= 1. Vendor information =

3Ware (http://www.3ware.com) card are usually well supported on Linux.[[BR]]
Theses cards are often considered as some of the bests hardware RAID controllers for GNU/Linux or BSD systems.[[BR]]
3Ware supports Linux and provide an '''opensource kernel driver''' which is part of Linux since ages.

[[BR]]
= 2. Linux kernel drivers =

There is two drivers for 3ware cards:
|| Driver || Supported cards ||
|| 3w_xxxx || 3Ware Eskalad 7000 and 8000 series ||
|| 3w_9xxx || 3Ware Eskaled 9000 series ||

You should not expect any problems with theses drivers which are known to be '''mature''' and '''stable'''.[[BR]]
We don't know any current Linux distrubtion which miss theses drivers so no additional step should be required to get it working.

[[BR]]
= 3. Management and reporting tools =

It currently exists '''no opensource tools''' for the 3Ware cards.
However, 3Ware provides two proprietary utilities for x86 and x86_64 linux systems.

== 3.1. tw_cli ==

tw_cli is a command line tool to manage and monitore Eskaled cards. It works fine with 7000 and 8000 cards, as well as with the 9000 series.[[BR]]
Latest version is 2.00.07.009, available in 3Ware applications package release 9.5.0.1.

''AVAILABLE IN OUR DEBIAN PACKAGES REPOSITORY FOR BOTH I386 AND AMD64 ARCHITECTURES''

=== 3.1.1. Quickstart guide for tw_cli ===

List available controllers:
{{{
server:~# tw-cli info

Ctl   Model        (V)Ports  Drives   Units   NotOpt  RRate   VRate  BBU
------------------------------------------------------------------------
c0    8006-2LP     2         2        1       0       2       -      -
}}}

All arrays and disks from controller "c0":
{{{
server:~# tw-cli /c0 show

Unit  UnitType  Status         %RCmpl  %V/I/M  Stripe  Size(GB)  Cache  AVrfy
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
u0    RAID-1    OK             -       -       -       153.385   OFF    -

Port   Status           Unit   Size        Blocks        Serial
---------------------------------------------------------------
p0     OK               u0     153.38 GB   321672960     VNRD3EC4C7J1SM
p1     OK               u0     153.38 GB   321672960     VNRD3EC4C7HZZM
}}}

Print all bios versions
{{{
server:~# tw-cli /c0 show bios firmware monitor
/c0 Bios Version = BE7X 1.08.00.048
/c0 Firmware Version = FE8S 1.05.00.068
/c0 Boot Loader Version = ME7X 1.01.00.040
}}}

Full tw_cli documentation can be downloaded for 3Ware website:
http://3ware.com/support/UserDocs/CLIGuide-9.4.3.pdf

=== 3.1.2. My opinion about tw_cli ===

tw_cli is really a good utility. It show all needed informations in just one command.[[BR]]
Moreover, it show rebuild status in percent when the array is rebuilding and it's easily parsable because 3Ware filled the not relevant columns with a dash instead of let them empty. Good job !


== 3.2. 3ware-status ==

3ware-status is a package I wrote by myself. It includes a python wrapper around tw_cli command and an initscript which daemonize the launch of the wrapper.[[BR]]
It also handle failure detection and report it by mail and syslog. It also handle unexpected output change and reminder until the status is fine again.

''GRAB-IT NOW FROM OUR REPOSITORY''

Example output:
{{{
server:~# 3ware-status
-- Arrays informations --
-- ID   Type    Size    Status
c0u0    RAID1   153G    OK

-- Disks informations
-- ID   Model           Status
c0u0p0  VNRD3EC4C7J1SM  OK
c0u0p1  VNRD3EC4C7HZZM  OK
}}}

== 3.3. 3dm2 ==

3DM2 is a Web applications with an embedded web servers that allow use to do the same things than with tw_cli but graphical.[[BR]]
It's works fine and doesn't rely on insane dependencies like java, tomcat or something else.

= 4. BIOS upgrade from a Linux system =