board/controller recommendations?

board/controller recommendations?

[Dexter Filmore]

Currently my array consists of four Samsung Spinpoint sATA drives, I'm about 
to enlarge to 6 drive.
As of now they sit on an Sil3114 controller via PCI, hence there's a 
bottleneck, can't squeeze more than 15-30 megs write speed (rather 15 today 
as the xfs partitions on it are brim full and started fragmenting).

Now, I'd like to go for a AMD board with 6 sATA channels connected via PCIe - 
can someone recomend a board here? Preferrably AMD 690 based so I won't need 
a video card or similar.

Dex

-- 
-----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK-----
Version: 3.12
GCS d--(+)@ s-:+ a- C++++ UL++ P+>++ L+++>++++ E-- W++ N o? K-
w--(---) !O M+ V- PS+ PE Y++ PGP t++(---)@ 5 X+(++) R+(++) tv--(+)@ 
b++(+++) DI+++ D- G++ e* h>++ r* y?
------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------

http://www.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de

Re: board/controller recommendations?

[Justin Piszcz]

On Mon, 25 Feb 2008, Dexter Filmore wrote:

> Currently my array consists of four Samsung Spinpoint sATA drives, I'm about
> to enlarge to 6 drive.
> As of now they sit on an Sil3114 controller via PCI, hence there's a
> bottleneck, can't squeeze more than 15-30 megs write speed (rather 15 today
> as the xfs partitions on it are brim full and started fragmenting).
>
> Now, I'd like to go for a AMD board with 6 sATA channels connected via PCIe -
> can someone recomend a board here? Preferrably AMD 690 based so I won't need
> a video card or similar.
>
> Dex
>
> --
> -----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK-----
> Version: 3.12
> GCS d--(+)@ s-:+ a- C++++ UL++ P+>++ L+++>++++ E-- W++ N o? K-
> w--(---) !O M+ V- PS+ PE Y++ PGP t++(---)@ 5 X+(++) R+(++) tv--(+)@
> b++(+++) DI+++ D- G++ e* h>++ r* y?
> ------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------
>
> http://www.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de
> -
> To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-raid" in
> the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org
> More majordomo info at  http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
>

That's always the question, which mobo?  I went Intel as many of their 
chipsets (965, p35, x38) have 6 SATA, I am sure AMD have some as well 
though, what I bought awhile back was a 6 port sata w/ 3 pci-e x1 and 1 
pci-e x16.  Then you buy the 2 port sata cards (x1) and plugin your 
drives.

Promise also came out with a 4 port PCI-e x1 card but I have not tried it, 
seen any reviews for it and do not know if it is even supported in linux.

Also, I'd recommend you run a check/resync on your array before removing 
it from your current box, and then make sure the two new drives do not 
have any problems, and (to be safe?) expand by adding 1 drive at a time?

Justin.

Re: board/controller recommendations?

[Dexter Filmore]

On Monday 25 February 2008 15:02:31 Justin Piszcz wrote:
> On Mon, 25 Feb 2008, Dexter Filmore wrote:
> > Currently my array consists of four Samsung Spinpoint sATA drives, I'm
> > about to enlarge to 6 drive.
> > As of now they sit on an Sil3114 controller via PCI, hence there's a
> > bottleneck, can't squeeze more than 15-30 megs write speed (rather 15
> > today as the xfs partitions on it are brim full and started fragmenting).
> >
> > Now, I'd like to go for a AMD board with 6 sATA channels connected via
> > PCIe - can someone recomend a board here? Preferrably AMD 690 based so I
> > won't need a video card or similar.
> >
> > Dex
> >
> > --
> > -----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK-----
> > Version: 3.12
> > GCS d--(+)@ s-:+ a- C++++ UL++ P+>++ L+++>++++ E-- W++ N o? K-
> > w--(---) !O M+ V- PS+ PE Y++ PGP t++(---)@ 5 X+(++) R+(++) tv--(+)@
> > b++(+++) DI+++ D- G++ e* h>++ r* y?
> > ------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------
> >
> > http://www.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de
> > -
> > To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-raid" in
> > the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org
> > More majordomo info at  http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
>
> That's always the question, which mobo?  I went Intel as many of their
> chipsets (965, p35, x38) have 6 SATA, I am sure AMD have some as well
> though, what I bought awhile back was a 6 port sata w/ 3 pci-e x1 and 1
> pci-e x16.  Then you buy the 2 port sata cards (x1) and plugin your
> drives.

Intel means big bucks since I'd need an intel cpu, too. Cheapest lga775 would 
be around 90 euros where I get a midrange amd x2 at 50-60.

>
> Promise also came out with a 4 port PCI-e x1 card but I have not tried it,
> seen any reviews for it and do not know if it is even supported in linux.

Now *that's* Promis-ing (huh huh) - happen to know the model name?

>
> Also, I'd recommend you run a check/resync on your array before removing
> it from your current box, and then make sure the two new drives do not
> have any problems, and (to be safe?) expand by adding 1 drive at a time?

Neil Brown told me to expand 2 drives at once, but I'll back up the array 
anyway to be safe and simply recreate. I guess selling the 750gig drive at 
ebay with 5 bucks off should do :)



-- 
-----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK-----
Version: 3.12
GCS d--(+)@ s-:+ a- C++++ UL++ P+>++ L+++>++++ E-- W++ N o? K-
w--(---) !O M+ V- PS+ PE Y++ PGP t++(---)@ 5 X+(++) R+(++) tv--(+)@ 
b++(+++) DI+++ D- G++ e* h>++ r* y?
------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------

http://www.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de

Re: board/controller recommendations?

[Justin Piszcz]

On Mon, 25 Feb 2008, Dexter Filmore wrote:

> On Monday 25 February 2008 15:02:31 Justin Piszcz wrote:
>> On Mon, 25 Feb 2008, Dexter Filmore wrote:
>>> Currently my array consists of four Samsung Spinpoint sATA drives, I'm
>>> about to enlarge to 6 drive.
>>> As of now they sit on an Sil3114 controller via PCI, hence there's a
>>> bottleneck, can't squeeze more than 15-30 megs write speed (rather 15
>>> today as the xfs partitions on it are brim full and started fragmenting).
>>>
>>> Now, I'd like to go for a AMD board with 6 sATA channels connected via
>>> PCIe - can someone recomend a board here? Preferrably AMD 690 based so I
>>> won't need a video card or similar.
>>>
>>> Dex
>>>
>>> --
>>> -----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK-----
>>> Version: 3.12
>>> GCS d--(+)@ s-:+ a- C++++ UL++ P+>++ L+++>++++ E-- W++ N o? K-
>>> w--(---) !O M+ V- PS+ PE Y++ PGP t++(---)@ 5 X+(++) R+(++) tv--(+)@
>>> b++(+++) DI+++ D- G++ e* h>++ r* y?
>>> ------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------
>>>
>>> http://www.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de
>>> -
>>> To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-raid" in
>>> the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org
>>> More majordomo info at  http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
>>
>> That's always the question, which mobo?  I went Intel as many of their
>> chipsets (965, p35, x38) have 6 SATA, I am sure AMD have some as well
>> though, what I bought awhile back was a 6 port sata w/ 3 pci-e x1 and 1
>> pci-e x16.  Then you buy the 2 port sata cards (x1) and plugin your
>> drives.
>
> Intel means big bucks since I'd need an intel cpu, too. Cheapest lga775 would
> be around 90 euros where I get a midrange amd x2 at 50-60.
>
>>
>> Promise also came out with a 4 port PCI-e x1 card but I have not tried it,
>> seen any reviews for it and do not know if it is even supported in linux.
>
> Now *that's* Promis-ing (huh huh) - happen to know the model name?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816102117
Type  	 SATA / SAS

>
>>
>> Also, I'd recommend you run a check/resync on your array before removing
>> it from your current box, and then make sure the two new drives do not
>> have any problems, and (to be safe?) expand by adding 1 drive at a time?
>
> Neil Brown told me to expand 2 drives at once, but I'll back up the array
> anyway to be safe and simply recreate. I guess selling the 750gig drive at
> ebay with 5 bucks off should do :)
>
>
>
> --
> -----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK-----
> Version: 3.12
> GCS d--(+)@ s-:+ a- C++++ UL++ P+>++ L+++>++++ E-- W++ N o? K-
> w--(---) !O M+ V- PS+ PE Y++ PGP t++(---)@ 5 X+(++) R+(++) tv--(+)@
> b++(+++) DI+++ D- G++ e* h>++ r* y?
> ------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------
>
> http://www.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de
>

Re: board/controller recommendations?

[Dexter Filmore]

On Monday 25 February 2008 19:50:52 Justin Piszcz wrote:
> On Mon, 25 Feb 2008, Dexter Filmore wrote:
> > On Monday 25 February 2008 15:02:31 Justin Piszcz wrote:
> >> On Mon, 25 Feb 2008, Dexter Filmore wrote:
> >>> Currently my array consists of four Samsung Spinpoint sATA drives, I'm
> >>> about to enlarge to 6 drive.
> >>> As of now they sit on an Sil3114 controller via PCI, hence there's a
> >>> bottleneck, can't squeeze more than 15-30 megs write speed (rather 15
> >>> today as the xfs partitions on it are brim full and started
> >>> fragmenting).
> >>>
> >>> Now, I'd like to go for a AMD board with 6 sATA channels connected via
> >>> PCIe - can someone recomend a board here? Preferrably AMD 690 based so
> >>> I won't need a video card or similar.
> >>>
> >>> Dex
> >>>
> >>> --
> >>> -----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK-----
> >>> Version: 3.12
> >>> GCS d--(+)@ s-:+ a- C++++ UL++ P+>++ L+++>++++ E-- W++ N o? K-
> >>> w--(---) !O M+ V- PS+ PE Y++ PGP t++(---)@ 5 X+(++) R+(++) tv--(+)@
> >>> b++(+++) DI+++ D- G++ e* h>++ r* y?
> >>> ------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------
> >>>
> >>> http://www.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de
> >>> -
> >>> To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-raid"
> >>> in the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org
> >>> More majordomo info at  http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
> >>
> >> That's always the question, which mobo?  I went Intel as many of their
> >> chipsets (965, p35, x38) have 6 SATA, I am sure AMD have some as well
> >> though, what I bought awhile back was a 6 port sata w/ 3 pci-e x1 and 1
> >> pci-e x16.  Then you buy the 2 port sata cards (x1) and plugin your
> >> drives.
> >
> > Intel means big bucks since I'd need an intel cpu, too. Cheapest lga775
> > would be around 90 euros where I get a midrange amd x2 at 50-60.
> >
> >> Promise also came out with a 4 port PCI-e x1 card but I have not tried
> >> it, seen any reviews for it and do not know if it is even supported in
> >> linux.
> >
> > Now *that's* Promis-ing (huh huh) - happen to know the model name?
>
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816102117
> Type  	 SATA / SAS

Full blown raid 50 controller. A tad overkill-ish for softraid.
I just came across this one:

http://geizhals.at/deutschland/a254413.html

One would have to have a board featuring pcie 4x or 1x mechanically open at 
the end.
Then again, there's this board:

http://geizhals.at/deutschland/a244789.html

If that controller runs in Linux those two would make a nice combo. Just saw 
Adaptec provides open src drivers for Linux, so chances are it's included or 
at least scheduled.



-- 
-----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK-----
Version: 3.12
GCS d--(+)@ s-:+ a- C++++ UL++ P+>++ L+++>++++ E-- W++ N o? K-
w--(---) !O M+ V- PS+ PE Y++ PGP t++(---)@ 5 X+(++) R+(++) tv--(+)@ 
b++(+++) DI+++ D- G++ e* h>++ r* y?
------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------

http://www.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de

Re: board/controller recommendations?

[Justin Piszcz]

On Mon, 25 Feb 2008, Dexter Filmore wrote:

> On Monday 25 February 2008 19:50:52 Justin Piszcz wrote:
>> On Mon, 25 Feb 2008, Dexter Filmore wrote:
>>> On Monday 25 February 2008 15:02:31 Justin Piszcz wrote:
>>>> On Mon, 25 Feb 2008, Dexter Filmore wrote:
>>>>> Currently my array consists of four Samsung Spinpoint sATA drives, I'm
>>>>> about to enlarge to 6 drive.
>>>>> As of now they sit on an Sil3114 controller via PCI, hence there's a
>>>>> bottleneck, can't squeeze more than 15-30 megs write speed (rather 15
>>>>> today as the xfs partitions on it are brim full and started
>>>>> fragmenting).
>>>>>
>>>>> Now, I'd like to go for a AMD board with 6 sATA channels connected via
>>>>> PCIe - can someone recomend a board here? Preferrably AMD 690 based so
>>>>> I won't need a video card or similar.
>>>>>
>>>>> Dex
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> -----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK-----
>>>>> Version: 3.12
>>>>> GCS d--(+)@ s-:+ a- C++++ UL++ P+>++ L+++>++++ E-- W++ N o? K-
>>>>> w--(---) !O M+ V- PS+ PE Y++ PGP t++(---)@ 5 X+(++) R+(++) tv--(+)@
>>>>> b++(+++) DI+++ D- G++ e* h>++ r* y?
>>>>> ------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------
>>>>>
>>>>> http://www.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de
>>>>> -
>>>>> To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-raid"
>>>>> in the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org
>>>>> More majordomo info at  http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
>>>>
>>>> That's always the question, which mobo?  I went Intel as many of their
>>>> chipsets (965, p35, x38) have 6 SATA, I am sure AMD have some as well
>>>> though, what I bought awhile back was a 6 port sata w/ 3 pci-e x1 and 1
>>>> pci-e x16.  Then you buy the 2 port sata cards (x1) and plugin your
>>>> drives.
>>>
>>> Intel means big bucks since I'd need an intel cpu, too. Cheapest lga775
>>> would be around 90 euros where I get a midrange amd x2 at 50-60.
>>>
>>>> Promise also came out with a 4 port PCI-e x1 card but I have not tried
>>>> it, seen any reviews for it and do not know if it is even supported in
>>>> linux.
>>>
>>> Now *that's* Promis-ing (huh huh) - happen to know the model name?
>>
>> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816102117
>> Type  	 SATA / SAS
>
> Full blown raid 50 controller. A tad overkill-ish for softraid.
> I just came across this one:
>
> http://geizhals.at/deutschland/a254413.html
>
> One would have to have a board featuring pcie 4x or 1x mechanically open at
> the end.
> Then again, there's this board:
>
> http://geizhals.at/deutschland/a244789.html
>
> If that controller runs in Linux those two would make a nice combo. Just saw
> Adaptec provides open src drivers for Linux, so chances are it's included or
> at least scheduled.

Yeah I heard there are major problems with those (adaptec boards), that is why 
I went with the open source 2 port sata pci-e cards, work like a charm.

Justin.