linux-drivers/
drivers/scsi/arcmsr

Areca ARC-11xx/12xx/16xx/18xx SAS, SATA, and NVMe RAID controllers

A line of hardware RAID host adapters from Taiwanese vendor Areca, spanning early-2000s SATA cards (ARC-11xx) through current tri-mode SAS/SATA/NVMe models like the ARC-1886. They are aimed at small-to-mid-range enterprise storage servers and workstations that want on-card RAID rather than software RAID.

keep-annotate conf=0.82 last_sold=2026 deploy=low replacement=none subsystem=scsi category=storage-scsi-ata
82%

recommendation

Worth keeping but flagging as a niche enterprise storage driver. Areca still sells and updates the supported adapters today, with current product pages listing 2025 manuals and 2026 firmware for the ARC-1886, and the kernel driver continues to receive routine maintenance and SCSI-API compatibility patches into 2026. Deployment volumes are modest compared to mainstream LSI/Broadcom RAID, so an annotation noting its low-volume, vendor-specific scope is reasonable, but there is no case for deprecation.

repository signals

4 files
6,307 source lines
32 commits, 5y
+237 / −94 lines added / removed, 5y
13 authors, 5y
monthly commits · 2021-04-21 → 2026-04-21 · 32 total · active in 14/61 months
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sources

  1. lore.kernel.org

    arcmsr still receives upstream compatibility work in 2026 as part of SCSI API churn handling.

  2. lore.kernel.org

    arcmsr saw driver-specific maintenance patches in 2025 rather than abandonment or removal discussion.

  3. areca.com.tw

    Areca lists ARC-1886 tri-mode RAID adapters as current products, with 2025/08/29 manual and 2026/02/09 firmware downloads, indicating ongoing sale/support beyond 2025.

  4. areca.us

    Areca US product page shows ARC-1886 variants and current downloads, supporting that compatible hardware remained sold new around 2025-2026.

codex reasoning notes (technical)

Local shell inspection of driver files identified this as the Areca ARC11xx/12xx/16xx/188x RAID driver and showed supported SATA/SAS/NVMe generations. `lore_file_timeline` on `drivers/scsi/arcmsr/arcmsr_hba.c` showed steady 2025-2026 touch activity and no obvious removal series; cited lore URLs came from that tool's event list. Web search found current official Areca product pages with recent manuals/firmware, so the hardware family still appears commercially sold but as a niche enterprise/storage adapter line. Because upstream activity is real and hardware is still sold, removal/deprecation is not justified; annotate at most for low-volume legacy/niche deployment and vendor-specific scope.