[ale] Ugh! Kernel panic when loading ext3 modules in RHAS2.1w/kernel 2.4.9-e30.smp

[Bob Toxen]

RAID only protects against loss of data from a single disk drive failing.
With disks more reliable than fans that may not help MTBDL (Mean Time Before
Data Loss).  Off-site backups are the only way to fly.

Also, this is yet another person bitten by "Hardware RAID" failing due
apparently to, ahem, broken RAID hardware other than disks.  I vote for
reliable Linux software RAID -- not that I use either.

Bob Toxen
bob at verysecurelinux.com               [Please use for email to me]
http://www.verysecurelinux.com        [Network&Linux/Unix security consulting]
http://www.realworldlinuxsecurity.com [My book:"Real World Linux Security 2/e"]
Quality Linux & UNIX security and SysAdmin & software consulting since 1990.

"Microsoft: Unsafe at any clock speed!"
   -- Bob Toxen 10/03/2002

On Mon, Dec 29, 2003 at 09:32:57PM -0500, Jonathan Glass wrote:
> > On Mon, 2003-12-29 at 17:43, Dow Hurst wrote:
> >> So, unless you can force the RAID card to release even when the slave
> >> has crashed, you will have cut power to the slave completely, right?
> >> The last operation of the slave locks the RAID card in a write mode
> >> which won't let go?  Just wondering what you've found.  I am not
> >> familiar with RAID cards but am looking thru the O'Reilly book on Linux
> >> RAID.
> >> Dow
> >>
> > Is this using a seperate RAID card in each server, with the shared disk
> > subsystem being a JBOD (Just a Bunch Of Disks).
> >
> > The only raid controllers I know of that support that configuration are
> > the IBM ServeRAID cards.  Is that what is in use?
> >
> > If so, I have considered using those cards and would be interested in
> > what caused the failure.
> >
> > FYI: Alan Robertson on the Linux-HA mailing lists works for IBM and
> > seems willing to chase down problems related to the ServeRAID cards.
> > That may assume you are using the heartbeat clustering software.
> >
> > ie. Alan works for IBM, but I think working on Linux-HA (heartbeat) is
> > his full-time job.
> >
> > Greg
> 
> Actually, these servers have Dell/MegaRAID cards in them, using the
> megaraid_2002 drivers.  THese are connected to a Dell Powervault 220S with
> the backplane configured for clustering (joint, I think), fully populated
> w/13 146GB U320 SCSI drives.  Unfortunately, Dell refuses to sell me the
> U320 SCSI RAID card, insisting it isn't compatible with Linux, thus I'm
> stuck using the drives at 160MB/s.  BTW, the 220S has an onboard
> controller which handles the RAID configuration (8 drives in a RAID 5 for
> 1TB of storage), and the controller cards just access the 220s's BIOS for
> configuration data.
> 
> This chassis has lost 6 drives since May 2003, and at one point it took
> down drive 0 on both server's internal RAID arrays.  During the last
> failure, two drives went down simultaneously in my RAID 5, causing me no
> end of grief and heartburn.  Dell has replaced the backplane in the 220s
> (basically rebuilt the whole box), and is supposed to be replacing both
> machines. Granted, they promised to replace them within 30 days the week
> before Thanksgiving, and it still hasn't happened.  I'm so annoyed with
> this server setup that I'm looking at IBM servers for my next rollout.
> 
> Yes, I'm using the heartbeat s/w, as I think it is bundled in the RHAS 2.1
> software.
> 
> Thanks
> 
> Jonathan Glass
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