From owner-freebsd-hardware@FreeBSD.ORG Sun Jan 13 19:15:07 2008 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-hardware@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id CB3FC16A417 for ; Sun, 13 Jan 2008 19:15:07 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from freebsd@sopwith.solgatos.com) Received: from schitzo.solgatos.com (pool-96-225-216-68.ptldor.fios.verizon.net [96.225.216.68]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id A5B0A13C467 for ; Sun, 13 Jan 2008 19:15:07 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from freebsd@sopwith.solgatos.com) Received: from schitzo.solgatos.com (localhost.home.localnet [127.0.0.1]) by schitzo.solgatos.com (8.14.1/8.13.8) with ESMTP id m0DIcveE029245; Sun, 13 Jan 2008 10:38:58 -0800 Received: from sopwith.solgatos.com (uucp@localhost) by schitzo.solgatos.com (8.14.1/8.13.4/Submit) with UUCP id m0DIcv4q029242; Sun, 13 Jan 2008 10:38:57 -0800 Received: from localhost by sopwith.solgatos.com (8.8.8/6.24) id SAA22180; Sun, 13 Jan 2008 18:37:27 GMT Message-Id: <200801131837.SAA22180@sopwith.solgatos.com> To: Adriaan de Groot In-reply-to: Your message of "Sun, 13 Jan 2008 11:46:17 +0100." <200801131146.22683.groot@kde.org> Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2008 10:37:27 +0000 From: Dieter Cc: freebsd-hardware@freebsd.org Subject: SiI 3124 and Re: External SATA JBOD 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: Sun, 13 Jan 2008 19:15:07 -0000 >> I am thinking about adding an external Case with 4 haddrives to my >> server that should not be running 247. In ancient times this was done >> via SCSI and simply worked (turn on, rescan SCSI, mount). I suppose you could still use SCSI today if you don't mind paying $C$I price$. If the only reason for wanting an external box is the ability to power the drives down, you could make a custom power cable with a switch inline. There are panels with switches that fit standard 3.5" bays, so you don't have to do any metalwork, just a little soldering. If an additional SATA drive appears, does the FreeBSD kernel notice and handle it (like USB) ? Is a rescan needed (like SCSI) ? A reboot? >> I already have an external drive connected via USB, but I am not able to >> read SMART using this link. Another issue with the USB bridges is you can't turn the disk's write cache on and off. :-( Do firewire bridges allow access to the write cache control bit, and SMART data? How is FreeBSD support for firewire disks? > I did something similar with an Addonics 4-drive housing and a SiI 3124 based > SATA controller. That meant writing some of the driver for the 3124, but it > was fun (and the Soren did the heavy lifting). Does this mean that the SiI 3124 device driver is working? Is it "ready for prime time"? I've been watching -hardware and -drivers but haven't seen anything. > I don't think PM is supported yet. Certainly not in 6-STABLE, possibly in 7. > I remember Soren was delaying PM work until NCQ was in; So NCQ isn't ready yet? :-( Are there *any* controllers with working NCQ support? > I had PM support > without NCQ in 6-STABLE at one point, but that severely limits the total > throughput of the drives. I would think that SATA-300 could support 4 drives without slowing them down, is there some other bottleneck?