Re: Mac Pro, ATTO R680, iStoragePro 8-Bay (6gb/sec) = RAID 6 and Confidence Crisis. What Now??

Mini update -- If you stumble across this post, the message of caution about being your own RAID integrator is absolutely right -- even when what you are getting is all specified to work together.

My iStoragePro 6gb/sec enclosure has dismounted by surprise more than once. I am now using the brand new ATTO FW for the raid card.

If you have the parts and have not turned the thing on:

The enclosure maker is the key. I got my ATTO r680 RAID card from iStoragePro, and the only instructions were in the ATTO Box: card fw should be latest, if not update before proceeding. The only problem is that the enclosure maker (CI) had not yet certified this fw level. Later (only after first set of serious problems), was advised by CI to roll back firmware to their last certified level...

It's important to point out that 2 lessons from this have been that ATTO and CI each are committed to customer service. They are obviously each excellent companies -- and they each are very prompt with tech support.

That said, the integration piece is a problem. A reliable RAID is and the enclosure needs to share what they know about how to set up their enclosures with their preferred card (atto). A single sheet of paper in the enclosure box, with this might have spared me a huge waste of time. Or maybe not... maybe I'd still be having issues. SO... don't assume that you have the key config info from the enclosure maker. Call them up, email, and before powering up, make sure you know the:

- FW for card
- driver level for workstation

(Assuming you are using specified compaitible drives, os, etc.)

Keep you posted.