Hello

I'm installing slackware 9.1 on an HP ML310 server, which has a
ServerWorks Integrated RAID adapter (IDE). In Windows, everything is ok,
but I've always wondered what it is, software or hardware RAID. If it's
software RAID, what's the purpose of this extra 'RAID-controller'?
I want to use two identical disk in a mirror configuration (RAID 1), and
I can create the array using the BIOS setup.

I tried using ataraid.i kernel, it does recognize my controller, but not
as a RAID-controller. So the disks are recognized as /dev/hda &
/dev/hdb, not /dev/ataraid or something.
Is it worth trying to compile a newer kernel (2.6?), or does someone
have a better idea?
Thanks

Peter

On Fri, 30 Jan 2004 10:11:26 +0100, Peter Fastré
<peterpuntjefastre@wanadoo.be> wrote:

>Hello
>
>I'm installing slackware 9.1 on an HP ML310 server, which has a
>ServerWorks Integrated RAID adapter (IDE). In Windows, everything is ok,
>but I've always wondered what it is, software or hardware RAID. If it's
>software RAID, what's the purpose of this extra 'RAID-controller'?
>I want to use two identical disk in a mirror configuration (RAID 1), and
>I can create the array using the BIOS setup.
>
>I tried using ataraid.i kernel, it does recognize my controller, but not
>as a RAID-controller. So the disks are recognized as /dev/hda &
>/dev/hdb, not /dev/ataraid or something.
>Is it worth trying to compile a newer kernel (2.6?), or does someone
>have a better idea?
>Thanks
>
>Peter


Software RAID works by pretending to be a hardware controller. This
puts more workload on the CPU and is only meant for systems without a
true RAID adapter.

You should use hardware RAID whenever possible - much better
performance and stability. It is also OS independent, so there are
fewer driver issues.
The only thing you need to watch for is a change in the device name -
/dev/hda1 might become /dev/{adapter}/hda1, or something similar.