P4P800 E RAID ????

  • Thread starter Thread starter GMan
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GMan

Only thing I know about raid is that "It Kills Bugs Dead!" I understand
some concepts and have a question about setting up a raid box.

I need security more than performance. The system will function only as
a file server. No user apps will run on this box. My idea is to install
the OS (Win Whatever) on a primary IDE drive. Say C:\ Then I install 2
SATA's and configure them as RAID 1. My logic is that if & when the OS
goes stupid on me, my data on the raid remains and I only have to
rebuild the OS. All specifications are subject to change at this time.

Is this a plan or does the OS have to reside on the RAID to gain
functionality?

Thanks for everyones time.
 
If you want to be serious about RAID, then use a HARDWARE
implementation with a RAID5 SCSI controller. Install 3 SCSI disks
(10,000 RPM for economy, 15,000 RPM for performance).

If you are concerned about performance and scurity and economy, then
RAID5 is hard to beat. The main advantage in a Hardware RAID5 is that
if one of the 3 drives fails, the system will still run. It will slow
down, but it will still run! If you get a controller that supports
hot-swapping of disks, then when you swap out the failed drive, the
controller will automatically format and rebuild the failed disk, and
resume normal opperations - all without bringing down the system.
(Windows eat your heart out! hehehe)

Here is an info link on RAID:

http://www.prepressure.com/techno/raid.htm

On our old Dell server we had software RAID5. Our new Dell server has
hardware RAID5. Lemmetellya, the Hardware RAID5 seriously smokes! The
old server used to bog down, but the new server just keeps on
cranking.

hth
 
Having the OS in C drive and only the OS their is to be recommended.

Large partitions take yonks to defragment, so if the file serving naturally
supports / requires different uses (sets of fles by use) then consider
multiple partitions / logical drives.

EG I have a lot of "read only" databases (MSDN, Technet and many others)
that are in their own folder.

It is not necessary (on a small file server) to have a separate HDD for C -
IE the System. You could have C drive as say a 20GB partition on the front
of the RAID 1 and whatever partitions you want further down the RAID 1.

File Sharing servers don't tend to access C drive a lot (depends on many
factors of course). Print sharing and loading applications off the C drive
is a different kettle of fish.

RAID 1 is to be recommended. RAID 5 has slow writes, but writes are
typically 10% of all accesses. H/W Raid controllers can give great benefits
and if you can justify the cost are recommended.

I would suggest using disc imaging (EG Acronis) for taking backups of your
system drive, and normal backup strategies for user - data files. Keep a
diary of the system drive and every time a major change is made, create a
new backup image - keep an off site copy.

The stock onchip RAID 1 controllers are adequate for small offices so long
as you know what they don't do. They usually don't raise alerts or give a
mechanism for emaling alerts if a drive fails at run-time. If a drive in
RAID 1 fails it is most important to fix it ASAP. H/W Raid controllers
invariably do alerts well & pick one that supports Hot Standby if you go
down this path.


HTH
 
I would suggest in addition to storing the data on a RAID disk
arrangement, taking regular (daily or even hourly) backups, storing
multiple versions that go months back. The simplest method would be to
backup to external 2-3 disks in rotation.

DataMills' Relative Rev Backup can be used to automate the entire
backup management process. It can create on each disk an archive of
backup history that goes months back without multiplying the required
backup space. That way you will be able to locate and restore a file
that could have been deleted or were corrupted many months before.
Something that RAID does not solve, as the file would be
duplicated/deleted on the RAID within seconds.

You can rotate the backup disks, and each time a backup disk becomes
online it will be updated with the changes only. This makes every
backup session including the weeklies and monthlies very fast and
light.
 
I would suggest in addition to storing the data on a RAID disk
arrangement, taking regular (daily or even hourly) backups, storing
multiple versions that go months back. The simplest method would be to
backup to external 2-3 disks in rotation.

DataMills' Relative Rev Backup can be used to automate the entire
backup management process. It can create on each disk an archive of
backup history that goes months back without multiplying the required
backup space. That way you will be able to locate and restore a file
that could have been deleted or were corrupted many months before.
Something that RAID does not solve, as the file would be
duplicated/deleted on the RAID within seconds.

You can rotate the backup disks, and each time a backup disk becomes
online it will be updated with the changes only. This makes every
backup session including the weeklies and monthlies very fast and
light.
 
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