---
name: "ciss"
section: "4"
platform: "openbsd"
package: "man"
version: "8.0-current-20261101"
release: "OpenBSD 8.0-current (2026-11-01)"
platforms: ["linux", "freebsd", "openbsd"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/ciss"
---

# ciss(4)

Compaq Smart Array SAS/SATA/SCSI RAID controller

## NAME

**ciss** – Compaq Smart Array SAS/SATA/SCSI RAID controller

## SYNOPSIS

**ciss\* at pci?**

## DESCRIPTION

The **ciss** driver provides support for Compaq Smart Array SAS/SATA/SCSI RAID controllers, including:

- Compaq 532, 5300, 5312, 5i

- Compaq 641, 642, 6400, 6400EM, 6422

- Hewlett-Packard 6i, E200, E200i, E500, H240, H240ar, H240tr, H241, H244br, P212, P220i, P222, P224br, P230i, P240tr, P246br, P400, P400i, P410, P410i, P411, P420, P420i, P421, P430, P430i, P431, P440, P440ar, P441, P530, P531, P542t, P600, P700m, P711m, P712m, P721m, P731m, P741m, P800, P812, P822, P830, P830i, P840, P841, V100

These controllers support RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, JBOD, and superpositions of those configurations.

Although the controllers are actual RAID controllers, the driver makes them look just like SCSI controllers. All RAID configuration is done through the controllers' BIOSes.

Monitoring status for the volume and drives in it is done through the [bioctl(8)](/bioctl/8.md) utility; the current status is provided by the [sysctl(8)](/sysctl/8.md) variable *hw.sensors*.

## SEE ALSO

[bio(4)](/bio/4.md), [intro(4)](/intro/4.md), [pci(4)](/pci/4.md), [scsi(4)](/scsi/4.md), [sd(4)](/sd/4.md), [bioctl(8)](/bioctl/8.md), [sensorsd(8)](/sensorsd/8.md), [sysctl(8)](/sysctl/8.md)

## HISTORY

The **ciss** driver first appeared in OpenBSD 3.8.

## AUTHORS

The **ciss** driver was written by Michael Shalayeff ⟨*mickey@openbsd.org*⟩.

## CAVEATS

For purposes of status monitoring, the current code only supports one logical volume per controller.