SATA controllers

[Dave Howorth]

Tom H wrote:
>> I'm speccing a new machine and as part of it I'd like to have a
>> linux-controlled 4-disk RAID 6 array using SATA 3 Gbps disks (aka STA 2).
> 
>> Can anybody point me to lists and/or reviews of recommended 4-port
>> controller cards please?
> 
> http://www.tomshardware.com/

My searching foo is not strong this morning :( Can you point to any
specific reviews on that site, as my search didn't return any?

> The CentOS, Debian, and Red Hat lists.

I went to http://www.centoslinuxhcl.org/ and searched for storage
controllers with the keyword sata and got zero results.

I went to http://www.debian.org/intro/about#hardware which refers me to
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Hardware-HOWTO/ which has a latest copyright
date of 2007 and where I haven't found any SATA information.

I went to https://hardware.redhat.com/ and searched for sata. There is
one hit; the Promise SATAII150 SX8 which is only a 1.5 Gbps device.

Do you have any better hits? Or was I looking on the wrong sites?

> If you are looking for hardware RAID, go for 3ware or LSI.

I currently have 3ware 9500S and like them. One supplier is suggesting
Areca and says recent 3ware can have problems. I don't know about LSI
but will check thanks. But I am looking to use md kernel raid.

> If you are looking for software (mdadm) RAID, make sure that you do
> not buy a FakeRAID card.

Why do you say this? I guess there may be some that are problematic but
with most isn't it just a question of disabling the BIOS? The Promise
card that red hat recommends is a fakeraid, for example, and the vendor
claims linux-compatibility with the driver in the kernel.

Cheers, Dave