From owner-freebsd-scsi@FreeBSD.ORG Sat Sep 26 02:58:19 2009 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-scsi@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id DDC191065672 for ; Sat, 26 Sep 2009 02:58:19 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from spork@bway.net) Received: from xena.bway.net (xena.bway.net [216.220.96.26]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 981058FC08 for ; Sat, 26 Sep 2009 02:58:19 +0000 (UTC) Received: (qmail 50545 invoked by uid 0); 26 Sep 2009 02:58:18 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO ?10.3.2.41?) (spork@96.57.144.66) by smtp.bway.net with (DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA encrypted) SMTP; 26 Sep 2009 02:58:18 -0000 Date: Fri, 25 Sep 2009 22:58:18 -0400 (EDT) From: Charles Sprickman X-X-Sender: spork@hotlap.local To: Scott Long In-Reply-To: Message-ID: References: User-Agent: Alpine 2.00 (OSX 1167 2008-08-23) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed Cc: freebsd-scsi@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Dell/LSI RAID controllers X-BeenThere: freebsd-scsi@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: SCSI subsystem List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sat, 26 Sep 2009 02:58:19 -0000 On Thu, 24 Sep 2009, Scott Long wrote: > On Sep 23, 2009, at 11:12 PM, Charles Sprickman wrote: > >> Hello all, >> >> I'm considering a Dell, specifically the Poweredge 2970, and I'm not >> finding much info on their site about the various raid controller options - >> there don't seem to be any actual specs. >> >> Anyone here familiar with the various models (PERC 5i, PERC 6I, SAS 6/iR) >> and what FBSD driver each one uses? All are within my price range. I >> assume all can handle SATA as well as SAS, correct? Is performance in the >> ballpark of a $500 3Ware or Areca card? >> >> Thanks, >> > > Dell hardware works well and is well supported. That's good to know. Before I hit the Dell site, I was looking at barebones Supermicro servers (and some others) and Dell beat the "build it yourself" price by a wide margin. Currently there's a $460 discount on the 2970. > SAS5/6 means that it's a SAS+SATA controller that does basic RAID0 and > RAID1. PERC5/6 means that it's a full-fledged caching RAID controller. > There is even a management tool for both the SAS5/6 and PERC5/6 > controllers. Does Dell bother documenting this stuff anywhere? I find their website barely usable (both in terms of response time - awful and organization - also awful). Does the SAS6 do mirror+stripe? Is the management tool something that requires the whole boatload of Linux compat stuff or is it something simple like "mptutil"? Lastly, I see the PERC6 is about $300 beyond the "integrated" SAS6ir. What more does the PERC version offer? Google is showing me some people calling the non-PERC "quasi-raid" which worries me... Thanks, Charles > Scott >