From owner-freebsd-stable@FreeBSD.ORG Mon Feb 12 17:12:04 2007 Return-Path: X-Original-To: freebsd-stable@freebsd.org Delivered-To: freebsd-stable@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [69.147.83.52]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 2F2BA16A401 for ; Mon, 12 Feb 2007 17:12:04 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from jdc@koitsu.dyndns.org) Received: from alnrmhc12.comcast.net (alnrmhc12.comcast.net [204.127.225.92]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 05C1513C48E for ; Mon, 12 Feb 2007 17:12:03 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from jdc@koitsu.dyndns.org) Received: from icarus.home.lan (c-71-198-0-135.hsd1.ca.comcast.net[71.198.0.135]) by comcast.net (alnrmhc12) with ESMTP id <20070212171159b12001nie9e>; Mon, 12 Feb 2007 17:12:03 +0000 Received: by icarus.home.lan (Postfix, from userid 1000) id B42D61FA01D; Mon, 12 Feb 2007 09:11:58 -0800 (PST) Date: Mon, 12 Feb 2007 09:11:58 -0800 From: Jeremy Chadwick To: Jaime Bozza Message-ID: <20070212171158.GA40543@icarus.home.lan> Mail-Followup-To: Jaime Bozza , Clayton Milos , Artem Kuchin , freebsd-stable@freebsd.org References: <20070208165224.GA35610@icarus.home.lan> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: X-PGP-Key: http://jdc.parodius.com/pubkey.asc User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.13 (2006-08-11) Cc: Clayton Milos , Artem Kuchin , freebsd-stable@freebsd.org Subject: Re: What is a good choice of sata-ii raid controller for freebsd? X-BeenThere: freebsd-stable@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: Production branch of FreeBSD source code List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Mon, 12 Feb 2007 17:12:04 -0000 On Thu, Feb 08, 2007 at 03:25:57PM -0600, Jaime Bozza wrote: > I want to second the recommendation for Areca controllers. We have two > systems - The first is using an 1160 (16-port PCI-x) with 16 400GB > drives, the 2nd is using the newer 1261ML card (16 port PCI Express, > mini SAS connectors) with 16 500GB drives. Comments below: Jaime, can you expand a bit about what sort-of motherboard you installed the 1261ML in? I've yet to find any mainstream motherboards which have a PCIe x8 slot. Most have x1, some have x4, and many have x16. I've seen one Supermicro board which has a x8 slot but is only wired for x4 (has 4 lanes). Based on what I've read, you can install a x8 card in a x16 slot as long as the x16 slot is wired (physically) for 8 or more lanes. My concern is that these x16 slots on motherboards are being primarily used for video cards, thus I ultimately have no idea what the manufacturers are testing them with. Most manufacturer documentation I've seen says "for use with graphics applications". I'll add that I've only seen x1 and x16 cards until now -- the Areca cards are the first card I've seen using x8. Thoughts/comments? -- | Jeremy Chadwick jdc at parodius.com | | Parodius Networking http://www.parodius.com/ | | UNIX Systems Administrator Mountain View, CA, USA | | Making life hard for others since 1977. PGP: 4BD6C0CB |