From owner-freebsd-hardware@FreeBSD.ORG Wed Sep 19 20:43:23 2007 Return-Path: Delivered-To: hardware@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id D1B3216A41A for ; Wed, 19 Sep 2007 20:43:23 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from work@ashleymoran.me.uk) Received: from mercureh.reacthosting.com (reacthosting.com [195.177.245.34]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 8B39B13C459 for ; Wed, 19 Sep 2007 20:43:23 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from work@ashleymoran.me.uk) Received: from 81-86-43-170.dsl.pipex.com ([81.86.43.170] helo=[192.168.52.2]) by mercureh.reacthosting.com with esmtpa (Exim 4.66 (FreeBSD)) (envelope-from ) id 1IY6OE-000MFF-56; Wed, 19 Sep 2007 21:43:18 +0100 In-Reply-To: <46F0416B.4010607@jonny.eng.br> References: <46EDDDD0.2070409@jonny.eng.br> <46F0416B.4010607@jonny.eng.br> Mime-Version: 1.0 (Apple Message framework v752.2) Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed Message-Id: <72D21028-EF88-41DE-B42D-2EF783D437EB@ashleymoran.me.uk> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit From: Ashley Moran Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2007 21:43:14 +0100 To: Joao Carlos Mendes Luis X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.752.2) X-PopBeforeSMTPSenders: work@ashleymoran.me.uk X-AntiAbuse: This header was added to track abuse, please include it with any abuse report X-AntiAbuse: Primary Hostname - mercureh.reacthosting.com X-AntiAbuse: Original Domain - freebsd.org X-AntiAbuse: Originator/Caller UID/GID - [0 0] / [26 6] X-AntiAbuse: Sender Address Domain - ashleymoran.me.uk X-Source: X-Source-Args: X-Source-Dir: Cc: hardware@freebsd.org Subject: Re: SATA mirrror performance X-BeenThere: freebsd-hardware@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: General discussion of FreeBSD hardware List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2007 20:43:23 -0000 On Sep 18, 2007, at 10:21 pm, Joao Carlos Mendes Luis wrote: > The main advantage of ataraid is its integration with BIOS and > other operating systems. If we had something like a master GEOM > device which could read ata raid specs and build GEOM graphs based > on this information, that would be a good workaround. I am not > sure if this is enough, but at least would solve startup problems. > I am also not sure if it is even possible, because no single GEOM > device would suffice: The master device should recognize disk > labels, and call geom_mirror, geom_strip, geom_raid5, etc when > needed. I hope GEOM architects have something in mind, because > this is very important to desktop and dual boot. I can see your point, although I don't understand geom enough to comment on everything you say. I just wonder though, are there many users that need to dual-boot a mirror? I have only used gmirror on servers, but then I am Mac user on the desktop, so any other OS's I need I will virtualise. > I can deal with geom_mirror, but I am not a typical user. Most > users don't even know FreeBSD supports mirroring, since it is not > on installation options menu. Indeed, install a FreeBSD with boot > mirror support was still a complex task the last time I saw > sysinstall. It's not that hard, you just escape to the shell on the initial sysinstall, and add the second provider after you reboot. It's definitely beyond a "typical user", but then like I say, I don't know any "typical users" who want RAID-1. I do agree though, that a way to configure this in sysinstall would be very nice. Ashley