69.175.53.178]) by mta9.adelphia.net (InterMail vM.6.01.03.02 201-2131-111-104-20040324) with ESMTP id <20041230064907.GJVN14945.mta9.adelphia.net@srv01.pcmedx.com>; Thu, 30 Dec 2004 01:49:07 -0500 Received: from localhost (localhost.pcmedx.com [127.0.0.1]) by srv01.pcmedx.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 4A0EE22238; Wed, 29 Dec 2004 22:49:02 -0800 (PST) Received: from srv01.pcmedx.com ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (srv01.pcmedx.com [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with ESMTP id 46186-05; Wed, 29 Dec 2004 22:49:00 -0800 (PST) Received: from [192.168.240.244] (win2000.pcmedx.com [192.168.240.244]) by srv01.pcmedx.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 95D9722236; Wed, 29 Dec 2004 22:49:00 -0800 (PST) Message-ID: <41D3A4DE.1030408@pcmedx.com> Date: Wed, 29 Dec 2004 22:49:02 -0800 From: Mike Maltese User-Agent: Mozilla Thunderbird 0.7.3 (Windows/20040803) X-Accept-Language: en-us, en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org References: <000001c4ee2f$f52f2e00$68bbbbc0@kewdaeahnhd04i> In-Reply-To: <000001c4ee2f$f52f2e00$68bbbbc0@kewdaeahnhd04i> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Virus-Scanned: by amavisd-new and f-prot at pcmedx.com cc: m Subject: Re: PCI RAID for 'gift' X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Thu, 30 Dec 2004 06:49:08 -0000 m wrote: > My wife has done the unthinkable this season! She decided to buy me > a new server for our small office, which I am more than excited about, > except for one paramount detail... Well, I'm jealous! > It is a respectable 1U server with the following specs from manual: > Dual (2) IntelR XEON 2.8GHz HT Processors=20 > 533MHz Front Side Bus, Hyperthread > 512K L2 Cache=20 > Intel E7501 Server Chipset > 2GB PC2100 ECC Reg. DDR Memory > Dual (2) 160GB SATA Hard Drives, 8MB Buffer=20 > 52x Sony CDROM Drive (black)=20 > 8MB Onboard ATIR RageT XL=20 > Intel 10/100Mbps NIC=20 > Intel Gigabit NIC > > And now the problem: > SuperMicro Board comes with onboard RAID, an Adaptec ICH5R SATA > controller. Take a look here: http://www.techno-obscura.com/~delgado/notes/fbsd-ich5SATAraid.html While it is possible to create a mirrored array with the ICH5 controller, I can't say that I'd recommend it for anything important or in an environment that it would be subjected to heavy loads. The only way I can see using this method would be in conjunction with a consistent backup routine (which should be practiced in all situations anyway). My suggestion would be to get a 3ware 8006-2LP. It's inexpensive at <$150, it's real hardware RAID, and hot-swapping is supported. 3ware even has a CLI application for controlling and monitoring your arrays. I've personally used this card with FreeBSD 5.3 with great results. Mike