LSI RAID and Linux Support

LSI RAID and Linux Support

For some time I am struggeling with LSI RAID controllers in project-based work (my own setup use Linux softraid). My Experience now convers U320-SCSI-based HBAs as well as SATA HBAs. LSI is a somewhat a de-facto standard in the server business for RAID controllers, but IMO not the best solution around. Anyway admins probably don't get around that stuff as it is included on-board in maybe systems or available as OEM ware, e.g. as DELL PERC controller. And: it's not that bad at all and at least most of their HBAs are supported by Linux and VMWare ESX. They offer several software packages for Linux. You'll find them under "downloads" on the LSI website, but at the first sight it's not quite quite what they are good for. So here in short:

• megamon linux: This one monitors the RAID's status and writes it into a logfile. Plain text.
• megarc linux: With this one you can control anything on the LSI via command line. Plain text/commandline tool. The README says "First version for DOS" :)
• megamgr: This one resembles the "CTRL-M"-style BIOS. It's like curses-based or "text menu driven". With that you can mange your RAIDs menu-driven. (But no good diagnosis support, you'll need megamon for doing so)