[geeks] HP CrapRAID problem

[Mark Benson]

We just bought a HP ML310e v2 Gen8 tower server at work. I was assured by
my supplier it had an onboard RAID1 capable RAID controller and would
handle my needs. Turns out that's true, but it's also not true.

The onboard RAID is a SmartArray B120i which is apparently a cheap fake
software RAID controller. It needs a proprietary driver to work with closed
binary sources.

As you might remember ftom my virtualusation post, we are looking to deploy
a set of VMs based on a host running Debian. The two won't work together,
apparently, or at least not easily, as debian won't include the closed
source driver in the installer. My neext nearest option is Ubuntu but
apparently thats a no-go also.

So right now I have little confidence in the RAID controller. I have some
options as I see this:

- Drop $$$ on a real RAID card with decent OSS drivers (suggestions?)
- Turn off the CrapRAID and use the pair in a Linux software RAID1
- Try and pull in the kermel module during the debian install

Comments and suggestions welcome...

-- 

Mark Benson