Message-ID: <4E542CD2.5030506@boreham.org>
Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2011 16:42:26 -0600
From: David Boreham <david_list@boreham.org>
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To: pgsql-performance@postgresql.org
Subject: Re: RAID Controllers
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On 8/22/2011 10:55 PM, Scott Marlowe wrote:
> If you're running linux and thus stuck with the command line on the
> LSI, I'd recommend anything else.  MegaRAID is the hardest RAID
> control software to use I've ever seen.  If you can spring for the
> money, get the Areca 1680:
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816151023  Be
> sure and get the battery unit for it.  You can configure it from an
> external ethernet connector very easily, and the performance is
> outstandingly good.
Thanks. I took a look at Areca. The fan on the controller board is a big
warning signal for me (those fans are in my experience the single most
unreliable component ever used in computers).

Can you say a bit more about the likely problems with the CLI ?
I'm thinking that I configure the card once, and copy the config
to all the other boxes, so even if it's as obscure as Cisco IOS,
how bad can it be ? Is the concern more with things like a rebuild;
monitoring for drive failures -- that kind of constant management
task ?

How about Adaptec on Linux ? The supercapacitor and NAND
flash idea looks like a good one, provided the firmware doesn't
have bugs (true with any write back controller though).