I've done software RAID 1 in Red Hat Linux using two, 120 Gb drives with good results, but I had a fast machine and that makes a difference. This was after trying to implement hardware RAID on an onboard Promise PDC20276 controller and failing. I haven't tried it on a Pentium II.
I think you should try software RAID on a faster machine. Heck, maybe you'll get by doing software RAID 1 on 2 disks on the Pentium II. The size of the drives might just keep that old CPU busy for ages.
Bob
Langdon Stevenson wrote:
Hi,
I am attempting to build a file server using a Pentium II 400, for my home office.
I want to build a RAID 5 array for data integrity. I have four 160Gig Western digital hard drives, and a couple of spare IDE controller cards that I would like to use. The controller cards are the issue.
They are ST-306 Ultra ATA-133 PCI cards from Lycom (see: http://www.lycom.com.tw/ST306.htm for card details).
The chipset is a Silicon Image Sil0680ACL144.
I installed one of these cards with a hard drive attached to test if it would work, but had no luck. I ran the Fedora Core 3 installer and the card was not detected. I was not able to find a driver to manually select that looked right.
I spent some time on Google researching Linux and this card/chipset, but found no real clues. Only windows drivers seem to be available.
Can anyone tell me if this card is likely to be usable?
If not, could anyone suggest a low cost card that can handle the drives I have?
Warning: I am a relative newbie with Linux. I have built a couple of systems over the last year or so, but am by no means an expert.
Any assistance, or suggestions greatly appreciated.
Regards, Langdon
