How to know if I have RAID configuration on my machine?

Question

I was wondering if there is any Linux command I can use to check whether I have RAID setup on my machine? I know about cat /proc/mdstat but didn't show me anything meaningful.

I just want to know if I have got RAID capability, either software or hardware.

Answer 1

If You want to know capability to build hardware array. You can use lspci to view list of PCI controllers, determine type of disk controllers and for specs and manuals for it.

UPD. Examples

1.

# lspci |grep -iE "sata|sas|scsi|ide|disk"
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) IDE Controller (rev 02)
06:00.0 RAID bus controller: LSI Logic / Symbios Logic MegaRAID SAS 2008 [Falcon] (rev 03)

There two disk kontroller. Integrated Intel IDE and LSI MegaRAID SAS.

2

$ lspci |grep -iE "sata|sas|scsi|ide|disk"
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family 6-port SATA Controller [AHCI mode] (rev 04)

There only integrated Intel SATA

Find marketing brand and documentation by this information is not easy cake, but possible.

And You definitely see integrated raid.

Upd2. Besides of it, Linux software RAID (mdadm) and Hardware RAID each has own advantages and disadvantages. Easy to find compares https://www.google.ru/search?q=linux%20software%20raid%20vs%20hardware

Answer 2

If /proc/mdstat exists you have the capability to set up software raid - although if it does not have anything meaningful it means you have not set it up.

Software RAID under Linux does not require any particular hardware [ you could argue the ability to support 2 drives, but even thats debatable if you consider USB]