Recently there was a post to Slashdot about a Podcast called “We Hate Tech” in which two guys (supposedly tech support) rant and rave about tech stuff.
I listened to a couple of the ‘casts and just never really got into it. It was a lot of bitching without a lot of content as to why. I have decided to do this in my own style, and I hope to avoid the baseless bitching while still telling people why not to use something.
We recently purchased a adaptec SATA II RAID card model number 1420sa. Everywhere that this was marketed, it was listed as a “Hardware Raid” card, which we took to mean that it actually did RAID in hardware. Turns out that the cards has what Adaptec laughingly calls “hostraid”. We didn't know at the time how HostRAID got its name, but turns out it is really descriptive. They call it HostRAID, because the damn host machine does the RAID, not the card. They are selling SATA controllers that simulate hardware RAID, by moving the software RAID into the driver and out of the OS's control. How is it ok for them to market this as a hardware RAID solution?
Add that to the fact that all the OSes that they support already support software RAID and I don't really see the point of this product unless it is to just bilk the consumers out of money for something they think they are getting and they aren't.
The list of non Windows operating systems that they do support is meager at best and only includes versions that are at least a year old. The support is also tied specifically to one version of the kernel, so if you want to update your kernel to fix security issues you are screwed as well.
They don't even have support for 64 bit Windows. I mean come on. All the new CPUs people are getting are 64 bit and they can't even be bothered to keep up with that change.
I wrote them to ask if there was any possibility of support for something else and they were less than helpful. Here is the email exchanges:
From Me:
Create-date : 08/31/05 08:29:53
OS : Red Hat Enterprise Linux version 4.x
Problem : 08/31/05 08:29:53 ardev1
Are there any Fedora Core drivers in the works for this card. I need
to get it up with Fedora Core 4. Thanks.
Their Solution (?):
Webmail Solution : 08/31/05 08:50:02 mal23095
Greetings from Adaptec,Unfortunately, we do not support Fedora Core and currently there are no plans to do so. Since this card is also based on Host RAID technology, there is no source code available. If you need a card that will work in Fedora core we would recommend one or our regular sata or SCSI raid cards such as the 2410 (SATA) or 2120 (SCSI). There are no drivers for these cards in Fedora Core, but the source code is available for users to compile a driver for their particular O/S.
Thank you for contacting Adaptec Technical Support
My Response to that:
I don't need the HostRAID functionality. When my boss purchased this we didn't know that HostRAID just stood for junk software RAID. I will be using the builtin Linux software RAID now, BUT I DO need this card to run the drives. The SATA Card that you suggested DOES NOT work for me because we specifically purchased this card and drives to get the SATA II support. I understand that you don't SUPPORT Fedora Core, but building the driver for EL3 is not that different from building the driver for FC4. Is it not possible to actually provide something for your PAYING customers that they need? I cannot believe that your solution to the problem is to either A) lose the money that we paid for this card, and purchase another card from your company at $350+ or B) change the operating system that I am using and start using a OLDER version that I have to PAY for to get it to work, especially when they are based on the same baseline sytem.
I can tell you that I personally have NO plans to purchase ANY more hardware from Adaptec and I will advise all the technology departments that I can to also follow this plan. To expect me to advise the purchase of another card from a company that obviously doesn't care to help its customers is insane.
Their final reply:
We've made note of your concerns, unfortunately, there just isn't any support for Fedora Core on this card. The closest we can come are the 2410 and 2120 cards even if we don't provide a driver of our own.
Adaptec Technical Support
Then I get a customer satisfaction survey in email to fill out. I did fill it out even though I am sure it will get sent to the scrap heap. How is it that companies have gotten so out of control that they can just screw their customers over and nothing seems to slow them down? Adaptec used to mean that you were getting decent hardware. Now our latest server came with an Adaptec SCSI Raid Controller and lo and behold it uses this HostRAID bullshit too.
Adaptec makes crap hardware anymore.
A cursory search on google before buying a RAID controller brought this page up – I had guessed already that Adaptec were lying about the “hardware” RAID, when the next product up costs almost 3 times the price.
Definitely will not be buying one of these Adaptec!
On a related point, since the HostRAID balls is done by the CPU, could one essentially use a faster processor in the server to counter-act the RAID load? If I build a NAS for my home office, I was gonna use an old Athlon box I have sitting around. Perhaps it would be worth buying a Sempron 3000 mobo bundle for around the £100 mark..
I would think that you would just go ahead and use Software RAID and forget anything about “HostRAID”. I would trust the Linux kernel with my RAID data more than I would trust Adaptec and this card.
I wonder how many who posted have called Adaptec support to ask if a HostRAID card will work in system X? Low end RAID cards are just that, low end.
“4 Serial ATA 3Gb/s ports, PCI-X 133 MHz, low-profile form factor with Native Command Queuing, RAID 0, 1, and 10 for desktops, workstations and entry-level servers”
From: http://www.adaptec.com/en-US/products/sata_prod/sata2raid/AAR-1420SA/
Does Linux let you boot from the software RAID array?
(That is the difference between OS software RAID vs HostRAID, HostRAID has a BIOS.)
It won’t very well boot from it if Linux doesn’t understand the crapRAID and therefore just sees the drives as individual drives. Also the newest version of grub will let you boot from RAID I believe.
You can see my conversation with them at the top. I would also say that again the line you quote is misleading, since the card really doesn’t “do” RAID at all. The OS does.
Hi Brent,
Sorry to hear your support issue. I just bought one of these as a substitute to buying a new MB with a second controller chip. My kids 74gb raptor filled so quickly that I had to buy a bunch of cheaper 250gbs and thought four was a good price and forgot I got the cheapest a8n-sli w/o a second controller. The Adaptec 1420SA showed up to be the best price four-port controller to support my want for 0+1. I configured 4×250’s in “10” and I have a few thoughts on it after a bit of use:
1) Performance on std PCI interface is FAST. Faster in Raid10 than my 10K Raptor. This is likely due to that Raptors are SATA-1 and the new driveset is all SATA-II with huge buffers. Great performance for the dollar.
2) I recently tested, by accident, a 1420sa disk hardware failure when I left a SATA cable on one drive disconnected, and this essentially WORKED as a hardware raid solution by rebuilding the entire array, as part of the boot/BIOS update process. It may have needed the O/S to confirm this but that was “transparent” entirely. If the “host” did anything, it just changed by BIOS boot message from performing at “Degraded” level back to “Optimal” one time when I rebooted for some other reason. There is a LOT more than the normal “lifting” of load by this card than a non-hardware, software-only RAID solution. (Excepting a lot of raid-5’ers out there who really are gluttons for punishment).
3) If you want a cheap hardware PCI/ATA solution, I have used the AMI MegaRAID chipset for over 8 1/2 years, using multiple implementations with a replacement CARD, and found that to be a real value. Worked great. I think it even had raid-5 but can’t recall and never used it other than raid-0 (hw only) and raid-1 (hw only). I think they got bought by LSI but if you can find one of these cards, give one a try. (Note, Fdisking can be tricky depending on what version you use, you may have to do some bit-changing arithmetic.)
Best of Luck!
Steve
Just… DAMN. I JUST bought this card today, and my shiny new Linux box is installing right now with it (under FC6). I’m glad I found this site. I bought Adaptec because I *thought* I was buying a quality hardware raid card. Fortunately my distributor has a 10 day return policy. This sucker’s going back first thing Monday morning and I’m buying a 3ware controller.
I am not sure where it document stuff like this but this blog seems as good a place as any.
I too bought a bright and shiny new 1420SA raid card thinking I might want raid on my new backup server. I choose Adaptec because I have had great luck with the other 4 – upscale 2XXX models – I bought for my Beowulf clusters and webservers. Lost a lot of disks over the years but the controller just beeped a bunch till I hot swapped a replacement drive in – rebuilt on the fly with out even a reboot! Life was good.
So the 1420 seemed like a safe bet – still might be but the installs not done yet so I can’t say for sure – but, my God, what I had to go through to get here.
1st comment: Why does Adaptec send out their drivers in a *.img file? — Rpms don’t count if you are trying to install. — What’s in the img file? A handful of files in a dos disk format. How do you get them to a dos disk? Go to a linux box and run “dd if=driver_name.img of=/dev/fd0”. This will put 700K of driver files down on a dos disk. If you don’t happen to have a linux box handy this will be tough and you can’t simply copy the img to a floppy because its too big and it wouldn’t work anyway. If they are sending out dos files( OK, linux files but packaged in a DOS disk format) why not in a *.exe format that writes dos disks?
2nd comment: This is for Red Hat. Red Hat is VERY particular about revisions – I mean down to the “-##” kernel number – 2.6.9 wasn’t good enough. I spent a day – including 2 calls to Adaptec support – not much help but they aren’t linux folks after all – trying to figure out why the latest Adaptec drivers wouldn’t load. BTW. Red Hat isn’t kind enough to say, “You are trying to install a driver from a kernel version different then you are installing to. Do you want to continue?”. It doesn’t say anything at all just doesn’t find any drives.
My fix: Got the scoop on Red Hat img stuff here. http://www.cpqlinux.com/dig-bootnet.html I unpacked the modules.cgz file – who knew it is a gzipped cpio archive – renamed the kernel driver directories from 2.6.9-42.ELsmp to 2.6.9-22.ELsmp and re-cpio and gzipped back to modules.cgz and wrote the 5 files out to a dos disk. BTW. the -H crc switch to cpio is critical. The cpio routine in the Red Hat install complains about a “bad magic number” if you don’t use it.
Hope this helps somebody.
Hey, great! I was just considering buying one of these, and you made me decide against it. Beware the power of free speech, they’ve got yet another customer less 😉
Hi there,
I’m about to buy SATA II controlers for building a software RAID array of 8 disks (using RAID6). I’ve read the above comments about how this card sucks in terms of hardware RAID capabilities and dodgy software support, but since it seems to be one of the only affortable SATA II controlers out there, and I’m not planning to use its so-called RAID features, I’m really looking forward to hearing about it in that regard.
So – what do you guys have to say regarding its basic SATA II functionality under GNU/Linux (I’ll be using in on a Debian Etch server)? Is it running steadily (I’ve been having some trouble with the somehow weak Promise UltraTX2 ATA133 controlers in the past)? Feedback would be greatly appreciated, and if you have suggestions of a better & cheaper SATA II controler, please shoot!
Thanks,
I just brought one of these too, i was also duped.
Considering keeping it and just using it as a plain sata controller, or possibly exchanging for a 3ware 9550sx.
it does actually get recognised under gentoo and can see the drives attached…just doesnt do the raid (as said above).
I also will not be buying adaptec again after reading this article..
I have tried using this card in a Windows SBS environment – the performance using ‘compatible drives’ and a ‘compatible mainboard’ according to Adpatec’s site is woeful. I am using 400 GB Seagate Sata II Drives in 300mb/sec mode – the software won’t auto rebuild until you reboot -it just sits on 0% rebuilding. Does anyone have adaptec’s email address I would love to send them a letter on how shit this card really is.
I have never had a problem with ANY of the cheap promise alternatives. I purchased this for a customer as there were no promise equivalents available in australia….. never again – the customers can wait or go elsewhere… now I look like an idiot for providing a product that won’t do what they claim it to be able to.
Your message to: serviceregistration@adaptec.com
was blocked by our Spam Firewall. The email you sent with the following subject
has NOT BEEN DELIVERED:
Subject: Adaptec Serial ATA II RAID 1420SA Vista support
hmmm, maybe i’ll give this a miss too…
Cheers Brent.
To Brent and potential cheap Adaptec and IBM-server customers:
Seems like there are similarities with the SATA-raid in IBM server x-206 called “serveraid 7e” with support for 2 sata disks.
It is in fact a built-in Adaptec card, but hardly a “controller”.
I got suspicious when I couldn’t find any cloning facility in the BIOS. One disk where in trouble and the server simply hang when reaching the bad disk’s weak spot when trying to rebuild it. This happened over and over again and the server had to be turned off by powering off, but the status at preboot-time was telling “OK” for both disks mirrored in raid-1. This was simply a untrue message.
IDE disks can stop the server like this, SCSI disks can’t as far as I know. The Windows server 2003 were rebuilding the disk (and showing this in the Serveraid manager-program, not the serveraid-card itself which is built in the motherboard. You can alter the priority for the rebuilding process by right-clicking the disk in the program, but the Windows server would stop any how and not give any on-line message of what is going wrong. Because of the frenetic disk-activity you would think there is some computer-virus eating your data.
Let this be a warning for IBM customers believing they will get a true RAID with IBM x-206.
Google look here: IBM SERVERAID 7e
I’m thankful for this site, reminding everybody : If you buy cheap, you’ll get cheap. But these cards cost more than many motherboards….
Thanks for your article..but to late for me !
Unfortunately some essential on-screen-information about rebuilding without any operating system were out-of-sight. It is in fact possible to rebuild a new one disk in mirror with the controller itself and without entering the operating system.
Here follows two important answers from Adaptec:
1. Hostbased raid
2. Linux and Adaptec raid card. How to make storage manager for Linux see the Adaptec controller.
1.
This is Adaptec’s own answer about “hostbased raid” at their tecnical web-pages: (the link is too long so I leave the text here).
Question
What does HostRAID mean? What features are offered by HostRAID?
This information applies to the following Product(s):
– Adaptec SCSI Card 29320A-R
– Adaptec SCSI Card 29320ALP-R
– Adaptec SCSI Card 39320A-R
– Adaptec SCSI Card 29320-R
– Adaptec SCSI Card 29320LP-R
– Adaptec SCSI Card 39320-R
– Adaptec SCSI Card 39320D-R
– Adaptec Serial ATA Raid 1210SA
– Adaptec Serial ATA Raid 1420SA
– Adaptec Serial Attached SCSI 44300
– Adaptec Serial Attached SCSI 48300
– Adaptec Serial Attached SCSI 58300
This information applies to the following Operating System(s):
– This information is not Operating System specific
Answer
HostRAID is an integrated RAID technology that adds entry level RAID support. It is also called intelligent RAID on chip (iROC) or software RAID and it is built into the firmware of the controller. There is no additional RAID processor on HostRAID cards.
With the above listed SAS and SATA HostRAID controllers, HostRAID is always enabled by default. There are only HostRAID drivers available, regardless if the drives are configured as RAID or if they are being used in JBOD mode.
With the above mentioned Ultra320 SCSI controller cards, this feature needs to be enabled in the BIOS. By default HostRAID is disabled. Please keep in mind there are different driver files necessary dependent on the HostRAID setting. If HostRAID is disabled, the SCSI driver needs to be installed. If HostRAID is enabled, the HostRAID driver needs to be installed. Please see the User’s Guide for further details on how to enable or disable HostRAID and on how to migrate SCSI to HostRAID or vice versa.
Answer ID 8986 shows the maximum number of drives allowed for RAID 0, 1 and 10 in a HostRAID configuration.
HostRAID offers the following features:
– Bootable array support
– Global Spares (minimum 1 spare, maximum 2 spares)
– Complete RAID configuration and management utility in the BIOS
– Provides graphical RAID management software
– Supports Hot Swap of drives
– Support for Auto Rebuild (if there is a spare)
– Support for Auto Verify
***********************************************************
2:
Storage Manager for Linux does not see Card or RAID Array on a Linux System
Question :
Storage Manager for Linux will not see the controller card or the RAID array on a Linux system, even if the services have been verfied running or have been manually restarted.
This affects the following RAID Controller Cards:
– Adaptec SCSI RAID 2120S
– Adaptec SCSI RAID 2130SLP
– Adaptec SCSI RAID 2200S
– Adaptec SCSI RAID 2230SLP
– Adaptec SATA RAID 2410SA
– Adaptec SATA RAID 2410SA Enclosure Kit
– Adaptec SATA RAID 2810SA
– Adaptec SATA RAID 21610SA
Operating Systems Affected:
– This issue affects all supported distributions of LINUX including Red Hat and SuSE using the embedded [aacraid] kernel module.
Answer
This condition occurs when one is using the embedded [aacraid] kernel module for the driver instead of the module from Adaptec. One should go to Adaptec’s website and download either the drivers for the Linux version they are using or use the DKMS packages to incorporate Adaptec’s driver source code and build a driver for that Linux version.
Operating System
This issue does not pertain to any specific Linux Distribution
I also came across this card and did a quick Google for “1420SA review.” Glad I found this page. I had assumed that because the cost was about 3-4 times that of a cheapie SiL card, it was more likely to be hardware based. Obviously I was wrong!
I am currently using a motherboard with an embedded Intel controller. It works well in a RAID10 configuration but is extremely unreliable in RAID5 – it keeps reporting that drives fail, strangely enough they are perfect when I switch to RAID10! If another drive “fails” while you’re rebuilding the RAID5 array from the first “failure” then your data is toast. Anyway, one of the issues with the software based controller is that there’s little diagnostic ability if something other than complete hardware failure happens. Right now my comp plays up on a particular file: I can hear the HD clicking away, and then the machine freezes or reboots. I cannot back up my system because of this. I presume it’s a low level problem with a member HD but the RAID software cannot seem to handle this, nor does it offer any way to diagnose it.
This turned into a bit of a rant about Intel’s solution, but there are probably the same issues for most software RAID based controllers. On that note: has Windows implemented software based RAID yet? If not then the time seems about right for Mickeysoft to take over this portion of the market (again) 🙂
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After we bought two ibm 206m that runs 2003 std with SAS drives (the 1st) and XP Pro with SATA drives (the 2nd), we noticed that MS-SQL performance are about 1/5 of our notebook with 4200 rpm drive.
Not bad for a workgroup DB server !
Now we are in difficult because it’s hard to migrate from hostraid config to single drive. They never imagine the amount of time we loss for a cheap controller that only have the name of raid system.
Thank you to your site that gave me the confirmation of this.
Hi All,
At the risk of going counter to the flow, this is just simple economics. Controllers at this price point can’t afford to have an onboard I/O processor.
Cards that have an onboard CPU (for example an Intel 80302) like the Adaptec 2410 are at the $400.00 (MSRP) price point.
Not that I am a particular fan of these low priced cards, I am having an ongoing battle with Promise’s version of a “Host RAID†solution…
This is just a classic example of “you get what you pay forâ€
So if you want “real†hardware based RAID, you have to shell out $300-$400 for it. Actually the 2410SA can be had for as little as $250.00
And yes, software based RAID is still RAID, so IMO, they can call it RAID.
Regards
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how can you call it a software raid when you can run i.e. MS-DOS for it. It installs a hidden driver inside io.sys? LOL
btw: vista is supported. just give it a XP driver.
Good and worthy rant. Sad to say it isn’t just Adaptec, it increasingly seems to be the norm. Half ass products (be it software or hardware), an I don’t give a shit attitude and screw you I’ll keep your $. I’ve been in this biz since 1981 and the last two years have just about driven me to want a career in Afghanistan growing poppies.
Damn it, I’ve got to this page TOO LATE! Just bought that piece of crap. Now I’m cryin’ the hell out of it.
It’s a TOTAL CRAP!
Pretending that it is ‘hardware RAID’ (which is what I was told) is akin to pretending that I’m Santa Clause, flying on a fleet of flying cows.
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You got your wish, No 1 hit in Google for the term “adaptec 1420sa vista”
Weel done! I’ve bought this card and thought I’d done well. Bugger..
Got one for work a while back, it is complete crap.
Thanks for going to all the effort of doing this “blog” webpage thing.
BTW google search of “adaptec 1420 review” is what led me here
Glad I came across this…
I was looking at Adaptec SATA RAID cards… not this particular model
– but I remember having problems with some of their other products in the past – this just confirmed my hesitation on buying another Adaptec product.
Definitely won’t be buying Adaptec.
Thanks for the info.
FWAAHAHA!!!
Thank goodness that I found this thread just in time!
I bought this Adaptec POS but found this thread while it was still in transit. The vendor I purchased from had “No Returns” on this item (surprise!), but when I called them they were extremely helpful and told me “no problem, just decline delivery and we’ll credit your card”. They told me the reason they have to do that is that “some manufacturers want to force the customer to contact them directly before returning certain items.” Well, now – isn’t that interesting. Maybe Adaptec is getting concerned about this matter.
So, I am purchasing a 3Ware 8006-2LP from the same vendor. I spoke with 3Ware just to confirm that this IS true hardware RAID, with a processor onboard. It sells for about the same price as the Adaptec ($120), so all this noise about how manufacturers can’t afford to include an onboard processor at that price point is pure speculation, and completely wrong.
Frankly, I wouldn’t be surprised if some hungry law firm files a class action against both Adaptec and IBM on behalf of consumers for damages as a result of deceptive marketing practices. I was completely fooled by the way the information was presented on Adaptec’s site, and believed that I was ordering a true Hardware RAID solution. I even knew ahead of time about the fake RAID issue – I was replacing a Promise controller for just that reason. I was still fooled by Adaptec.
Our company will never purchase another Adaptec product. I had complete faith in them until this happened. Nothing but 3Ware from here on out.
For Google:
Adaptec Serial Attached SCSI 44300 is broken
Adaptec Serial Attached SCSI 44300 is junk
Adaptec Serial Attached SCSI 44300 is useless
Adaptec Serial Attached SCSI 44300 is NOT a RAID controller
Adaptec Serial Attached SCSI 44800 is broken
Adaptec Serial Attached SCSI 44800 is junk
Adaptec Serial Attached SCSI 44800 is useless
Adaptec Serial Attached SCSI 44800 is NOT a RAID controller
>how can you call it a software raid when you can run i.e. MS-DOS for it. It installs a hidden driver inside io.sys? LOL
>btw: vista is supported. just give it a XP driver.
The card has an option ROM that is executed by the BIOS during the early hardware initialization stages. This ROM, among other things, will hook some of the BIOS-provided device I/O routines by overloading the interrupt vectors.
So, yes, you can think of it as installing a hidden driver. But, no, it doesn’t install it inside io.sys.
Get a clue! LOL
Class Action Would Be a Good Idea
Couldn’t agree more with most posts here. The Adaptec, Intel, HP, IBM, et al marketing on these “RAID” adapters is misleading. These so-called RAID controllers are not reliable, drain system resources, and add nothing to any system other than more aggravation. Stay away from Adaptec Host RAID and Intel Host RAID or whatever you call it!
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I bought the 1420SA because I have used Adaptec products for years and wanted a 4-drive hardware-assisted RAID solution, rather than just utilizing what little CPU was available in this old machine in an XP software RAID. I wasted a couple of days running various disk speed tests, with different configurations of RAID 0 (2, 3, 4 drive) JBOD, etc, etc … trying to figure out why I wasn’t see true RAID 0 performance. I got a 10% boost on 2 drives, but hit a plateau. No change with 3 or 4 drives. Then I ran across this blog .. what a surprise. I wasn’t crazy, at least not about this. I’ve been in this business for 30 years and (embarrasingly) was duped by the “HostRAID” jargon too.
Just for fun, I set the card back to 4 JBOD drives and turned on XP software RAID. Got 20% better performance than RAID through the card’s driver. What a crock.
Congrats on this page, top result for “adaptec 1420sa review” in google btw.
Have the so-called “support” departments ever considered that “buy-a-second-more-expensive-product” is a thought that has already crossed people’s minds and was almost instantly rejected? The reason we send mail to support in the first place is “I’m stuck with your stuff, please provide more info than google”.
I was looking for a better solution than the on-board SATA2 wannabe-RAID controllers for a new HTPC, either PCIe or at least PCI-X. Unfortunately the market does not target consumers yet. Proper HW cards are so expensive one might as well buy a custom Dell Workstation. I have one at work, running flawlessly with any of win64, ubuntu and RHEL5. But can’t afford it at home.
I tried and using it on Centos.
After reading through the comments here, I decided to shop harder for a SATA-II RAID controller. Check this out…
You can pick up a 3ware 9550SXU-4LP with real hardware RAID for $300 with free shipping from Newegg.com. Then, if you’re a first time 3ware customer, you can pick up a $50 “First Time Buyer” rebate. (For another $100, you can add an optional battery backup module.)
$250 is probably the cheapest price you’ll pay for an actual SATA RAID controller.
It’s tempting, but I really just need an inexpensive, non-raid, SATA-II PCI-X controller for my HTPC. But, I can’t find one without hostRAID or something similar. I’m probably the last guy on the planet building a PCI-X + AGP 8x system, I know. So, does anybody want to sell me their used Adaptec 1420SA? jpatoka at gmail dot com
Correction: the $50 instant savings is only from a 3ware “Authorized Distribution Partner”. It is not a rebate that can be used on a purchase from Newegg.
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For google:
Adaptec aar81xx is BROKEN
Adaptec 1420SA needs three days to rebuild a 500 GB volume
Adaptec 1420SA is installed in HP ML150 G2 and G3
We bought a couple of ML150 servers from HP with this shitty card installed, first is just does not run ok even with the supplied aar81xx module but even on a windows machine this card sucks bigtime!
We replaced everything with 3ware and that is the one and only thing we will be buying in the future.
HP is full of bullshit when it comes to linux support!
Nico, do you need to get rid of one of those Adaptec 1420SA controllers? I don’t plan on using the hostRAID features, but I do need a SATA2-PCIX controller. contact me via jpatoka at gmail dot com
Message to 91.vass, but also for others: I know, maybe out of date or not fit into Your conceptions
http://www.areca.us/products/2ports.htm
Areca ARC-1200 – most compelling PCIe x1 to SATA ll RAID solution which economically delivers full-featured TRUE HARDWARE RAID to desktop and workstations as well as entry-level servers. For just $169.99 from Newegg.com
P.S. As many of You, I bought another piece of crap with brand Adaptec, 2 years ago. This site was one of very useful for me. From that time I strictly recommend product of 3ware (1x 3ware 8006-4LP) one is on my own or Areca (ARC-1160ML) – 10 backend storage/file mirroring servers for business – an local ISP provider.
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