Apple RAID A1009 used on Linux VM

Question

Apple RAID A1009 used on Linux VM

While planning expansion of my production mail server I'm hoping to use an Apple RAID array. The system in question is as follow:

- Dell Poweredge 2950
- host OS is CentOS 5
- VM runs Ubuntu 6.0.6
- mail server is Zimbra

From initial research I think one of the QLogic fiber channel cards will be my best bet, bang for the buck, etc.

Will this RAID array handle a 4GB fiber channel interface or am I limited to 2GB?
Does CentOS 5 support any of the QLogic cards?

This isn't an Apple system per se, but I haven't worked with Apple RAID arrays very much.

heterogenous environment of Win2003 & OS/X, some actual and some VM, Other OS

Posted on Mar 8, 2009 4:30 PM

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Answer 1

Mar 8, 2009 8:05 PM in response to Steven J. White

You can use the Xserve RAID with a 4 GB card, but the ports on the Xserve RAID are 2 Gbps ports.

It should work fine -- make sure your host can handle the LUN size the Xserve RAID exports -- I've seen many cases where Linux distros have a 2 TB max LUN size they understand. It may have been addressed in the last couple years -- I'd hope so but you never know.

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Answer 2

Mar 9, 2009 11:01 AM in response to William Lloyd

Thanks for your help William. I'm a bit of a novice with RAID, so please excuse the simple questions.

With fiber channel PCIe cards, if the card is rated for 4GB, does that mean 2GB per interface? Or is this something that is dependent on the model of card?

The Linux distro in question is CentOS 5. I've already posted into the forums on centos.org so if you aren't that familiar with this distro, don't sweat it.

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