sata_via + VT8237 RAID 0 array of 2 s-ata drives

sata_via + VT8237 RAID 0 array of 2 s-ata drives

[chris.bu]

[-- Warning: decoded text below may be mangled, UTF-8 assumed --]
[-- Attachment #1: Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii", Size: 1311 bytes --]

Hi Jeff,

a quick question about libata + sata_via V1.10 as included in the most
recent kernel 2.6.11.2:

I have a MSI KT6V (MS-7021) mainboard with VIA VT-8237 Southbridge and want
to connect two S-ATA hard disk drives. Both drives should run in a RAID 0
array, which is to be configured through the S-ATA RAID BIOS on the main
board.

Is it possible that the sata_via driver recognizes the existence of the
array and treats it as one drive under LINUX? As far as I've learned, the
VT-8237 is not a real hardware RAID solution and needs some software support
from the OS, too. Again, is it possible to do this, or does the driver only
support seperate s-ata channels, no matter what is configured in the S-ATA
RAID BIOS? If the BIOS configured RAID volumes are not supported at all (any
plans for the near future?) what would you recommend to do instead to
provide fast and efficient RAID 0 striping for both s-ata drives (to double
the r/w data rate).

Are there any other limitations with the current sata_via driver concerning
VT8237 with two S-ATA drives?

Thank you very much for your support and the continued effort to maintain
this driver.


Best regards,

Chris

-- 
DSL Komplett von GMX +++ Supergünstig und stressfrei einsteigen!
AKTION "Kein Einrichtungspreis" nutzen: http://www.gmx.net/de/go/dsl

Re: sata_via + VT8237 RAID 0 array of 2 s-ata drives

[Jeff Garzik]

chris.bu@gmx.net wrote:
> Hi Jeff,
> 
> a quick question about libata + sata_via V1.10 as included in the most
> recent kernel 2.6.11.2:
> 
> I have a MSI KT6V (MS-7021) mainboard with VIA VT-8237 Southbridge and want
> to connect two S-ATA hard disk drives. Both drives should run in a RAID 0
> array, which is to be configured through the S-ATA RAID BIOS on the main
> board.
> 
> Is it possible that the sata_via driver recognizes the existence of the
> array and treats it as one drive under LINUX? As far as I've learned, the
> VT-8237 is not a real hardware RAID solution and needs some software support
> from the OS, too. Again, is it possible to do this, or does the driver only
> support seperate s-ata channels, no matter what is configured in the S-ATA
> RAID BIOS? If the BIOS configured RAID volumes are not supported at all (any
> plans for the near future?) what would you recommend to do instead to
> provide fast and efficient RAID 0 striping for both s-ata drives (to double
> the r/w data rate).
> 
> Are there any other limitations with the current sata_via driver concerning
> VT8237 with two S-ATA drives?

The sata_via driver will always just recognize each disk, not the RAID.

If you want to use the BIOS RAID, you have to use the "device mapper" 
with the "dmraid" utility.  But its recommended that you use the Linux 
"md" RAID.  Under Linux, the BIOS RAID is just a poorly-supported format 
that duplicates the better-tested Linux md raid.

http://linux.yyz.us/sata/faq-sata-raid.html#dmraid

	Jeff