On Friday 01 August 2008 7:03:02 am Sebastian Henrich wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I also use 3Ware Raid Controllers for several years in my and my
> customers linux machines. I only had trouble with one of them. The 3Ware
> driver is opensource and is included in the kernel. So you don't need to
> compile or install anything. The controller is running out of the box.
> You can install the 3Ware tools to get an command line and web interface
> for administration. Once I had trouble the 3Ware support helped me very
> fast and professional. I only see 2 points to think about. If you enable
> write caching you should use an UPS. If power fails without an UPS the
> controller is unable to write its cache to the disks and you'll lose
> some data or get an corrupt filesystem. The other point is, that your
> controller is a single point of failure. Normally the next generation of
> 3Ware controllers is able to read the on-disk-format of the generation
> before but in my opinion it is better to buy 2 controllers and have one
> at the side.
>
> Regards
>
>    Sebastian
>

This is a little off topic for the list, but I thought I'd chime in with my 
experience.  I've used 3Ware controllers in many computers and rarely had a 
problem.

Recently I had a controller go bad and start silently corrupting data.  I 
filled out a support request on the web and the next morning a replacement 
controller was on my desk, no questions asked, no intensive interview or need 
to prove my case.  And the failing controller in question was three years 
old.  Best service I've encountered from any vendor.

-- 
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Jeffrey Anderson                        | jdanderson AT lbl DOT gov
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory   | 
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