I finally gave up on the RocketRaid 1640 after I updated my kernel and ended up
with an unbootable system. Using a proprietary driver, compiled outside the
kernel tree, to mount the root filesystem is needlessly complex. Since I still
want a RAID 1 array and I don't want to waste CPU cycles on it, I decided to
bite the bullet and purchase a 3ware 8506-4lp card. This device fits the bill
nicely since (1) the driver is GPL and included in the 2.6 kernels, (2) Debian
detects the card and creates the proper initrd on its own, (3) it's a true
hardware RAID array. The only downside of the 8506 is that the card doesn't
let your create a RAID 1 array by duplicating the data from one drive to the
other...when you create the array you kill the contents of both drives.
Anyone in the market for a slightly used RocketRaid 1640?
posted at: 21:19 | path: | permanent link to this entry
