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From: "Dr. Clark Mankin" <cmankin@qwest.net>
To: <freebsd-hardware@freebsd.org>
Date: Mon, 12 Jan 2004 09:53:18 -0800
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Subject: S-ATA RAID Controllers Revisited
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Hello, Everyone.

I have just completely replaced my server farm with new machines built =
around the Asus A7N8X system board which includes a pair of these RAID =
controllers on the board.  The Windoze driver supports RAID 0 =
interleaving for faster performance or RAID 1 to create mirrored pairs.

FreeBSD 5.1 found the RAID controller but failed to install a driver.  =
I'm not certain whether I might need to roll a custom kernel for that =
function or if I might find a 3rd party driver that will work.  Really =
all I want is RAID 1.  I have a file server and mirrored pairs meet my =
particular need best.

For those of you who might want to experiment a bit, two brand new hard =
drives by the same manufacturer and of the same size can be mirrored =
very satisfactorily using rsync.  This is not "RAID" in the strict sense =
of the word, however the end results are so similar that I doubt anyone =
blindfolded would know whether the drive had been mirrored with a RAID =
controller or with rsync.

Since I have the raid controllers I thought I'd try them - if I can get =
a driver.  If not then I'll use "plan b" and mirror a drive in each =
enclosure using rsync as a nightly procedure in addition to my regular =
backup routine.

If any of you intrepid Digital Pioneers know of an appropriate driver, =
please share your knowledge.

Thanks and I hope your day is filled with joy and prosperity.

D. Clark Mankin