I need to add a file server to our office. I have purchased the equip to build the computer. The mobo has SATA and RAID. At the last minute I started thinking about RAID compatibility with Linux.

If I have 2 SATA drives, will debian sarge know how to access these automatically, or do I have to do something?

I did purchase 2 IDE drives to keep things simple, however I am willing to upgrade to SATA if it will work. I read that I need to use 2 different IDE channels, because RAID doesn't like a slave / master configuration on the drives. If that's the case, then I will have to use both IDE channels on the mobo and have nothing left over to connect the CD-ROM. What should I do ? Use SATA or not.

Thanks for the help.


P.S. Is RAID something that is setup in the BIOS, or is it setup in the OS?

can anybody assist me on this?

Per the LQ Rules, please do not bump your own thread until at least 24 hours have elapsed without a reply. Because the LQ membership is global, people in other time zones may not have seen this post yet, and thus it may take some time before a response is received.

http://www.linuxquestions.org/rules.php

From another novice on SATA raid, the RAID circuit on your board is likely to be useless under Linux if I understand what I have read on the subject, this is very much designed as a "winraid".

Also SATA allows hot swap that is not possible with IDE drives.
There may also be booting problems if the RAID array contains your / directory.

As far as I know RAID is set up in both, the BIOS and the OS but I thought Linux accesses the devices directly, bypassing the BIOS.

In my view you have no other choice than using your SATA connections and have your OS installed on the first IDE device, this would give you a connection for the CD drive.

Hope this helps, I am not qualified to advise further and take this advice only if you get no better one.