Hardware RAID and installation options clarification?
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I've been googling around and not getting anywhere, but I think my problem is that I don't really understand what I'm looking for on a low level.
I have a server with a hardware raid controller (HP dl20 gen9). It only has 2 drives so they're setup mirrored in the raid controller.
When I run the pfsense installer, I still get presented with options to do what looks like a software raid setup, and, regardless which option I choose, the installers sees both disks, so it's like it isn't seeing that they are in a raid array.
I went ahead and set them up as a software array in the installer, and the system won't boot.
I haven't tried other options etc, because I hoped I could find the problem and the correct way to get it setup.
Any clarification is appreciated.
Thank you.
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If it's actual hardware raid the OS should install to it as one drive. So it's not seeing that. It might require additional drivers in pfSense/FreeBSD.
However it's generally considered better to use software raid in pfSense. There are of course exceptions and differing opinions!
You may need to disable the hardware raid in it's setup to allow booting the software mirror.Steve
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Thank you. Sounds like a plan. I assumed hardware raid would always be preferred. If pfSense prefers to handle it, I should be all set.
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Historically there have been some issues with raid controllers. YMMV.
But for me the most compelling reason is if you ever need to recover from a hardware failure you can move the drives into something else and they will boot without needing the exact same controller with the same firmware on it etc.
Steve
