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+Raw device driver support on SLS 9
+
+On SLS 9, you will notice that by default, raw devices (nodes) (/dev/rawctl
+and /dev/raw/rawN (1-15)) no longer exist whereas in SLES 8, the raw nodes were
+created when the system was initially installed. SLS 9, by default, uses
+the new dynamic userspace implementation "sysfs" together with "udev" which
+replaces the previous static "dev" system.
+
+Raw devices are moving towards eventual obsolescence with block+O_DIRECT
+support intended as a replacement. The primary application users of raw
+character devices have been databases so the database you are using will have
+to support the O_DIRECT functionality before moving away from raw character
+devices.
+
+Using RAW with kernel 2.6 (SLS 9)
+---------------------------------
+Raw device usage in kernel 2.6 together with udev and sysfs was intended to be
+quite seamless. Basically, all that is required is to load the raw module after
+each reboot using the commands "modprobe raw" or "rcraw start". Then use the
+"raw" command to create the bindings to the block character devices. The raw
+device nodes are no longer required to exist before the bindings are assigned
+and used.
+
+Using a single script, you can you load the raw module and bind the raw nodes
+to block devices.
+
+#!/usr/bin
+# load the raw module
+modprobe raw # can also use "rcraw start"
+# create the raw bindings
+raw /dev/raw/raw1 /dev/sdb1
+raw /dev/raw/raw2 /dev/sbc1
+
+You can see if the raw driver is available by issuing "rcraw status". If the
+raw driver is loaded, the command should return a status of "running". A status
+of "dead" will usually indicate that the driver was not loaded or
+the /dev/rawctl file does not exist. The /dev/rawctl file is automatically
+created when the module is loaded. This file and the /dev/raw/rawN nodes can
+also be viewed under the /sys/class/raw directory.
+
+Raw node permissions
+----------------------------------
+When the raw devices are assigned, permission settings are determined from the
+/etc/udev/udev.permission file. This file can be modified to assign different
+owner, group and/or access permissions to the raw nodes. For example, by
+default, the permission settings for raw nodes are as follows:
+
+raw/raw*:root:disk:660
+
+Here, root:disk is the default owner:group with read write access for owner and
+group. As an example, to create the raw nodes with an owner:group of
+user1:group1 and read write access for all, change the assignment as follows:
+
+raw/raw*:user1:group1:666
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