LinuxQuestions.org
Visit Jeremy's Blog.
Go Back   LinuxQuestions.org > Forums > Linux Forums > Linux - Hardware
User Name
Password
Linux - Hardware This forum is for Hardware issues.
Having trouble installing a piece of hardware? Want to know if that peripheral is compatible with Linux?

Notices


Reply
  Search this Thread
Old 09-19-2006, 07:04 AM   #1
henrikost
LQ Newbie
 
Registered: Sep 2006
Posts: 2

Rep: Reputation: 0
SATA RAID disk fail detection


I have been running a few RAID 1 SATA-based servers using kernel 2.6.x, Linux kernel software RAID and a SATA controller on an ASUS motherboard.

I have on several occasions have problems with a cable (and a single disk crash), causing the box to become irresponsive, as it used 99.999% CPU to fail accessing the disk controller (the error text was unfortunately of cause not in the log). I did not have unusual problems replacing disks and cables and recovering the array.

But I kind of hoped that the configuration would have failed the bad disk and continued to run on the good one. This did not happen, as the bad cable appearently took down the controller, thereby loosing the other disk as well.

Is there a way to avoid this? Would it e.g. be solved by bying another SATA controller and then placing one of the two disks (or both) on this? Are some of them more recommendable than others, and will I still be able to boot both disks?

Regards

Henrik
 
Old 09-20-2006, 01:39 AM   #2
Thoreau
Senior Member
 
Registered: May 2003
Location: /var/log/cabin
Distribution: All
Posts: 1,167

Rep: Reputation: 45
Servers use hardware RAID for a reason. One of them being what you just described. If software RAID worked well there wouldn't be hardware controllers.

For an SATA RAID setup that is native to linux, look at getting a 3ware card.
 
Old 09-21-2006, 02:28 AM   #3
henrikost
LQ Newbie
 
Registered: Sep 2006
Posts: 2

Original Poster
Rep: Reputation: 0
I get your point, but I still think this could be handled much better:

When things go bad, its is not crashing the machine. The console shows ATA timeout errors etc on the bad channel each 10-20 secs, and in the mean time it is very busy. As the driver is running and able to detect and display the errors, it should also be able to fail the drive and kick it off the RAID. But this does not happen.

It has been doing so for up to 12 hours without being kicked - the RAID system should IMHO be able to detect this. There does not seem to be any problems accessing the other disk.

If this is too deep into the driver for this forum, does anybody know where to get in touch with the right people for this?

Regards

Henrik
 
  


Reply


Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off



Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
SATA RAID 0 errors on bootup -- invalid raid superblock vonst Slackware 3 07-04-2006 03:55 PM
About SATA disk detection. beace Linux - Newbie 2 06-20-2006 06:36 AM
SATA --linux installations fail....?????????/ flamel2000 Linux - Newbie 12 04-14-2006 03:25 PM
SATA Raid 1 Intel Server Board Hung on heavy disk i/o ncc2004 Linux - General 6 06-24-2005 02:03 AM
does linux support the sata raid and ide raid in k7n2 delta ilsr? spyghost Linux - Hardware 10 04-16-2004 05:27 AM

LinuxQuestions.org > Forums > Linux Forums > Linux - Hardware

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 01:16 AM.

Main Menu
Advertisement
My LQ
Write for LQ
LinuxQuestions.org is looking for people interested in writing Editorials, Articles, Reviews, and more. If you'd like to contribute content, let us know.
Main Menu
Syndicate
RSS1  Latest Threads
RSS1  LQ News
Twitter: @linuxquestions
Open Source Consulting | Domain Registration