On Apr 5, 2007, at 4:09 AM, Ron wrote:
BE VERY WARY OF USING AN ADAPTEC RAID CONTROLLER!
Thanks - I received similar private emails with the same advice. I
will change the controller to a LSI MegaRAID SAS 8408E -- any
feedback on this one?
IME, they are usually the worst of the commodity RAID controllers
available.
I've often seen SW RAID outperform them.
If you are going to use this config, Tyan's n3600M (AKA S2932) MB
has a variant that comes with 8 SAS + 6 SATA II connectors.
The SKU is S2932WG2NR.
http://www.tyan.us/product_board_detail.aspx?pid=453
I plan on leveraging the battery backed module so onboard sas isn't a
priority for me.
I'm using this beast (Dual Socket F, AMD Barcelona ready, 16 DIMMS
supporting up to 64GB of ECC RAM, 2 PCI-Ex16 slots w/ PCI-Ex8
signalling, etc:
~$450 US w/o SAS, ~$500 US w/ SAS) for my most recent pg 8.2.3
build on top of XFS.
I'm curious to know why you're on xfs (i've been too chicken to stray
from ext3).
If the on board RAID is or becomes inadequate to your needs, I'd
strongly suggest either 3ware or Areca RAID controllers.
I don't know why, but my last attempt at using an areca 1120 w/ linux
on amd64 (and > 4gb ram) was disastrous - i will never use them
again. 3ware's been rock solid for us.
Side Note:
What kind of HDs are the 8*73GB ones? If they are the new 2.5"
Savvio 15Ks, be =VERY= careful about having proper power and
cooling for them.
14 HD's in one case are going to have a serious transient load on
system start up and (especially with those SAS HDs) can generate a
great deal of heat.
I went w/ Fujitsu. Fortunately these servers are hosted in a very
well ventilated area so i am not that concerned with heat issues.
What 16bay 3U server are you using?
supermicro sc836tq-r800
http://www.supermicro.com/products/chassis/3U/836/SC836TQ-R800V.cfm
Thanks for all the help!
