3ware 7.4 drivers for Escalade 6000 in Linux (not in Windows)

[Leokor]

Hey, folks! This might be of interest to some of you here.

I have noticed a funny thing yesterday evening, concerning the new 7.4 drivers released for the 3ware Escalade 7000 series of RAID controllers. While only 7.x drivers are available for download for the 7000 series, and only 5.x drivers for the 5000 series, 7.4 is a download option for the 6000 series! Seeing as the Escalade features fully programmable chips, so that new features are easy to introduce with firmware updates, it might have been that the 6000 series was brought up to the level of 7000 in all but the 64-bit support.

Today I got to talk on the phone with the 3ware tech support. Turns out that 7.4 is indeed backward compatible with the 6000 series under Linux, but not under Windows. Who would've thunk?...

Leo

 

[Armitage]

What does the upgrade from the 6.* drivers get you vs. the 7.* drivers? Any idea?

Also, you mention firmware and drivers. Firmware upgrade would be something like a bios flash, which I don't think you're talking about. So, it would seem that the 6000 series hardware can run the 7000 series drivers.

If you try the upgrade, do some before & after benchmarks and post them please!

 

[Leokor]

<< What does the upgrade from the 6.* drivers get you vs. the 7.* drivers? Any idea? >>


I admit that is a mystery.



<< Also, you mention firmware and drivers. Firmware upgrade would be something like a bios flash, which I don't think you're talking about. So, it would seem that the 6000 series hardware can run the 7000 series drivers. >>


Only on Linux, it seems. And of course, I mean the combination of firmware and drivers.



<< If you try the upgrade, do some before & after benchmarks and post them please! >>


I don't have Linux installed... yet. But I thought to share my findings with those who do.

Leo