Linux RAID on a linux server

Discussion in 'Software' started by Cthippo, 27 Aug 2007.

  1. Cthippo

    Cthippo Can't mod my way out of a paper bag

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    Here we go again...

    I'm still trying to migrate my fileserver to linux.

    On the recommendation of my dad I tied SME server, but it wants to format EVERYTHING on the computer during install, and then it won't play nice with having the OS on one drive and the data on a seperate array (That, and the people on the forums are asshats :rolleyes: )

    So, I'm back to square one, or at least 1.0.5

    I'm back looking at re-installing Xubuntu and trying again to get SAMBA figured out, but what about the RAID array? When I had it installed before it saw the array as two seperate disks, even though this is a hardware RAID 1 array operating of the on-board Highpoint 374 controller. Windows sees the array as a single drive, and it appears in the BIOS as an array. Some Googling shows that support for the later Highpoint chips is sketchy, but I can't seem to get a concrete answer on "can it work or not?". The other option is to seperate the array into two seperate disks and then use a software linux RAID system, but then will it still work if I need to go back to the Windows OS.

    This process is, to say the least, doing my head in.
     
  2. Glider

    Glider /dev/null

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    The array should be picked up, look for something like /dev/c0d0p0 or the likes.

    I never used Highpoint cards, so I can't help you on that one...

    Linux Software raid on a dedicated file server is quite good, both performance wise as ease of setup wise. Look into the "mdadm" package.

    Personally, I'd recommend installing plain Debian (and staying clear of Ubuntu in every flavor). It's not that hard (dialog based installer), and you'll end up with a lot less junk installed.
    If you feel Samba is hard (which it isn't, just take your time to understand how a config works), SWAT or maybe webmin are helpfull
     
  3. cyrilthefish

    cyrilthefish What's a Dremel?

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    Allmost all onboard raid controllers on non-server motherboards are software ones. Windows will see it as one drive, but it's the driver doing all the work.

    Note for installing ubuntu: the liveCD vesrions do not contain the raid drivers by default, you will need to download the 'alternate install' CDs to get a (text based, but still easy) installer with software raid support
     
  4. Cthippo

    Cthippo Can't mod my way out of a paper bag

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    Why is that (especially since your server article was based around xubuntu)? I'll add Debian to my list of things to try next and see how that goes.

    There is a feeling of "If it ain't broke, don't mess with it", but my G/F and I are moving in together soon and she asked that I segregate the porn on the fileserver somewhere where she can't get at it. I'm sure folder permissions are possible in WinME, but I'd rather get it working in linux.

    It's got a dedicated RAID chip, and the array is configured in the BIOS, so I'm pretty sure that it is indeed a hardware array. The board is an Abit AT7 which had some strange features, and appearently this was one of them.
     
  5. Glider

    Glider /dev/null

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    Brett asked me to base it around Ubuntu, but if you read my posts on the forum, you'll see I dislike Ubuntu...

    Certainly if you want to do some more advanced stuff, like RAID, Ubuntu lacks (bacause of the choices the developers have made for you)
     
  6. Cthippo

    Cthippo Can't mod my way out of a paper bag

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    Ok, fair enough. I'll give it a shot.
     
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