Date: Mon, 13 Dec 2004 16:44:30 -0500 From: Isaac Levy <isaac@diversaform.com> To: freebsd-scsi@freebsd.org Cc: Marc Spitzer <mspitze1@optonline.net> Subject: HighPoint RAID drivers Message-ID: <2B1E8EAB-4D50-11D9-A787-000D9368D406@diversaform.com>
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Hello All, I've been pointed over this way from the NYC*BUG talk list, as I have =20= an interesting 'driver situation', and am looking to perhaps help the =20= right committer put some existing drivers into the FreeBSD source for a =20= RAID card(?). Here's the summary: 1) A vendor just sold me a server with a 'HighPoint RocketRaid 1640', 4 =20= channel SATA RAID. http://www.highpoint-tech.com/USA/rr1640.htm 2) The HighPoint folks support FreeBSD, distributing drivers and =20 management tools 3) Doing the driver install when installing on boot volumes totally =20 BITES, it's very time consuming and tricky, and I don't even have =20 floppy drives on my servers any more... (/me wails and gnashes teeth) 4) The RAID card is much like similar 3Ware stuff, (it presents itself =20= more like a scsi device to the OS- =46rom the manual: "if you have no =20= other SCSI device, the first device is /dev/da0, then /dev/da1, etc." =20= Another thing that looks good about the card is that it's got sysctl =20 calls for management, e.g.: # sysctl hpt374.status -and- # sysctl =96w hpt374.status=3D=93hpt rebuild a,b,0=94 -etc- 5) The RAID card is known to be quite solid, and the vendor who sold it =20= to me has loads of them out there- so, I concluded that it would be =20 really sweet if the driver were in the FreeBSD source- these cards are =20= pretty inexpensive (around $100), and would allow more people to use =20 RAID in places they would never have before, IMHO... I think it would =20= be great if these drivers were there much like the aac drivers for =20 Adaptec RAID stuff. -- More details are below with regard to my take on the situation, but I'd =20= really love to hear yall's thoughts on this. I'd love to see the =20 driver reach the FreeBSD source trees, but I'm not close enough to =20 committers to know if this is sane or relevant... Thanks, and happy holidays all! Rocket- .ike On Dec 13, 2004, at 12:57 PM, Isaac Levy wrote: > Details: > -- > ((SPECS)) > The Raid card is the 'HighPoint RocketRaid 1640' > http://www.highpoint-tech.com/USA/rr1640.htm > > It's a 4 channel SATA card, and they're fairly inexpensive. With =20 > that, HighPoint actually states FreeBSD support on their website, =20 > PROVIDES DRIVERS, and both 'CLI' and 'GUI' management tools- all fine =20= > and dandy (they can't be any clunkier than aaccli eh?). Right now the = =20 > card hovers around $100- very accessible, very replaceable. > > > (( DRIVERS EXIST!! )) > http://www.highpoint-tech.com/USA/bios_rr1640.htm#FreeBSD > There is online access to the card's drivers from the manufacturer, =20= > and they have actually gone to considerable effort to support FreeBSD =20= > through 4.x and 5.x (as well as Linux), though I have not yet seen any = =20 > clear license concerning driver redistribution etc... (excepting a =20 > general copyright header in the manual), so I'd assume that with a =20 > little prodding even, HighPoint could be convinced to slap an MIT or =20= > BSD style license in there, so we can have the open inclusion of the =20= > driver or source in *BSD/*NIX source. Someone within FreeBSD may have = =20 > tried this already and failed, but I haven't been able to find =20 > anything about this online. > > > (( HOW INSTALLING DISK DRIVERS ON BOOT MEDIA BITES )) > Installing the drivers, ESPECIALLY during a system install, is a real =20= > manual pain in the tail. The instructions provided by HighPoint call =20= > for a sequence involving: > + booting from FreeBSD install CD > - pausing before the kernel loads > - loading the driver off a floppy > + One then proceeds with a standard FreeBSD install > - and at the end, one has to instal the HighPoint drivers on the fresh = =20 > system > - Then one manually has to add the driver to boot.load on the fresh =20= > system, so it bloody loads at boot time. > > The install sequence is documented in a PDF, in the tarball of stuff =20= > that comes with the driver images: > http://www.highpoint-tech.com/BIOS%20+%20Driver/rr1640/FreeBSD/rr154x-=20= > bsd-v112s.tgz > > (( WHY DRIVER INSTALL BITES )) > Driver install takes a inordinate amount of time, (hardware RAID being = =20 > something I use, for one, because it SAVES me time). In addition, I =20= > have no floppy on this system- and don't plan to install one, so =20 > getting this to work involved a 3rd disk, then copying the install, =20= > and driver, etc... to the RAID once it was working. Now, thinking =20 > foreword to a time when there is some sort of critical problem with =20= > the system, I shudder to think what kind of boot-ballet I'll have to =20= > deal with, should I need to boot from emergency repair media- seeing =20= > as whenever that kind of thing happens, it's always under time =20 > pressure, anything that can go wrong will go wrong. > I could create my own install/repair CD's based on the minidist =20 > releases, but this is a loosing proposition as well- seeing as I =20 > currently will be supporting 1 of these buggers, and what the heck =20 > happens when there is some Zero-day system exploit, where I'll need to = =20 > do some major upgrades within hours. > > > (( WHY DRIVERS INCLUSION FOR SOURCE/INSTALLER MEDIA SOLVES EVERYTHING =20= > )) > It's simple- All of the above install issues for boot volumes =20 > disappear for this card. > IMHO, this enables all of us to use fast and inexpensive RAID in =20 > places that would otherwise be cost-prohibitive (slap RAID in that =20 > little dev box in your closet). I'd personally start using the cards =20= > all over in clusters of redundant servers, where fast/cheap =20 > replacements are key for me... > > For advocacy purposes, this is the kind of situation that I think =20 > creates bad perceptions about Open Source- and BSD- HighPoint folks =20= > really are putting effort into supporting FreeBSD, but I'd hate to be =20= > a newbie who just bought a HighPoint card for my first FreeBSD =20 > install!!! > > _______________________________________________ > % NYC*BUG talk mailing list > http://lists.nycbug.org/mailman/listinfo/talk > %Be sure to check out our Jobs and NYCBUG-announce lists > %We meet the first Wednesday of the month >
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