RAID Controllers and Linux: Ugh!

[Ben Scott]

On 6/29/07, Warren Luebkeman <warren at resara.com> wrote:
> I usually like to go with Adaptec RAID cards because
> they provide Linux driver sources so we can compile the driver ourselves.

  My favorite RAID cards have been the LSI MegaRAID series (formerly
by AMI).  Works well, reliable, nice features, good performance, good
price.  GPL driver in the kernel, and actively supported.  Linux
management tools, albeit binary-only.

  Most of Dell's PERC controllers are rebranded MegaRAID controllers.
The one exception was the PERC 3 series, which were rebranded Adaptec
controllers.  They stunk in terms of speed, so Dell got a lot of
complaints, and switched back to MegaRAID with the PERC 4 series.

  In the past, I also used 3Ware cards.  It's been some time since I
touched one, but I keep hearing good things about them.  GPL driver,
actively maintained.  Binary-only management tools again (sense a
theme?).

> This Intel board I'm looking at has a very impressive RAID controller built
> right into it.

  What RAID chipset?

> However, they only provide drivers for Redhat and Suse.  Our system
> is based on Debian/Ubuntu, and we use a different kernel.  So it would
> seem I cannot use this RAID controller, even though it has "Linux" support.

  You would need to contact the vendor and see if they release
GPL-compatible sources.  If they do, the support picture is good.  If
not, tell them you're taking your business elsewhere.

> I'm wondering if you know of any hardware companies that sell server
> configurations that have REAL Linux support, which basically means all the
> hardware will work with any Linux distro ..

  You will never find that.  It is impossible to pledge that something
will work with *any* distro.  That's an undefined configuration.  The
Linux kernel, by and of itself, is useless.  Only if you configure it,
compile it, and combine it with a huge suite of other things (userland
tools to interface with the kernel, C library for the syscall
interface, plus all the base system stuff like a shell and Unix
fundamentals, etc.) can you get a working system.  That's the only
thing a vendor can target and test.

  This isn't just semantics.  Kernel and userland configurations vary
infinitely, and make a huge difference in how things work.  As an easy
example, if a vendor supports the Linux kernel starting at 2.6, but
your favorite distro is still using 2.4 (a common scenario a few years
ago), you're SOL no matter how well "supported" that 2.6 driver is.

  So do not seek a vendor that pledges to support "Linux".  That's not
really useful.  Instead, seek a vendor that supports the
distribution(s) you use.  You don't want "vendor that supports Linux",
you want "vendor that supports Debian" or "vendor that supports
Ubuntu".

  Unfortunately, I don't use Debian or Ubuntu, so I can't offer up
anything useful in terms of specific vendors.  But both projects
appear to have vendor lists on their website; I suggest starting
there:

http://www.debian.org/distrib/pre-installed

http://www.ubuntu.com/partners

-- Ben