M1015 RAID card question

[XMan]

I'm wanting to do a RAID10 array and a RAID1 array for my server. Will this work with the stock firmware or should I flash it to something else?

Google searches haven't really gotten me anywhere. Next step is to download the manual I guess. 😉

 

[dave_the_nerd]

It should support those (very basic) RAID types, yes.

https://lenovopress.com/tips0740-serveraid-m1015

You need the advanced feature key to support parity RAID.

But most people who DIY just flash them to IT mode (bypassing the RAID BIOS and turning the card into a fancy SATA controller) and use software RAID instead. (Software RAID may or may not be faster depending on CPU, etc., but it's easier to configure, and you can migrate arrays to new systems relatively easily.)

 

[XMan]

Really. Huh. Tells you how long it's been since I messed around; aren't hardware RAID setups less taxing? Though I guess CPUs have so much horsepower these days it's not a concern.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Really. Huh. Tells you how long it's been since I messed around; aren't hardware RAID setups less taxing? Though I guess CPUs have so much horsepower these days it's not a concern.

Pretty much what you said.

Hardware RAID cards offload the processing, but RAID 0/1/10 has almost no CPU overhead anyway. CPU load for parity RAID types (RAID 5, 6, unRAID, BRTFS or ZFS pools, etc.) is so fast on a modern CPU that it basically doesn't matter either, unless you have a pretty darn big drive pool. And the other advantages more than make up for it.

 

[XavierMace]

Assuming you're buying the card off eBay make sure you read the description completely to see if they mention it's already been cross-flashed or anything. I've got 3 of those cards currently, all flashed to IT for ZFS storage servers. Just be aware if your motherboard has an onboard LSI controller, you'll want to use a different board to flash the card. I may or may not have accidentally flashed my onboard chip trying to update one of my M1015's the first time I did it. LOL.