[plug] Comments on Mylex RAID cards in Linux requested

[Earnshaw, Mike]

List,

I have never implemented any RAID above lvl 1 and never in Linux (past
experience is NT). We are looking at implementing lvl 5 on our Linux
fileserver. I tracked down a:

Mylex acceleRAID 250 for $1200

and wondered if the list has any experience with this card under Linux.
Never having implemented lvl 5 before I intended to use 3x18Gb drives (36Gb
data, 18Gb parity) on the understanding that I can add drives later to
increase the data size. But in what multiples do I add extra drives? Do I
have to add drives in increments of 2? So to get 54Gb data, I need 5x18Gb?
If this is the case given the alarming rate that drives appear to be
increasing in size, would I be better going for bigger base sizes (36Gb
instead of 18Gb) to cope with supply problems later.

TIA,

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