IPcop 2.0 on Proliant servers/RAID controllers

Begging your pardon if this is better on the user mailing list...

I've been running IPcop 1.4 on an HP Proliant (PC server) for a while,
where it works well (thank you). Upon trying to install 2.0 on the
machine, I (and others
http://www.ipcops.com/phpbb3/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=16918 ) have found
that it does not support the hardware RAID controller in these machines.

In more detail, the problem appears to be that the installer does not
handle 'unusual' disk device names. My machine (Proliant DL380 G3)
contains an integrated "SmartArray 5i", this is handled by the "cciss"
driver, which is definitely included in the IPcop 2.0 kernel, however
that driver presents the configured RAID disks as block devices (rather
than SCSI disks) with names in /dev like
/dev/cciss/c0d0     first controller, first disk
/dev/cciss/c1d2p1   second controller, third disk, first partition (yes,
controller and disk are zero-indexed, partitions are indexed from 1)

This is handled fine by the 1.4 installer routine. The following is from
my current 1.4 machine:
root@milton:~ # ls -l /dev/harddisk*
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 15 2006-02-09 11:35 /dev/harddisk
-> /dev/cciss/c0d0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 17 2006-02-09 11:35 /dev/harddisk1
-> /dev/cciss/c0d0p1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 17 2006-02-09 11:35 /dev/harddisk2
-> /dev/cciss/c0d0p2
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 17 2006-02-09 11:35 /dev/harddisk3
-> /dev/cciss/c0d0p3
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 17 2006-02-09 11:35 /dev/harddisk4
-> /dev/cciss/c0d0p4

I have tried switching to a VC with a shell while the 2.0 installer is
running, and linking /dev/sda to /dev/cciss/c0d0 and /dev/sda1
to /dev/cciss/c0d0p1 etc, then back to the ncurses interface and
pressing the "Rescan" button, however that did not make it work.

I work for an HP reseller and have access to a number of Proliants, so I
can do some testing on various configurations if that helps.


Further detail on Linux on the "Proliant" range:
Older Compaq-badged proliants (e.g.
http://marc.info/?l=ipcop-devel&m=127844232704113&w=2) usually have the
cpqarray module, and devices like /dev/ida/c0d0 (I don't think we have
any of these for testing - they're bit too old)
More recent (generation 3 to 5 or 6) HP-badged proliants have
"SmartArray" hardware, driven by the cciss module, and device nodes
like /dev/cciss/c0d0     http://cciss.sourceforge.net/
The latest generation of SmartArray hardware is handled by a the 'hpsa'
module, which presents the disks as standard SCSI disks, so that they
have /dev/sda entries, and should not need any special case handling.

- Daniel Challen

________________________________

This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. This communication may be legally privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, please be advised that you have received this email in error and that any use, dissemination, forwarding, printing or copying of this email is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please notify the OCSL switchboard on +44 845 6052100. OCSL Registered Office: East House, New Pound Common, Wisborough Green, West Sussex, RH14 0AZ. Registered No: 2563193
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Virtualization & Cloud Management Using Capacity Planning
Cloud computing makes use of virtualization - but cloud computing 
also focuses on allowing computing to be delivered as a service.
http://www.accelacomm.com/jaw/sfnl/114/51521223/