I presently have a modest RAID 1 setup on a Highpoint 370 RAID controller built into my motherboard. I very much need additional storage space and I am looking at serial ATA RAID solutions that will work with the 2.6.x kernel (it is my understanding that my existing highpoint raid controller is not yet supported in the newer kernel). As I do not yet wish to upgrade my motherboard, I have been looking into add in serial ATA RAID controllers. At this point, it seems that the 3Ware 8506-4LP or the Adaptec 2410SA would be my primary choice (I don't see much point in spending money on low end RAID controller cards that still mostly rely on software in their drivers for RAID calculations). However, I mostly intend to use RAID 1 and I am more interested in read performance than write. Rather than spend $350 on a hardware RAID controller, perhaps it would be in my best interests to implement software RAID. In that case, I would simply invest in an add in non-RAID serial ATA controller card. I am mainly interested in purchasing products from companies who are more cooperative in Linux driver support especially those companies offering source code that can be compiled with any kernel (rather than precompiled drivers for Red Hat or SUSE). I seek advice in choosing serial ATA controller cards with the best supported chipsets (especially with 2.6.x) and from companies who are most helpful in the driver writing process. I am also interested in comments regarding relatively low end hardware vs. software RAID. Is there much advantage in hardware RAID unless you are using the highend gear? My data archive is a large number of smaller (20 MB or less) files and I am thinking about using ReiserFS when I upgrade. I am a little scared of Reiser 4 (even though it appears to kick ass!) and have Reiser 3 in mind. Does anyone trust Reiser with their precious RAIDs? Also, I have been reading about EVMS and I am curious if most would agree that this is the direction that volume management in linux is headed. I have the impression that this is much more than I need with my simple RAID implementation, but, I am curious what everyone thinks about EVMS in enterprise settings. I assume that this a more mature product, but, not necessarily better than other solutions. Thoughts? -chris - 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
