iir(4) driver (Was: Re: Safe card to replace for ICP Vortex GDT851...)

[Scott Long]

Ok guys, time for a small breather here.  All these claims about
EoE and orphanage and whatnot are a bit premature and underinformed.
First, the iir driver is being worked on when the need arises.  Several
bugs were fixed in it a few months ago, and until Mark's recent series
of mails on it, no other problems had been reported.  So far there is
only one person reporting unhappiness with it, which doesn't necessarily
mean that there is systematic trouble with the driver or the hardware.
Second, various Adaptec sources have confirmed that they do support
FreeBSD.  Making big statements in public that they don't, or that it's
not up to ones' standards or hopes, isn't terribly useful or productive.
I'd hate for FreeBSD to turn into That Other BSD that publically abuses
and harasses vendors for percieved sleights.  There are much more
positive and product ways to fix problems and form good relationships,
and those ways are actively being pursued by some people right now.

And here again is my standard disclaimer:
I highly recommend that anyone who takes their data integrity seriously
should spend time qualifying any RAID solution that they are interested
in before putting it into production.  What works for your workload
might not work for someone else's workload, and vice-versa.

Scott


Patrick M. Hausen wrote:
> Hello!
> 
> 
>>'k, just to clarify here ... the new products won't be based on the iir(4) 
>>driver then?
> 
> 
> Yes, they won't.
> 
> 
>>Basically, should the iir(4) driver be considered EOE also?
> 
> 
> As far as Adaptec and ICP Vortex are concerned, yes. Since the
> driver is Open Source, there is no enforced EOE, just "orphanage",
> if nobody is willing to work on it.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Patrick M. Hausen
> Leiter Netzwerke und Sicherheit