Arch Linux

senior_spielbergo

Member

Registered: 2011-02-21

Posts: 29

[solved] RAID with Gigabyte GA-H67N-USB3-B3

Hello,

I'm want to build a new computer and I want to use RAID1.

I found one mainboard (Gigabyte GA-H67N-USB3-B3) which I'm interested in and it provides RAID0, RAID1, RAID5 and RAID10 support.

I found out, that on Windows you need an additional driver for this mainboard.

Now my question - how good does Arch Linux / the kernel support RAID? Do I need any additional drivers?

Thanks for any help or hints,

David

Last edited by senior_spielbergo (2011-08-09 15:46:12)

brain0

Developer

From: Aachen - Germany

Registered: 2005-01-03

Posts: 1,382

Re: [solved] RAID with Gigabyte GA-H67N-USB3-B3

I didn't read the fill wiki page, but this probably helps you:  https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/In … _Fake_RAID

senior_spielbergo

Member

Registered: 2011-02-21

Posts: 29

Re: [solved] RAID with Gigabyte GA-H67N-USB3-B3

Thanks for that article, brain0!

I had a further look into RAID systems and now I got a few new questions.

I had a look at the article about Fake RAIDs brain0 gave me and at an article about Software RAIDs.

I hope got this right, that Software RAIDs work with any machine supporting RAIDs and Fake RAID just work with boards that are supported by dmraid.

So I was interested what the advantages and disadvantages of these two systems are. So I had a look around, but I just found a few articles that were claiming without any proofs or reasins that Fake RAIDs have no advantages compared to Software RAIDs.

Would be great, if somebody knowing could give a comment whether I got that right with the Software and Fake RAIDs. It would also be nice, if somebody could give a short comment on that advantes and disadvantages of these two RAID systems.

Thanks for answering my dumb questions, but this is the first time that I'm planing to build a RAID system.

David

silvik

Member

From: Bucharest/Romania

Registered: 2006-11-08

Posts: 110

Re: [solved] RAID with Gigabyte GA-H67N-USB3-B3

I've used mdadm for 4-5 years and I had the same dilemma, fake vs software. I chose mdadm and I'm happy.

I'm no big expert, but here's my opinion: as far as I understand fake raid is a kind of software raid (a hack). there are no dedicated chips doing the real stuff, but some drivers using your cpu. The CPU overhead in both fake/mdadm is very low these days, so the speed will be the same basically, depending on your disk speed.  you have to decide on other concerns like reliability, compatibility, disaster recovery tools, features.

I think the only real advantage on fake vs mdadm is compatibility. if you put a vfat/ntfs FS on it windows will eventually read it, after installing some drivers. I didn't care about this, I use windows only for photo work and copy stuff I need.

Reliability: mdadm is rock solid. it's an old an very used/tested piece of software. I have no idea how things are these days, but 4-5 years ago fake raid didn't have a good reputation. even back then mdadm was well regarded, still is. god only knows who writes/tests those official drivers and firmware that does the real fake raid work, at least on windows.  Probably if you need raid you want it for reliability.

Disaster/Management: mdadm has great tools, everything you need. fake raid is not standardized, every motherboard manufacturer implements whatever solution wants. if you prepare for the worst probably mdadm is better.
i'm not sure even how you migrate those arrays to another system, if needed. mdadm will work on any linux distro, even on quite old kernels. is fake raid disk layout standardized between different controllers?

Features: mdadm probably beats most if not all fakes. for example, I use raid10 f2 for root, a combination of raid1 and 0 with only 2 disks, very fast. https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ … MD_RAID_10

hope this helps

Last edited by silvik (2011-08-06 22:23:02)

senior_spielbergo

Member

Registered: 2011-02-21

Posts: 29

Re: [solved] RAID with Gigabyte GA-H67N-USB3-B3

Thanks for that long reply silvik!

I'm happy that I understood this stuff more or less correct. Your post really helped me and encourages me to use mdadm.

Just one question - what do you mean by disaster / management tools?

Do you mean the tools listed in https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/In … AID_or_LVM, or do you have any special tools that you can recommend for certain tasks?
If so, it would be great when you can give me a short list with the tools, so I can have a look around the wiki and try to understand more about all this stuff.

Thanks to the forum! I really appreciate the help!

David

senior_spielbergo

Member

Registered: 2011-02-21

Posts: 29

Re: [solved] RAID with Gigabyte GA-H67N-USB3-B3

Ok I think I mark this as solved.

Thanks again!