linux-drivers/
drivers/md

Linux MD Software RAID and Device Mapper

The Linux software storage stack providing MD RAID (levels 0/1/5/6/10 across ordinary disks) and Device Mapper, which composes block devices into LVM logical volumes, dm-crypt encrypted volumes, dm-verity integrity-checked roots, thin pools, snapshots, caches, and multipath. It is software infrastructure used everywhere from laptops and Android phones to enterprise servers.

keep conf=0.96 deploy=high replacement=none subsystem=md category=storage-block
96%

recommendation

It should stay because this is one of the most heavily used storage subsystems in Linux, not a legacy hardware driver. MD powers software RAID arrays and Device Mapper underpins LVM, dm-crypt full-disk encryption, dm-verity (used by Android and ChromeOS), thin provisioning, and multipath. Upstream activity remains intense, with patches landing as recently as 2026, and the kernel documentation still treats every target as current.

repository signals

296 files
211,773 source lines
1,929 commits, 5y
+102,451 / −34,529 lines added / removed, 5y
273 authors, 5y
monthly commits · 2021-04-21 → 2026-04-21 · 1,929 total · active in 59/61 months
2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2021-04: 12 commits · +1,399 −330 2021-05: 36 commits · +1,135 −435 2021-06: 21 commits · +257 −169 2021-07: 13 commits · +1,434 −212 2021-08: 24 commits · +187 −97 2021-09: 18 commits · +276 −52 2021-10: 36 commits · +764 −350 2021-11: 17 commits · +90 −170 2021-12: 16 commits · +385 −342 2022-01: 20 commits · +159 −281 2022-02: 51 commits · +575 −644 2022-03: 37 commits · +725 −467 2022-04: 46 commits · +675 −533 2022-05: 15 commits · +338 −353 2022-06: 56 commits · +1,260 −705 2022-07: 81 commits · +1,109 −901 2022-08: 25 commits · +268 −213 2022-09: 25 commits · +337 −213 2022-10: 6 commits · +25 −19 2022-11: 32 commits · +293 −179 2022-12: 3 commits · +32 −23 2023-01: 27 commits · +1,623 −1,347 2023-02: 54 commits · +820 −619 2023-03: 46 commits · +1,855 −1,054 2023-04: 18 commits · +223 −239 2023-05: 55 commits · +884 −465 2023-06: 73 commits · +914 −801 2023-07: 15 commits · +117 −69 2023-08: 33 commits · +520 −376 2023-09: 28 commits · +255 −290 2023-10: 34 commits · +645 −458 2023-11: 80 commits · +58,165 −2,153 2023-12: 21 commits · +363 −1,541 2024-01: 41 commits · +707 −585 2024-02: 111 commits · +4,219 −7,756 2024-03: 36 commits · +585 −451 2024-04: 12 commits · +143 −496 2024-05: 30 commits · +622 −485 2024-06: 42 commits · +786 −838 2024-07: 43 commits · +1,296 −665 2024-08: 60 commits · +1,088 −873 2024-09: 20 commits · +391 −107 2024-10: 38 commits · +366 −485 2024-11: 17 commits · +204 −51 2024-12: 12 commits · +62 −56 2025-01: 32 commits · +720 −314 2025-02: 35 commits · +748 −580 2025-03: 12 commits · +183 −36 2025-04: 32 commits · +460 −344 2025-05: 24 commits · +577 −277 2025-06: 28 commits · +499 −428 2025-07: 36 commits · +562 −564 2025-08: 26 commits · +7,388 −197 2025-09: 35 commits · +538 −318 2025-10: 15 commits · +280 −191 2025-11: 34 commits · +641 −534 2025-12: 27 commits · +240 −205 2026-01: 49 commits · +696 −635 2026-02: 6 commits · +327 −351 2026-03: 0 commits · +0 −0 2026-04: 0 commits · +0 −0

sources

  1. lore.kernel.org

    Recent 2026 upstream patch traffic still touches core MD code (`md.c`), indicating active maintenance rather than retirement.

  2. lore.kernel.org

    Ongoing multi-revision 2026 work on MD bitmap/sysfs internals shows active feature and refactoring work in the subsystem.

  3. docs.kernel.org

    Current kernel documentation still maintains extensive Device Mapper target documentation, covering active uses such as dm-crypt, thin provisioning, multipath, raid, verity, zoned, and writecache.

  4. docs.kernel.org

    `dm-linear` is documented as a basic building block of logical volume managers, showing present-day deployment in storage stacks rather than legacy-only use.

  5. docs.kernel.org

    Kernel RAID array documentation describes active MD RAID management and sysfs interfaces for modern arrays, consistent with continuing real-world use.

codex reasoning notes (technical)

`drivers/md` is not a single obsolete hardware driver; it is the active MD software RAID and Device Mapper block-virtualization subsystem. `lore_file_timeline` on `drivers/md/md.c` returned dense 2021-2026 activity with newest touches on 2026-04-25 and thousands of matches, and `lore_regex` found no recent removal/deprecation discussion. Deployment remains high because this directory underpins software RAID, LVM-style logical volumes, dm-crypt, dm-verity, thin provisioning, and multipath storage. `hardware_still_sold_new_in_2025=false` because the subsystem is software-defined rather than tied to a discontinued hardware chipset; `last_widely_available_year=null` for the same reason. URLs were obtained via `lore_file_timeline` and `web search` results; no source URL was fabricated.