Mike Manchester wrote:
> Can someone recommend an inexpensive SCSI card that works well with
> Linux?
Andrew Wyatt wrote:
> Adaptec 2940 I have used them in my Linux systems for years now.
Patrick Grantham wrote:
> Adaptec has many models. Ther 29xx models seem quite generic; I would
> search the compatibility list and find the model recommended by your
> distro.
First off, here was a good thread we had on KLUG a few months back:
http://www.kalamazoolinux.org/pipermail/members/2001-August/000548.html
http://www.kalamazoolinux.org/pipermail/members/2001-August/000549.html
http://www.kalamazoolinux.org/pipermail/members/2001-August/000550.html
http://www.kalamazoolinux.org/pipermail/members/2001-August/000552.html
http://www.kalamazoolinux.org/pipermail/members/2001-August/000554.html
http://www.kalamazoolinux.org/pipermail/members/2001-August/000557.html
Here's another post at KLUG:
http://www.kalamazoolinux.org/pipermail/hardware/2001-September/000049.html
Advansys-based, SIIG AP-40 Pro available at your local CompUSA:
http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?prodzip=&product_code=278120
http://www.siig.com/products/scsi/ap40_scsipro.html
http://www.siig.com/products/scsi/ap40_scsipro_specs.html
TekRam low-cost 3x5 (S1040) to moderate-cost 39x (Symbios Logic)
product series comments and links to reviews:
http://www.zepa.net/hypermail/elug/hardware/2001/03/0018.html
http://www.zepa.net/hypermail/elug/hardware/2001/05/0003.html
http://www.zepa.net/hypermail/elug/hardware/2001/05/0004.html
http://www.zepa.net/hypermail/elug/hardware/2001/07/0019.html
Secondly, 7 years of trying to use Adaptec on Linux has me saying
"anything but Adaptec" (since 2000). One kernel and driver will
work here, another won't here. Adaptec doesn't seem to test its own
drivers against different firmware releases -- especially Ultra+
speeds cards where I've had fits (the older 2940 and 2902/2906 cards
with only FastNarrow *DO* seem to work good). Worse yet, older
cards (and even some newer ones) don't have a flashable PROM.
Before Adaptec "officially supported" Linux, the drivers were
_better_ IMHO! And Adaptec is almost always _slower_ than the
competition. The last thing that pisses me off are the lack of
Adaptec RAID drivers for Linux. The only one I know of is the
Adaptec 2400A ATA-RAID which is actually inherited from DPT (and
uses the dpt_i2c driver -- DPT was a good company), although some
OSS projects are in development to change this.
Third, you can get an Advansys UltraWide for $69 at your local
CompUSA, the SIIG AP-40 Pro (see above URLs). It comes with a BIOS,
the "Adaptec-like", "per-device" BIOS configuration screen, etc...
Advansys started supporting Linux in 1995, and never a hiccup for me
in a half-dozen servers -- their drivers are in the stock kernel (as
of way back in late 1.1 I believe???). Just recently I had to yank
out a AHA-2940UW once after a kernel upgrade because of
incompatibilities, put in a Advansys (that same AP-40) and got a
good 5MBps faster throughput out of my Exabyte Mammoth-2 drive when
backing up.
Lastly, Symbios Logic (now owned by LIS) is a major chip used by
dozens of vendors. I have used Symbios Logic extensively on
Alpha/VMS, Alpha/Linux, Solaris/SPARC as well as Lintel and Wintel.
Symbios always bests Adaptec in performance in every review I've
seen, and they offer some low-cost variants. I also like some of
the other, more flexible variants. For a review of the latest
Ultra2/Ultra3 Adaptec v. Symbios Logic (TekRam) cards, again, see
the URLs above.
For performance SCSI RAID, look at Mylex's eXtremeRAID series (Mylex
is now owned by IBM). Well supported by Linux, and they use the
newer StrongARM controllers instead of older i960 chips (which are
so dated for the application/speeds nowdays).
For cabling, check out CyberGuys (http://www.cyberguys.com).
-- TheBS
P.S. I consider Adaptec to be the Promise of the SCSI world. No
good Linux support, less-than-optimal performance and
compatibility. But people just go to them for the "brand name" I
guess.
P.S. If you are interested in _real_hardware_ ATA RAID, here are
some posts to check out:
http://www.zepa.net/hypermail/elug/hardware/2001/05/0012.html
http://www.zepa.net/hypermail/elug/hardware/2001/07/0014.html
http://www.zepa.net/hypermail/elug/hardware/2001/07/0015.html
http://www.kalamazoolinux.org/pipermail/hardware/2001-August/000027.html
http://www.kalamazoolinux.org/pipermail/hardware/2001-August/000028.html
http://www.kalamazoolinux.org/pipermail/hardware/2001-August/000029.html
http://www.kalamazoolinux.org/pipermail/hardware/2001-September/000051.html
http://www.kalamazoolinux.org/pipermail/hardware/2001-September/000054.html
http://www.kalamazoolinux.org/pipermail/hardware/2001-October/000057.html
http://www.kalamazoolinux.org/pipermail/hardware/2001-October/000058.html
http://www.kalamazoolinux.org/pipermail/hardware/2001-October/000059.html
-- Bryan "TheBS" Smith mailto:b.j.smith@ieee.org chat:thebs413 Engineer AbsoluteValue Systems, Inc. http://www.linux-wlan.org President SmithConcepts, Inc. http://www.SmithConcepts.com ------------------------------------------------------------------ Those living in the US who consider the American flag to be a sym- bol of oppression obviously fail to understand what the word means
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