Serial ATA cards

Serial ATA cards

[AndyLiebman]

Does anyone have any experience with an 8-port (or higher) Serial ATA Host 
Adapter card? I'm looking for something that will JUST give me access to the 
SATA disks, and NOT give me hardware (or pseudo-hardware) RAID. Can anybody 
suggest a card that can be used for Linux Software RAID? 

I had great luck with the on-board Silicon Image-based SATA ports that came 
on a SuperMicro motherboard. But I need up to 16-ports so I'm going to need 
ports on a PCI-X card. 

I have just tried two cards with little success. A 3ware Escolade 8506 and a 
new Promise SATA II 150 SX8 card (I got a pre-production sample). I can't get 
the 3ware card to show up the individual drives within Linux. I'm now making a 
hardware RAID before booting up; hopefully Linux will see that.  

I have a similar problem with the Promise card. The Promise card uses a new 
"block device" driver called Carmel. The drives show up in my Kernel log -- see 
below -- but because they are just seen as generic devices, I'm told I may 
have to create devices with 'mknod' in order to access them. I have no idea how 
to do that. Can someone explain the process. I know the "major" number has to 
be 160. But how about the minor numbers? And what exactly do I have to enter 
for each device? 

I think the Promise card has great promise (no pun intended) for software 
RAID. It's relatively cheap (US $250) and doesn't contain any on-board 
processing. It's just a host adapter meant for software RAID. But I'm stumped as to how 
to get access to the drives. 

By the way, I'm using the 2.6.6 kernel with Mandrake 10. 

Here are my kernel logs: 

May  5 01:00:54 localhost kernel: carmel version 0.8
May  5 01:00:54 localhost kernel: carmel(0000:05:01.0): found 8
interesting devices
May  5 01:00:54 localhost kernel: carmel(0000:05:01.0): port 0 device
490234752 sectors
May  5 01:00:54 localhost kernel: carmel(0000:05:01.0): port 0 device
"Maxtor 7Y250M0"
May  5 01:00:54 localhost kernel: carmel(0000:05:01.0): port 1 device
490234752 sectors
May  5 01:00:54 localhost kernel: carmel(0000:05:01.0): port 1 device
"Maxtor 7Y250M0"
May  5 01:00:54 localhost kernel: carmel(0000:05:01.0): port 2 device
490234752 sectors
May  5 01:00:54 localhost kernel: carmel(0000:05:01.0): port 2 device
"Maxtor 7Y250M0"
May  5 01:00:54 localhost kernel: carmel(0000:05:01.0): port 3 device
490234752 sectors
May  5 01:00:54 localhost kernel: carmel(0000:05:01.0): port 3 device
"Maxtor 7Y250M0"
May  5 01:00:54 localhost kernel: carmel(0000:05:01.0): port 4 device
490234752 sectors
May  5 01:00:54 localhost kernel: carmel(0000:05:01.0): port 4 device
"Maxtor 7Y250M0"
May  5 01:00:54 localhost kernel: carmel(0000:05:01.0): port 5 device
490234752 sectors
May  5 01:00:54 localhost kernel: carmel(0000:05:01.0): port 5 device
"Maxtor 7Y250M0"
May  5 01:00:54 localhost kernel: carmel(0000:05:01.0): port 6 device
490234752 sectors
May  5 01:00:54 localhost kernel: carmel(0000:05:01.0): port 6 device
"Maxtor 7Y250M0"
May  5 01:00:54 localhost kernel: carmel(0000:05:01.0): port 7 device
490234752 sectors
May  5 01:00:54 localhost kernel: carmel(0000:05:01.0): port 7 device
"Maxtor 7Y250M0"
May  5 01:00:55 localhost kernel:  /dev/carmel/0_0: unknown partition
table
May  5 01:00:55 localhost kernel:  /dev/carmel/0_1: unknown partition
table
May  5 01:00:55 localhost kernel:  /dev/carmel/0_2: unknown partition
table
May  5 01:00:55 localhost kernel:  /dev/carmel/0_3: unknown partition
table
May  5 01:00:55 localhost kernel:  /dev/carmel/0_4: unknown partition
table
May  5 01:00:55 localhost kernel:  /dev/carmel/0_5: unknown partition
table
May  5 01:00:55 localhost kernel:  /dev/carmel/0_6: unknown partition
table
May  5 01:00:55 localhost kernel:  /dev/carmel/0_7: unknown partition
table
May  5 01:00:55 localhost kernel: carmel(0000:05:01.0): 8 ports
activated
May  5 01:00:55 localhost kernel: carmel0: pci 0000:05:01.0, ports 8, io
fc400000, irq 96, major 160
May  5 01:00:55 localhost kernel: SCSI subsystem initialized

Regards, 
Andy Liebman

RE: Serial ATA Cards

[AndyLiebman]

Got the 3ware card working. Simple as running 'modprobe 3w-xxxx' and then all 
the drives show up as SCSI devices. Works about the same as the Silicon Image 
ports on my motherboard. Getting around 175 MB/sec Software RAID 5 on 8 
drives according to Bonnie++.  Around 2x the speed of the 3ware "Hardware RAID 5" 
(also measured with Bonnie ++). 

But... I'd sure like to use that new Promise card instead. Half the price. 
133 Mhz instead of 66. No extra RAID hardware that I don't need. 

So, does anybody know how to use 'mknod' to create a home for the SATA 
drives? Apparently the drives won't show up as either SCSI or IDE drives under the 
new Promise driver that's included in the 2.6.5+ kernel. They need to have 
devices created for them. I know that the "major number" is supposed to be 160. 
But I have no idea how to find out what the "minor numbers" are supposed to be. 
I'm kind of in the dark here. 

Hopefully Promise will send me an installation script that will reveal what 
to do. But just in case, if anyone knows how to proceed I would appreciate some 
hints. 

Thanks 

Andy Liebman

RE: Serial ATA Cards

[Robin Bowes]

On Tue, May 4, 2004 23:23, AndyLiebman@aol.com said:
>
> But... I'd sure like to use that new Promise card instead. Half the price.
> 133 Mhz instead of 66. No extra RAID hardware that I don't need.
>

Andy,

I'd be interested in this too, and for similar reasons!

R.
-- 
http://robinbowes.com

Re: Serial ATA cards

[Gabriel N. Castillo]

I have had great success with the Adaptec 2810SA 8-port SATA card. It has 
hardware RAID, but also lets you access the "array" as JBOD.

gabe

On Tue, 4 May 2004 AndyLiebman@aol.com wrote:

> Does anyone have any experience with an 8-port (or higher) Serial ATA Host 
> Adapter card? I'm looking for something that will JUST give me access to the 
> SATA disks, and NOT give me hardware (or pseudo-hardware) RAID. Can anybody 
> suggest a card that can be used for Linux Software RAID? 
> 
> I had great luck with the on-board Silicon Image-based SATA ports that came 
> on a SuperMicro motherboard. But I need up to 16-ports so I'm going to need 
> ports on a PCI-X card. 
> 
> I have just tried two cards with little success. A 3ware Escolade 8506 and a 
> new Promise SATA II 150 SX8 card (I got a pre-production sample). I can't get 
> the 3ware card to show up the individual drives within Linux. I'm now making a 
> hardware RAID before booting up; hopefully Linux will see that.  
> 
> I have a similar problem with the Promise card. The Promise card uses a new 
> "block device" driver called Carmel. The drives show up in my Kernel log -- see 
> below -- but because they are just seen as generic devices, I'm told I may 
> have to create devices with 'mknod' in order to access them. I have no idea how 
> to do that. Can someone explain the process. I know the "major" number has to 
> be 160. But how about the minor numbers? And what exactly do I have to enter 
> for each device? 
> 
> I think the Promise card has great promise (no pun intended) for software 
> RAID. It's relatively cheap (US $250) and doesn't contain any on-board 
> processing. It's just a host adapter meant for software RAID. But I'm stumped as to how 
> to get access to the drives. 
> 
> By the way, I'm using the 2.6.6 kernel with Mandrake 10. 
> 
> Here are my kernel logs: 
> 
> May  5 01:00:54 localhost kernel: carmel version 0.8
> May  5 01:00:54 localhost kernel: carmel(0000:05:01.0): found 8
> interesting devices
> May  5 01:00:54 localhost kernel: carmel(0000:05:01.0): port 0 device
> 490234752 sectors
> May  5 01:00:54 localhost kernel: carmel(0000:05:01.0): port 0 device
> "Maxtor 7Y250M0"
> May  5 01:00:54 localhost kernel: carmel(0000:05:01.0): port 1 device
> 490234752 sectors
> May  5 01:00:54 localhost kernel: carmel(0000:05:01.0): port 1 device
> "Maxtor 7Y250M0"
> May  5 01:00:54 localhost kernel: carmel(0000:05:01.0): port 2 device
> 490234752 sectors
> May  5 01:00:54 localhost kernel: carmel(0000:05:01.0): port 2 device
> "Maxtor 7Y250M0"
> May  5 01:00:54 localhost kernel: carmel(0000:05:01.0): port 3 device
> 490234752 sectors
> May  5 01:00:54 localhost kernel: carmel(0000:05:01.0): port 3 device
> "Maxtor 7Y250M0"
> May  5 01:00:54 localhost kernel: carmel(0000:05:01.0): port 4 device
> 490234752 sectors
> May  5 01:00:54 localhost kernel: carmel(0000:05:01.0): port 4 device
> "Maxtor 7Y250M0"
> May  5 01:00:54 localhost kernel: carmel(0000:05:01.0): port 5 device
> 490234752 sectors
> May  5 01:00:54 localhost kernel: carmel(0000:05:01.0): port 5 device
> "Maxtor 7Y250M0"
> May  5 01:00:54 localhost kernel: carmel(0000:05:01.0): port 6 device
> 490234752 sectors
> May  5 01:00:54 localhost kernel: carmel(0000:05:01.0): port 6 device
> "Maxtor 7Y250M0"
> May  5 01:00:54 localhost kernel: carmel(0000:05:01.0): port 7 device
> 490234752 sectors
> May  5 01:00:54 localhost kernel: carmel(0000:05:01.0): port 7 device
> "Maxtor 7Y250M0"
> May  5 01:00:55 localhost kernel:  /dev/carmel/0_0: unknown partition
> table
> May  5 01:00:55 localhost kernel:  /dev/carmel/0_1: unknown partition
> table
> May  5 01:00:55 localhost kernel:  /dev/carmel/0_2: unknown partition
> table
> May  5 01:00:55 localhost kernel:  /dev/carmel/0_3: unknown partition
> table
> May  5 01:00:55 localhost kernel:  /dev/carmel/0_4: unknown partition
> table
> May  5 01:00:55 localhost kernel:  /dev/carmel/0_5: unknown partition
> table
> May  5 01:00:55 localhost kernel:  /dev/carmel/0_6: unknown partition
> table
> May  5 01:00:55 localhost kernel:  /dev/carmel/0_7: unknown partition
> table
> May  5 01:00:55 localhost kernel: carmel(0000:05:01.0): 8 ports
> activated
> May  5 01:00:55 localhost kernel: carmel0: pci 0000:05:01.0, ports 8, io
> fc400000, irq 96, major 160
> May  5 01:00:55 localhost kernel: SCSI subsystem initialized
> 
> Regards, 
> Andy Liebman
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