More ramblings, see below. -- Bhaskar
On Mon, 2004-12-13 at 12:47, Kevin Toppenberg wrote: > Bhaskar, > > I decided to partially run the Redhat 9 installer, to > see what it would say about my drives. It > automatically loaded the megaraid driver, as the dell > website said it should. It comes up with: > sda 17,273 MB MegaRAID LD0 RAID1 17278R > sdb 559,584 MB MegaRAID LD1 RAID1 59592R > > So it looks like the first pair of 18 gb drives are in > a RAID 1 config, and the 146 gb drives are arranged in > a RAID 5 to give 559 gb of storage. 146x6=876gb, so > the difference between 559 and 876 must be the > redundancy of RAID 5. [KSB] Unfortunately, I have only read about RAID, and have never personally set up a RAID configuration. (For that matter, I am a manager, so I really don't do very much of anything. I tell my kids that I am the guy from Dilbert with the pointy hair... My real expertise may be in knowing when I am out of my depth!) For a production machine, where robustness really matters, it may be worthwhile hiring a Linux expert to help you configure the machine and make sure it's done right. Much as I like to do things myself, I have been known to call a plumber on occasion. I don't know whether Crawford's company offers this type of service. If not, I may be able to find you someone who moonlights. I would consider a RAID 10 rather than a RAID 5. RAID 5 space efficient, but slower than RAID 10. > P.S. I'd kind of like to put this RH9 on the server. > If it installs and it works, why not use it? I know > that it is older and not supported, but the support I > will need is during the install process. If I can get > installed with RH9, then fine. Otherwise I can pay > for RH EL3 with support. What do you think? [KSB] Post installation, the problem with an unsupported release like RH9 is that you won't get security patches for it. I do seem to remember that there is an outfit somewhere that offers patches for RH9. Although Linux is comparatively stable, secure and robust, you do need to ensure timely security patches. > > Kevin > > > --- Kevin Toppenberg <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > Thanks everyone for your replies. > > > > Bhaskar, comments below: > > > > --- "K.S. Bhaskar" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > Kevin -- > > > > > > For what they're worth, some random comments > > follow. > > > > > > http://linux.dell.com/storage.shtml is a good > > > resource page. > > > > > > Your configuration is interesting (and less than > > > ideal) in that more > > > disks on the first controller would be better. > > But > > > you have what you > > > have. > > > > > > Are there any IDE disks? If so, consider putting > > > the basic system files > > > there. > > > > All the disks are the 10,000k SCSI disks (I > > believe). > > When I do a knoppix (Linux on a CDROM) boot, then > > type "lspci" I see an entry for IDE interface > > "82801CA > > Ultra ATA storage controller" in addition to my > > "RAID > > bus controller." > > So I'm not sure. > > > > > Perc 4/Di controllers should have fast-write cache > > > with battery backed > > > RAM, so the controller RAM is considered non > > > volatile. I don't know > > > whether this is optional, but I would consider > > > acquiring it if you don't > > > have it. You will get better performance with a > > > "write back" or "fast > > > write" cache, but to use this feature, > > non-volatile > > > memory in the > > > controller, and a driver that supports the fast > > > write cache are > > > required. > > > > So it sounds like to change this, I would need to > > purchase a different hardware controller, right? I > > think I will stay with this for now unless speed > > becomes an issue. [KSB] You wouldn't need to purchase a new controller because the Perc 4/Di supposedly has fast write cache with non volatile RAM. But I don't know if that is standard or if you need to purchase an add-on option. In any case, the battery should be tested. > > > I think these controllers may be fully supported > > out > > > of the box with Red > > > Hat Enterprise Linux 3, but not RHEL 2.x, but you > > > should check about > > > this. RHEL 3 may cost a few hundred dollars a > > year > > > for support; if you > > > don't want to spend the money, consider White Box > > > Linux which is a > > > workalike. I would not run a production system on > > > Fedora Linux. Red Hat > > > 9 is obsolete and I would not use that either. > > > > OK. Good advice. Thank you. The White Box Linux is > > interesting, but doesn't seem safe enough for this > > newbie (me). > > > > > > > > SuSE 9.x probably also has a driver that supports > > > fast write cache, and > > > current Debian releases probably also do, but you > > > should check. > > > > > > A question you need to ask is whether you would > > like > > > to purchase Linux > > > support or support it yourself. > > > > > > I would configure the two 18GB drives as a RAID 1 > > > (mirror), and put the > > > database on it. > > > > > > I would configure the six 146GB drives as RAID 10 > > > ("stripe of mirrors") > > > configuration if the controller permits it, and > > put > > > the journal files on > > > it, as well as the daily database backup. If you > > > don't have separate > > > IDE disks for the Linux system and the routines, I > > > would also put the > > > root filesystem on this. > > > > I don't know how to setup the RAID configuration. > > My > > understanding is that one can use a software RAID or > > a > > hardware RAID. It apprears to me that this is a > > hardware RAID. When I boot up, it gives me an > > option > > to go into the RAID controller bios and change the > > setup. When I look at the configuration, it just > > tells me what disks are connected to the controller. [KSB] This is a hardware RAID. > > It has "RAID Ch-0" with the two 18 gb drives, and > > then > > "RAID Ch-1" with the other 6 drives. I don't know > > if > > I could swap one of the disks from "Ch-0" to "Ch-1" > > or > > not. I don't see anywhere an option to specify with > > RAID configuration. There is a "NEW CONFIGURATION" > > option that I am afraid to go into, for fear of > > overwriting my current setup. [KSB] Don't swap the drives. They're of different sizes, and that would be sub-optimal for a RAID configuration. > > I've not worked with RAID drives before, so I'm a > > bit > > unsure here. This is one of the reasons that I will > > need a linux version that automatically detects all > > this for me and sets it up properly. [KSB] Or a Linux guru who can help you set it up... > > When I boot the server with Knoppix, it detects and > > mounts 6 hard drives--sda1 ("16.8GB"),sda2 ("31GB") > > have NTFS data and files, sdb1-sdb4 (3.4mb each) > > look > > empty. This doesn't seem to coorelate with my > > actual > > physical drives, so I am further confused. [KSB] Sorry, I don't know enough to say anything helpful. > > > What do you plan for backup (to get a copy of the > > > daily backup off the > > > machine)? Do you have a CD/DVD-ROM writer or a > > tape > > > drive attached to > > > the machine? > > > > The server box has a USB in back, and I thought I > > would purchase an external DVD writer. Though I > > don't > > know if linux will support this. What would a > > required backup schedule look like with RAID drives? > > > > Would I still need daily backups? How about if I > > get > > that 2nd PC going as a mirror that you mentioned? > > Would I still need backups? Do you have any > > suggestions regarding media? [KSB] If it is a USB 2, that's probably OK. If it is a USB 1, then you may not be happy with the speed. It's easy to tell. Boot with an OpenVistA VivA CD, and install the database to a 512MB USB flash drive on the USB port. If it takes seconds to tens of seconds, it's USB 2. If it takes minutes, it's USB 1. Even if you have the second PC, you should always back up regularly - at least weekly, and daily if at all possible. If you have a good Internet connection, it may be a good idea to put that second machine somewhere across town or across the state, with a VPN connection. That way, even if a flood or earthquake destroys your practice's main office, the records will be immediately available. To protect patient confidentiality, it may be a good idea to password protect your backup files when you burn them on a DVD (and remember that the password you use will be long lived, so you will need to appropriately secure it, since long lived passwords are a security risk). Also remember to shred old DVD backups before you discard them. (And eventually, when you retire the machine, remember to erase the disks, not just delete files, or take a sledgehammer to the disk drives - a great way to get some exercise and work off your frustrations). Get a UPS for your PC, and hook it up so that in the event of a power failure, the PC gets to shut down gracefully. > > > WHen you go into production, remember to manage > > > (archive / delete) your > > > journal files so that you don't run out of disk > > > space. > > > > I'll need to read about this. > > > > > > > > Don't discard the Windows 2000 license. There may > > > be some interesting > > > things to do with it. > > > > I don't know how to save it. Microsoft doesn't seem > > too helpful on this point. For example, on my PC at > > home with Windows XP, I ended up having to purchase > > another license because it wouldn't recognize the on > > the hard drive. The data was there, just the boot > > sequence was gone. [KSB] Perhaps a Windows expert on this list can tell you how to save / retrieve the W2K license. > > > For your next project, you can acquire a "charming > > > cheapie" box from > > > Staples / Best Buy / Walmart for a backup machine > > in > > > case the first > > > machine immolates itself... You can set up a > > > streaming update from the > > > production machine to the secondary, which can be > > > somewhere off site. > > > > I have such a machine, and would like to get that > > working. [KSB] Start with the chapter on database replication in the Admin & Ops Guide. I can recommend it (I wrote it myself!). *************************************************************************** This electronic mail transmission contains confidential and/or privileged information intended only for the person(s) named. 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