Adaptec I2O RAID Driver

The Adaptec I2O RAID driver currently supports all I2O RAID cards and the DPT SmartRAID V controller. The dpt_i2o driver also provides support for some of Adaptec’s ATA RAID controllers. Please check the driver’s documentation and the Adaptec web site for specific compatibility information. The GPL driver was originally ported to Linux version 2.0.34 and was available as a patch to the kernel. The GPL driver was ported by Karen White (Dell Computer), with help from Mark Salyzyn and Bob Pasteur.

The driver was eventually rewritten from scratch. This new version (2.0) was developed by Deanna Bonds and Mark Salyzyn. Bonds currently maintains the driver for Adaptec. During the development of kernel 2.4, the driver finally made it into the stable kernel tree (2.4.10). That means users no longer have to undergo the arduous process of patching kernels or creating custom driver disks to perform installation.

What Is I2O?

I2O stands for Intelligent Input/Output. I2O is a way to achieve improved system performance by offloading tasks traditionally performed by the CPU onto dedicated I/O processors. I2O also offers a split-driver architecture that allows vendors to create platform-independent hardware drivers, so long as a generic I2O driver for each operating system is available.

Linux contains generic I2O support. In fact, you’ll notice an entire subsection of the kernel configuration dedicated to I2O device support. But be certain to use the dpt_i2o driver in the SCSI ...

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