Making Linux Switch


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Hey everyone I have been hearing much good about linux recently but was wondering would it support 2xSATA 80 GB in Raid-0. Also could someone reccommend a good distro (pref with KDE or some nice looking desktop). THX in advance

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AFAIK, and I could be wrong about this, Linux does not support any RAID configuration for SATA hard drives currently. There is good support for SATA in the new 2.6 series kernels (though you will need to know what chipset your SATA controller uses).

I don't know of any distro out there that comes with a 2.6 kernel, but I would imagine it would not be that hard to get one going in any distro. I'd personally recommend Gentoo, Debian, or Slackware (these are probably the easiest to setup with a 2.6 kernel and newer hardware).

As for the GUI, pretty much all distros come with at least Gnome and KDE, and you can install any of them on any distro if they don't come "stock".

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If you are looking for good SATA support, then something with the 2.6 kernel is recommended (like the new Mandrake 10 - not fully released, I think). There is some support in the 2.4 kernel as well, but it may or may not work with your particular chipset.

RAID is no problem at all. Linux supported it out of the box early on. Windows is behind Linux here.

I recommend backing your system up, then doing a test install of Linux. If SATA is supported with what you have, then you have a green light to install everything the way you want. :yes:

[EDIT: Wow! A barrage of responses! lol]

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I'm always on the latest kernel (why else would I have to reboot! :happy: )

And also I have a SATA drive.

It worked just dandy under 2.4, and with the latest bleeding-edge kernel, I did find a slight performance increase, which is always nice :)

I can't talk for the SATA raiding, though. I have 3 drives, but only one SATA. :(

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Thanks for the help so far (I knew you Zealots would pull through ;) )

Um My system specs are the following:

Athlon 2500 @ 3000

MSI K7N2 Delta ILSR

Radeon 9600 Pro

512 DDR333

2x80 SATA 80GB Seagate w/ 8 Meg Cache in RAID-0

160 IDE Western Digital w 8/ meg Cache

S0 chipset is Nforce2?

Or it says Promise 2+0 Stripe RAID/SCSI device in hardware

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ok back on topic which distro is most likely to work with sata raid-0 ill try that one out. then how do i install etc. i need step by step im gonna be a linux n00b !!!!!1111 omg omg.... :rolleyes: anyways ya which should i do and help me out on dualbotting instructions.

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w00t  :blink:  XP supports RAID no problem!!!  ;)
but it is true that windows is behind linux because windows does not support ALL types of raid.

I was meaning that Linux supported it very early in the development. Sorry if my brief comment wasn't clear. (it wasn't) :pinch:

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Everyone is going to have an opinion here.

The best answers are not joing to be:

Use xxxxxxxx distro!

A good recommendation can only be met by looking at your needs.

If you want to know all the ins and outs of Linux by building it from source, an dhave the time and perserverence to do so, then Gentoo may be an excellent choice.

If you want to use Linux and learn, but have a family of four young boys, and a full-time job that doesn't involve Linux, then you may find distros such as Debian, Slack good for a high-learning curve, and Fedora, SUSE, Mandy for easy at first install.

If you just want to run Linux, and don't want to deal with what's under the hood (at least not for now), then Lycrois, Lindows, Xandros may be what suits you.

Before any good recommendations can be made (or listened to), teh user's needs must be taken into consideration.

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