Hardware RAID on LSI Logic SCSI

From: Vladimir Mosgalin (Vladimir.MV_at_gmail.com)
Date: 06/30/05 

Date: Thu, 30 Jun 2005 10:47:24 +0000 (UTC)

Hi All!

I'm trying to setup server on box with SE7520JR2 Intel board; it has
integrated LSI 53C1030 SCSI RAID controller. I need reliability, so I
want to use RAID1 on two or maybe three discs. Of course, I prefer to
use hardware one.

I created array from two drives in bios.

Now the problem is, although I can see this array with LSI*** ID, I
can't find a way to see Seagate drives behind it. I can't monitor SMART,
notice drive failure, rebuild array etc.

I can't find any mention of them in /proc/scsi or in other likely places
in /proc.

Utilites from raidtools don't work - I guess they are only for software
raid arrays. raidutil program from Adaptec works great with Adaptec
controllers, but this is LSI one..
I downloaded huge CIM util from LSI site (CIM_Linux30400.zip) - but what
a joke, it shows array as single disc, without even telling me that
it's an array.

There is also megamon program from linux.dell.com site (although server
isn't Dell), but it doesn't work for me at all. Maybe it requires
something that only Dell stations have, or older driver. It's closed
source and was last updated in 2002, so everything is possible.

So? Are there any solutions? The only thing I can think of now is to
forget about hardware raid and use software one. How much will I loose,
performance and reliability-wise in case of RAID1?
I used only Adaptec controllers before and thought that LSI is at least
as good as Adaptec, but now it looks like I was wrong. Do all LSI
controllers behave this way, work like a simple SCSI devices? Why a lot
of people recommend LSI then, even when it comes to Linux?

Intel seems to be favoring LSI now, so maybe I should forget about it as
well and think about buying Opteron boards from someone else.. j/k. 

-- 
Vladimir

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