5 channel Sata Card request must have Linux support

[ikonia]

hi all,

I'm looking for a Sata card for a linux machine that has support for 5 devices.

Any recommendations, the ones I've seen all support 4

thanks

[Nox]

pcie or pci ?

think you're probably have to go with an 8 port though...

LSI logic Megaraid 150-8 is hardware raid I believe. The 150-4 isn't supported under fedora 3, so double check with your distro

Nox

[ikonia]

pci please, boards not good enough for pci e.

An eight port would be super i'll check out the LSI's.

thanks.

any other options anyone ?

[directhex]

3ware 9000 series, e.g. 9500S -8

[arthurleung]

Supermicro 8 Port SATA card, if you don't need any raid function (or using software raid) you could use that.

the LSI 300-8x doesn't support normal PCI AFAIK. But 150-6x should be good enough for your need (onboard processor is pretty slow)

[ikonia]

all interesting suggestions guys, thanks

Nox - your suggest appears to be spot on what I'm looking for but as commented there doesn't appear to be a non PCI-E version

Directhex - superb alternate suggestion although I think the £400 price tag is a bit too much for my needs on this project

arthurleung - another alternate suggestion could be a winner as I don't need hardware raid, however the overhead of software raid with a crappy on board processor could be bad, I'll need to lookinto this card more.

Great suggestions all.

[Nox]

a bit closer to the mark:

http://www.lsilogic.com/products/meg...ata_150_6.html

6 channel, 66 mhz/64 bit pci version, should work in a regular 32bit slot.

Software raid will be a lot cheaper though, and i've read in a few places its pretty damn good under linux.

Nox

[ikonia]

yes software raid and lvm is what will be used so I've no real reason for hardware raid cards, I'm surprised that the 64 bit card would work well under a 32bit slot, but then again i'm not massivly up on the PCI buss.

any options for non raid cards, I'm googling my self but the range that comes up seems very small.

[Firelord]

Scan have got a 16 port Adaptec card

Have been looking and can only find PCI-x cards with more than 4 ports

[directhex]

pci-x (64bit pci) works in 32bit pci slots.

it's pcie that doesn't

[ikonia]

ok,

I plumped for the cheaper option of the Supermicro 8 Port SATA card simpley because it was cheaper and I don't need %105 performance at the hardware level as my machine should be more than fast enough to manage software raid ok.

now for where it gets interesting. Despite supermicro boasting great linux support this card appears to be based off the marvel sata controller (although I have seen a few documents that say the promise driver will work). the marvell sata controller isn't part of the 2.6 kernel tree by default and actually requires an external module building.

I'm curious to if anyone has used the marvel controller and build the needed modules from ftp://ftp.abit.com.tw/pub/download/d.../mvsata340.zip

I'd be interested in hearing your experience, if you have any.

[ikonia]

FYI I went with the cheapo Supermicro 8 Port SATA card.

I have to admit its not a bad card, its based on the marvel chipset which isn't bad at all.

It is supported under linux 2.4 and 2.6 kernels.

Now for the bad news, the driver is a 3rd party module, thats pretty hard to intergrate into the 2.6 see kernel. The driver does not build against the 2.6.12 kernel (2.6.11 is fine) without a few minor hacks (I created a patch file if anyone needs it).

the actual driver its self is not bad but it is a pain not having it as part of the kernel, the forced usage of modules is a pain if you use a monolithic kernel.

I'd say this is a good card to use, with a good driver. Support is poor if things go wrong (I got no support and even though my patch file works they won't consider including it or patching it) and the foced use the 3rd party driver and compatability with a now fast developing kernel has the potential for headaches/pain.

Just thought you may be interested as it was an unusual request.

Next time I'll spend the extra cash and get a better supported card