 HiVoltPremium
join:2000-12-28
Toronto, ON
kudos:18
 ·TekSavvy DSL
 ·TekSavvy Cable
| Mac Pro RAID card So Apple didn't upgrade the Mac Pro, and we have to wait another year for that...
I have a Mac Pro 2008 (2 x 2.8ghz) running server at work for some mac only apps, but I badly need proper disk redundancy, as the software mirror is garbage and has locked up the machine twice during a disk failure...
My local AASP wanted $850+ for a raid card, I told them to stuff it... I looked around on ebay and found one for $300, pulled from a working 2008 Mac Pro, or so it said... I ordered it.
My question is, how do you configure the disks? Does Disk utility recognize it when you boot off OS X install DVD, or does it have its own firmware based utility like PC raid cards?
I also wonder about Lion or Mountain Lion compatibility, but could not find anything other than "can be used with OS X 10.4.4 or later"...
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GO BLUE JAYS!
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 MrNo
join:2001-05-05
Chicago, IL | I have not upgraded any of my servers to Lion yet, so I cannot speak of compatibility, but when you boot of the server disk in Snow Leopard, You will find a app called RAID Utility. This will help you set up your card. Be aware that it takes hours for the volume to format. |
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HiVoltPremium
join:2000-12-28
Toronto, ON
kudos:18 Reviews:
·TekSavvy DSL
·TekSavvy Cable
| Yeah, I have Snow Leopard Server disks, but Lion is not a Server version, instead you install the "server" app after the fact... I guess I will find out.
Maybe the trick will be to set up the RAID using the SL disk, then boot Lion installer and see if it will install... I'll stay on Snow Leopard if I have to... |
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 ThinkdiffPremium,MVM
join:2001-08-07
Bronx, NY
kudos:6 | reply to HiVolt
Why not go for an iSCSI solution?
I imagine your plan of installing SL and then upgrading to Lion via the App Store should work fine, but I don't have the RAID card, so I've never tried.
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University of Southern California - Fight On! |
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HiVoltPremium
join:2000-12-28
Toronto, ON
kudos:18 | I thought OS X didn't natively support iSCSI...
edit: correction |
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ThinkdiffPremium,MVM
join:2001-08-07
Bronx, NY
kudos:6 | Not natively, but there are a number of plugins that have decent reviews.
Some are even free:
»krypted.com/mac-os-x/how-to-use-···ac-os-x/
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University of Southern California - Fight On! |
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MrNo
join:2001-05-05
Chicago, IL | reply to HiVolt
I think once you create a volume from the SL Server install CD, upgrading to Lion will be straight forward.
Let me know how it goes. |
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HiVoltPremium
join:2000-12-28
Toronto, ON
kudos:18 | reply to Thinkdiff
Yeah, I know about the plugins, but I am weary of using something like that... |
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rugbyI think I know it all.VIP
join:2000-09-26
Plainfield, IN | reply to HiVolt
I have a restore image of a Lion Server Mac Mini that could be laid on top of a freshly wiped hard drive. That way you could do a Lion Server setup "from scratch".
I've used a Synology NAS device as an iSCSI target on a Mac Mini Server and it has worked GREAT for re-sharing. |
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 TamaraBQuestion The Current ParadigmPremium
join:2000-11-08
Da Bronx
·Optimum Online
 ·Clearwire Wireless
| reply to MrNo
said by MrNo: .... Be aware that it takes hours for the volume to format. Yeah, I recently set up my new iMac with a Promise Pegasus 4TB raid5 and it took 11 hours to format the array. I was shocked!
Bob
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 donoreoPremium
join:2002-05-30
North York, ON | said by TamaraB:said by MrNo: .... Be aware that it takes hours for the volume to format. Yeah, I recently set up my new iMac with a Promise Pegasus 4TB raid5 and it took 11 hours to format the array. I was shocked! Bob This is not exclusive to Macs. All larger volume RAID set ups take a long time.
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The irony of common sense, it is not that common.
I cannot deny anything I did not say.
A kitten dies every time someone uses "then" and "than" incorrectly.
I mock people who give their children odd spelling of names. |
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 tubbynetreminds me of the danse russePremium,MVM
join:2008-01-16
Chandler, AZ
kudos:1 | said by donoreo:This is not exclusive to Macs. All larger volume RAID set ups take a long time.
qft.
setting up a 6tb raid array (can't remember the number) on a ucs c-series took upwards of 5 hours. this was on a dual 12-core machine with 48gb of ram.
q.
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"...if I in my north room dance naked, grotesquely before my mirror waving my shirt round my head and singing softly to myself..." |
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ke4pymPremium
join:2004-07-24
Charlotte, NC Reviews:
 ·VOIPo
·Verizon Broadban..
·RoadRunner Cable
·Northland Cable ..
| reply to HiVolt
said by HiVolt:So Apple didn't upgrade the Mac Pro, and we have to wait another year for that...
I have a Mac Pro 2008 (2 x 2.8ghz) running server at work for some mac only apps, but I badly need proper disk redundancy, as the software mirror is garbage and has locked up the machine twice during a disk failure...
My local AASP wanted $850+ for a raid card, I told them to stuff it... I looked around on ebay and found one for $300, pulled from a working 2008 Mac Pro, or so it said... I ordered it.
My question is, how do you configure the disks? Does Disk utility recognize it when you boot off OS X install DVD, or does it have its own firmware based utility like PC raid cards?
I also wonder about Lion or Mountain Lion compatibility, but could not find anything other than "can be used with OS X 10.4.4 or later"...
Don't do it man. Don't install that card. Toss it in the trash, get your money back, find something else.
I had that card in my 2008 MP for about 18 months. THREE times I had a disk failure. THREE times I lost the array. I spent 4 and a half hours on one visit and 3 hours on the second visit to the local Apple store while they tried to diagnose the problems. They also sent me a second card to try. I tried different disks. And in all of those attempts, when a drive failed, the array was lost during the rebuild of the array.
After 18 months, and 3 major failures (thankfully I had time machine running so no data loss) Apple gave me a full refund on the card. Big props to Apple.
Never mind the card is slow as crap at getting the array ready. It wasn't uncommon that I'd see 24+ hours to get 4 1.5TB drives ready.
Don't ... use ... that ... card.
On the flip side, I've had great success with RAID 1 software based disks. Even flipping between RAID 1 and RAID 5, TM handled it gracefully.
To directly answer your question so should you desire to still go down this horrible horrible path - when you have the card installed with disk attached, you boot the DVD and go into the RAID utility to build the array. Start it on a Friday night before you go home. It might be done by Monday morning.
Then use disk utility like you normally would. |
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HiVoltPremium
join:2000-12-28
Toronto, ON
kudos:18 | Damn... thats some horror story.... I will also be running a TM backup to an old Drobo box...
I'll give it a shot, too late now... if it craps out i'll sell the raid card later... |
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DaemonPremium
join:2003-06-29
San Francisco, CA Reviews:
 ·webpass.net
 ·AT&T U-Verse
·Comcast
| said by HiVolt:Damn... thats some horror story.... I will also be running a TM backup to an old Drobo box...
Yep, always remember: RAID is designed to give throughput and uptime. It's not a backup! Nothing like a bad filesystem on a RAID 6 array to make your day go south.
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-Ryan
I use Linux, OS X, iOS and Windows. Let the OS wars die. |
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 macsierraBaby NewfoundlandPremium
join:2003-11-30
Minden, NV
·Charter
| reply to HiVolt
I've had just about as good drive performance with my RAID using 10.7 disk utility and striping 2 or more internal drives together on my early 2009 Mac Pro.
That's with 3 separate external backups just in case and I've been doing that since my G3 days with no striped drive problems as of yet. (knock on wood)
Keeping in mind that Apple Disk Utility does not support repairing disk permissions on striped drives as of yet. I use DiskWarrior to repair permissions.
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Hey There, Voter! Do you remember that on Inauguration Day (Jan 20th) 2009, the national average for a gallon of gasoline was about $1.78? How's that "Hope & Change" working out for you? Anyone But Obama Nov. 2012.
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HiVoltPremium
join:2000-12-28
Toronto, ON
kudos:18 | Well, I got the RAID card today. Popped it in, and i'm testing it with some old drives now just creating a 3x500GB RAID5 array...
I booted off a Lion DVD and it does have the RAID Utility, so that's a good sign. |
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HiVoltPremium
join:2000-12-28
Toronto, ON
kudos:18 Reviews:
·TekSavvy DSL
·TekSavvy Cable
| Well the fun didn't last... I put in 4 new drives (Hitachi Ultrastar), and the raid card is reporting that Bay 4 is missing or failed...
I tried other drives in that bay and its saying the same thing... I don't know if its the raid card or the cabling to Bay 4... I have another 2008 Mac Pro that I will try the raid card in over the next few days...
Damn it :X
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GO BLUE JAYS!
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 joeybeeJoeyPremium
join:2003-08-12
Hamilton, ON | Probably the sata cable is dead or loose |
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HiVoltPremium
join:2000-12-28
Toronto, ON
kudos:18 Reviews:
·TekSavvy DSL
·TekSavvy Cable
| said by joeybee:Probably the sata cable is dead or loose
Well, the drive does power up, and it does read "some" information from it like the brand, but not other info...
This particular Mac Pro has had drive issues in the past, so its possible that the cable to Bay 4 is wonky...
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GO BLUE JAYS!
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