Topic: Adaptec 2100S RAID 5 Array

[Craig Farrier]

I was wondering if any other E-Smith SME 5 users have installed an Adaptec 2100S on SME 5.0 yet.

I have to install 2 server with RAID-5. I have searched all the forums for info and read the Contributed HowTo. But I would like to install SME 5 on the RAID5 array and not on an IDE drive.

I am aware that you can install drivers during the installation by typing in 'proceed dd' and you will be asked for a driver disk during installation. I was going to use the drivers for RedHat 6.x as they are available in tar.gz format and allows me to copy the drivers to a floppy.

Anybody tried this yet and can give me some info on what thier experience has been it would be greatly appreciated.

I will document and create a HowTo for others to follow.

Regards
Craig

[Tom Keiser]

Sorry, but the Adaptec 2100S drivers are only available for the numbered RH distributions. SME5.x uses a kernel that is newer than RH 7.0 but not as new as RH 7.1.

Consequently, there is no driver for kernel 2.2.19.x, which is what SME5 is based on.

Just to be certain of this, I did try all of the published Adaptec drivers for Red Hat and came up with no success.

Whenever I need to use an Adaptec (or other) raid controller that is linked to specific distros, I install ESSG 4.1.2 and use the RH 7 drivers.

Good luck,

Tom

[Michael Doerner]

Bad news for me since I also was going to use a 2100S for the next SME server.
If the driver source would be availble, I guess it wouldn't be that much problem to compile them for the required kernel but apparently there is no source version for those?

Anyway, no Adaptecs to use in the near future ... which raises the question which other (SCSI) RAID controllers we can use with the current SME version?

Regards,
Michael

[Craig Farrier]

I will have a hunt around for other SCSI RAID cards that have support for 2.2.19 and post my findings

Craig

[Shad]

The 3-ware cards work great with both 4.1.2 and 5.0 SME servers.  The 4 and 8 port cards both support raid5 and work quite well.  I understand they have discontinued these cards but you can still find some online.

-Shad

[Dan Brown]

Shad, the 3ware cards support IDE drives, not SCSI ones (though they appear to the system as SCSI devices), so I don't think they're quite what Michael was looking for.  However, 3Ware is still producing their 7000-series cards, having (thankfully) changed their minds about discontinuing all the RAID adapters.

[Darrell May]

Also look at Mylex cards.  They use the DAC960.o driver included with SME5.x.  I have no first-hand experience but I'm told they work.  Maybe someone using one can comment.

Regards,

Darrell

[Kelvin]

Hi Daryl,

I'm not sure if hte DAC960.o module will work for all the Mylex cards. The older Mylex cards were based on the i960 processor, in which case, I believe will work with the dac960.o module. However, the newer cards are based on the StrongArm SA 110 processor and I don't think will work with the dac960.o module. Anyone's tried one ?

Cheers,

Kelvin

[Darrell May]

Looks like a pretty extensive list to me

SUPPORTED DAC960/AcceleRAID/eXtremeRAID PCI RAID CONTROLLERS

The following list comprises the supported DAC960, AcceleRAID, and XtremeRAID
PCI RAID Controllers as of the date of this document.  It is recommended that anyone purchasing a Mylex PCI RAID Controller not in the following table contact the author beforehand to verify that it is or will be supported.

eXtremeRAID 3000
            1 Wide Ultra-2/LVD SCSI channel
            2 External Fibre FC-AL channels
            233MHz StrongARM SA 110 Processor
            64 Bit 33MHz PCI (backward compatible with 32 Bit PCI slots)
            32MB/64MB ECC SDRAM Memory

eXtremeRAID 2000
            4 Wide Ultra-160 LVD SCSI channels
            233MHz StrongARM SA 110 Processor
            64 Bit 33MHz PCI (backward compatible with 32 Bit PCI slots)
            32MB/64MB ECC SDRAM Memory

AcceleRAID 352
            2 Wide Ultra-160 LVD SCSI channels
            100MHz Intel i960RN RISC Processor
            64 Bit 33MHz PCI (backward compatible with 32 Bit PCI slots)
            32MB/64MB ECC SDRAM Memory

AcceleRAID 170
            1 Wide Ultra-160 LVD SCSI channel
            100MHz Intel i960RM RISC Processor
            16MB/32MB/64MB ECC SDRAM Memory

AcceleRAID 160 (AcceleRAID 170LP)
            1 Wide Ultra-160 LVD SCSI channel
            100MHz Intel i960RS RISC Processor
            Built in 16M ECC SDRAM Memory
            PCI Low Profile Form Factor - fit for 2U height

eXtremeRAID 1100 (DAC1164P)
            3 Wide Ultra-2/LVD SCSI channels
            233MHz StrongARM SA 110 Processor
            64 Bit 33MHz PCI (backward compatible with 32 Bit PCI slots)
            16MB/32MB/64MB Parity SDRAM Memory with Battery Backup

AcceleRAID 250 (DAC960PTL1)
            Uses onboard Symbios SCSI chips on certain motherboards
            Also includes one onboard Wide Ultra-2/LVD SCSI Channel
            66MHz Intel i960RD RISC Processor
            4MB/8MB/16MB/32MB/64MB/128MB ECC EDO Memory

AcceleRAID 200 (DAC960PTL0)
            Uses onboard Symbios SCSI chips on certain motherboards
            Includes no onboard SCSI Channels
            66MHz Intel i960RD RISC Processor
            4MB/8MB/16MB/32MB/64MB/128MB ECC EDO Memory

AcceleRAID 150 (DAC960PRL)
            Uses onboard Symbios SCSI chips on certain motherboards
            Also includes one onboard Wide Ultra-2/LVD SCSI Channel
            33MHz Intel i960RP RISC Processor
            4MB Parity EDO Memory

DAC960PJ    1/2/3 Wide Ultra SCSI-3 Channels
            66MHz Intel i960RD RISC Processor
            4MB/8MB/16MB/32MB/64MB/128MB ECC EDO Memory

DAC960PG    1/2/3 Wide Ultra SCSI-3 Channels
            33MHz Intel i960RP RISC Processor
            4MB/8MB ECC EDO Memory

DAC960PJ    1/2/3 Wide Ultra SCSI-3 Channels
            66MHz Intel i960RD RISC Processor
            4MB/8MB/16MB/32MB/64MB/128MB ECC EDO Memory

DAC960PG    1/2/3 Wide Ultra SCSI-3 Channels
            33MHz Intel i960RP RISC Processor
            4MB/8MB ECC EDO Memory

DAC960PU    1/2/3 Wide Ultra SCSI-3 Channels
            Intel i960CF RISC Processor
            4MB/8MB EDRAM or 2MB/4MB/8MB/16MB/32MB DRAM Memory

DAC960PD    1/2/3 Wide Fast SCSI-2 Channels
            Intel i960CF RISC Processor
            4MB/8MB EDRAM or 2MB/4MB/8MB/16MB/32MB DRAM Memory

DAC960PL    1/2/3 Wide Fast SCSI-2 Channels
            Intel i960 RISC Processor
            2MB/4MB/8MB/16MB/32MB DRAM Memory

DAC960P     1/2/3 Wide Fast SCSI-2 Channels
            Intel i960 RISC Processor
            2MB/4MB/8MB/16MB/32MB DRAM Memory

[Kelvin]

Sooooo, the dac960 module also supports the StrongArm. I see.....

Now, you see, I did not know that

I stand corrected !

Cheers,

Kelvin

[Bobby]

I have a Mylex (DAC 960) RAID card and need to install e-Smith or even just plain RedHat.

I created two arrays, one consisting of 3x 4 gig drives, and the other 3x 8 gig.  Both arrays are RAID 5.

I can see and format both drives with DOS, though both only shows as 8 gig.

Linux, on the other hand, does not like them.  I get an error saying there is nowhere to install the files.  I even tried formatting both wint ext2....still no luck.

Any ideas or HOW-TOs????

I am at a loss here, and I have a client really needing this server built ASAP.

Thanks.

-Bobby