Dear Experts, one of the RAID threads today prompted me ask everybody. Which internal hardware RAID controllers will survive some future to come in your estimate. First of all my beloved 3ware finally seems to have passed away. After multiple acquisitions and becoming part of LSI and getting bought with LSI, it probably became non operational. Namely, the latest 3ware cards have ancient firmware. Neither of them supports 4kn drives. This speaks for itself for me. [Under new ownership] LSI, though still having new controllers released, and one of their MegaRAID controllers (at least) having support for 4kn drives, still may not last long (just my feeling, I'd like to hear yours). So, what RAID controllers will those of us who like to have hardware RAIDs use in some future to come? Valeri PS I didn't mention Areca (I only have 2 or 3 their cards in my boxes), which seems to have firmware update that supports 4kn drives. Is Areca our future hardware RAID hardware? ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Valeri Galtsev Sr System Administrator Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics University of Chicago Phone: 773-702-4247 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
On 5/6/2016 2:26 PM, Valeri Galtsev wrote:> Which internal hardware RAID controllers will survive some future to come > in your estimate. First of all my beloved 3ware finally seems to have > passed away. After multiple acquisitions and becoming part of LSI and > getting bought with LSI, it probably became non operational. Namely, the > latest 3ware cards have ancient firmware. Neither of them supports 4kn > drives. This speaks for itself for me. [Under new ownership] LSI, though > still having new controllers released, and one of their MegaRAID > controllers (at least) having support for 4kn drives, still may not last > long (just my feeling, I'd like to hear yours). So, what RAID controllers > will those of us who like to have hardware RAIDs use in some future to > come?IMHO, "Hardware" (really embedded firmware) RAID is for Windows servers, since MS Windows has awful integrated software raid (aka 'dynamic disk', truly a mess). With Linux, I'd rather use LVM, with BSD, ZFS. -- john r pierce, recycling bits in santa cruz
On 08/05/16 08:12 PM, John R Pierce wrote:> On 5/6/2016 2:26 PM, Valeri Galtsev wrote: >> Which internal hardware RAID controllers will survive some future to come >> in your estimate. First of all my beloved 3ware finally seems to have >> passed away. After multiple acquisitions and becoming part of LSI and >> getting bought with LSI, it probably became non operational. Namely, the >> latest 3ware cards have ancient firmware. Neither of them supports 4kn >> drives. This speaks for itself for me. [Under new ownership] LSI, though >> still having new controllers released, and one of their MegaRAID >> controllers (at least) having support for 4kn drives, still may not last >> long (just my feeling, I'd like to hear yours). So, what RAID controllers >> will those of us who like to have hardware RAIDs use in some future to >> come? > > > IMHO, "Hardware" (really embedded firmware) RAID is for Windows servers, > since MS Windows has awful integrated software raid (aka 'dynamic disk', > truly a mess). With Linux, I'd rather use LVM, with BSD, ZFS."Hardware RAID" can very well include a controller with dedicated parity processing, battery/flash backed write caching and other tangible benefits. -- Digimer Papers and Projects: https://alteeve.ca/w/ What if the cure for cancer is trapped in the mind of a person without access to education?
On Sun, May 8, 2016 7:12 pm, John R Pierce wrote:> On 5/6/2016 2:26 PM, Valeri Galtsev wrote: >> Which internal hardware RAID controllers will survive some future to >> come >> in your estimate. First of all my beloved 3ware finally seems to have >> passed away. After multiple acquisitions and becoming part of LSI and >> getting bought with LSI, it probably became non operational. Namely, the >> latest 3ware cards have ancient firmware. Neither of them supports 4kn >> drives. This speaks for itself for me. [Under new ownership] LSI, though >> still having new controllers released, and one of their MegaRAID >> controllers (at least) having support for 4kn drives, still may not last >> long (just my feeling, I'd like to hear yours). So, what RAID >> controllers >> will those of us who like to have hardware RAIDs use in some future to >> come? > > > IMHO, "Hardware" (really embedded firmware) RAID is for Windows servers, > since MS Windows has awful integrated software raid (aka 'dynamic disk', > truly a mess). With Linux, I'd rather use LVM, with BSD, ZFS.I didn't intend to [re]start software vs hardware RAID war, I tried to stress it in my original post. So, those who hate hardware RAIDs, please, let this tread go and let folks who like, use, and have knowledge of hardware RAIDs answer my questions with their insights without fear to be shushed or ridiculed by hardware RAID haters. Thanks a lot for your kind consideration, everybody. And thanks a lot in advance to those who will share their insights. Valeri ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Valeri Galtsev Sr System Administrator Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics University of Chicago Phone: 773-702-4247 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++