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Finally... Finally... I get the 3Ware 9650SE-8LPML for my server! Even the price of this card give me a bit of pain, the quality is need not to be question! A good BIOS UI, and I also get Debian's admin UI installed. Moreover, it is now able to fully utilize my new 9-bays server case (1 used for DVD) with hot swap plug-and-play supporting!

The most important is: the RAID array is able to be upgrade! This means you will not need to move all of your data away as backup, before rebuild and upgrade your array into a larger style. E.g. if I am now using 2 harddisk RAID1, I can add an additional harddisk and upgrade it as RAID5 whenever I hope to do so!

I have try mdadm and fake-raid before, but ALL are not suitable for production; BTW this card is something that I have asked for many years. I can't say more that this. If you are looking for a good RAID6 card for production, give the money, pay for it, and solve your problem now :-)

Here are some screenshots:

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My new case with 9 3.5" bays. 8 of them are coming with SATA hot swap drawer, so it is the best partner with 9650SE-8LPML!

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The superstar of today: my new 3Ware 9650SE-8LPML. It come with 8 LED connector, and able to figure out the status of each harddisk.

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Let's have a close look with it ;-)

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All after installation. 1GB DDR2 *4, AMD 64X2 4200+, 8 port SATA RAID6 card + case and Duel GB Lan! BTW, as I am now using a mATX motherboard, the card is now plugged into the PCIE 16X slot. Anyway, it is a server for running Debian etch with VMware for production and development, graphic is not its main concern ;-p

Anyway, story is not yet complete: the card is not supported by Debian etch kernel (2.6.18)! We need kernel at least with 2.6.19... So the solution is very simple:

1. Get a Debian testing netinst ISO. It is coming with 2.6.22 so driver is included.
2. During installation, install AS MINIMUM PACKAGES AS POSSIBLE! This means that you may even NOT install base packages when asking in tasksel. This is a bit tricky as we will make use of API-Pinning after installation. Complete the rest of installation as usual.
3. After first reboot, let's setup APT-Pinning. So your Debian will forced to use etch package if possible, and just upgrade PART of packages to lenny if required (and that's why we should install as minimum package as we can, during system installation).
4. call apt-get update to update your source list, and call tasksel --new-install to repeat the step you have been faced during system installation. Remember to get the "Standard system" install, and also don't forget the click of "manual package selection" in order to check all packages status before kick start ;-)

Moreover, the official 3DM2 installer is for Redhat-style system, but not Debian-style. So I need to get the unofficial Debian packages from here. Anyway, download them, simply run dpkg -i 3ware* and you will get it function :-)