[zfs][hardware] Reproducible kernel panic in 8.0-STABLE
Stephane LAPIE
stephane.lapie at darkbsd.org
Sun Feb 7 16:27:09 UTC 2010
Torsten Kersandt wrote:
> Hi Stephane
>
> I currently use some excellent cards from Supermicro, and these seem to be
> the only 8 port PCIx and PCI-E available on the market running on
> The marvel chipset.
> I would not use them for RAID but as SATA/SAS controllers very good.
>
> Supermicro 8 Port SATA 2 Card (PCI/PCI-X) AOC-SAT2-MV8
> Supermicro AOC-SASLP-MV8, 8-Port (PCI-E)SAS/SATA Card
>
> For about £80.00/USD130.00 each - not bad
>
> Regards
> Torsten
Actually, I do have both cards.
I have been using them for one year now, and I can say this about both
of them :
-> Supermicro 8 Port SATA 2 Card (PCI/PCI-X) AOC-SAT2-MV8
This is what I am using right now, I have a server with two of them.
It's chip is a Marvell MV88SX6081 8-port SATA II PCI-X Controller.
I had virtually nothing to say against this card while using it under
FreeBSD up to 7.2-STABLE, but it seems drive hotplug handling is truly
lacking in 8.X, though whether this is a problem on the card's side or
on some recent change in ATA handling on FreeBSD's side is lost on me.
But the current reality is that I am getting random kernel panics for
what seems to be ATA queue handling woes.
Also, re-detection of drives in BIOS seems to be utterly buggy, so the
above hotplug handling problem might be related to the hardware itself.
-> Supermicro AOC-SASLP-MV8, 8-Port (PCI-E)SAS/SATA Card
This controller does not have a driver for FreeBSD, as of 8.0-STABLE,
and documentation for it is not public. I have asked sam@ for advice and
help on obtaining documentation.
As an additional comment :
Plus, I tried it under Linux, and the mvsas driver available for it is
less than satisfying. Drive disconnection/hiccups handling is severely
lacking, and I busted several mdadm RAIDs while using this card in test
machines, upon "going over the speed limit" and losing all plugged in
drives until next reboot.
(To be fair, the SVN version of the mvsas driver is a little more
stable, but in a "I will only disconnect one drive at a time, so if you
see one drive going down, you'll have the time to shut down the RAID
array" way.)
(As a result, I couldn't exactly say I am satisfied with Marvell on
FreeBSD so far. I am seriously considering going for Areca.)
Best regards,
--
Stephane LAPIE, EPITA SRS, Promo 2005
"Even when they have digital readouts, I can't understand them."
--MegaTokyo
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