Switch from SATA-RAID to gmirror?
I've just installed a new server with gmirror and I like it. I've got an identical server running on-board RAID currently. Can I split the array in the BIOS, install gmirror on disk 1, reboot, and add the second disk in? Or will there be any complications with FreeBSD being initially installed on an array? Ashley ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Switch from SATA-RAID to gmirror?
Hello, On Thu, Apr 06, 2006 at 11:52:55AM +0100, Ashley Moran wrote: I've just installed a new server with gmirror and I like it. I've got an identical server running on-board RAID currently. Can I split the array in the BIOS, install gmirror on disk 1, reboot, and add the second disk in? Or will there be any complications with FreeBSD being initially installed on an array? I recommend you to follow this rule: If it is not broken, then dont fix it. In your case I think you better leave all as is. ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Switch from SATA-RAID to gmirror?
On Thu, Apr 06, 2006 at 11:52:55AM +0100, Ashley Moran wrote: I've just installed a new server with gmirror and I like it. I've got an identical server running on-board RAID currently. Can I split the array in the BIOS, install gmirror on disk 1, reboot, and add the second disk in? Or i think - just YES. no problem ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Switch from SATA-RAID to gmirror?
On Thu, Apr 06, 2006 at 01:13:02PM +0200, Wojciech Puchar wrote: On Thu, Apr 06, 2006 at 11:52:55AM +0100, Ashley Moran wrote: I've just installed a new server with gmirror and I like it. I've got an identical server running on-board RAID currently. Can I split the array in the BIOS, install gmirror on disk 1, reboot, and add the second disk in? Or i think - just YES. no problem Also, he need to tweak /etc/fstab before and after he goes to gmirror ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Switch from SATA-RAID to gmirror?
On Thursday 06 April 2006 12:03, Igor Robul wrote: I recommend you to follow this rule: If it is not broken, then dont fix it. In your case I think you better leave all as is. Igor Actually one of the reasons is I get loads of out of memory errors (and a few others) during high load. Prob should have mentioned that in my original e-mail. I'm worried that the Postgres cluster will be corrupted at some point. There's no evidence it's happened yet but somehow I feel safer risking the transition than leaving it as it is. Ashley ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Switch from SATA-RAID to gmirror?
On Thursday 06 April 2006 12:13, Wojciech Puchar wrote: i think - just YES. no problem Wojciech You were right to have faith! It went perfectly and the server is now up on gmirror. Only took 90 mins or so to rebuilt a 200GB disk too. I've got to say this gmirror thing is scarily easy to set up. I just hope when/if one of the disks die it will carry on running! Ashley ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Switch from SATA-RAID to gmirror?
Ashley Moran wrote: On Thursday 06 April 2006 12:13, Wojciech Puchar wrote: i think - just YES. no problem Wojciech You were right to have faith! It went perfectly and the server is now up on gmirror. Only took 90 mins or so to rebuilt a 200GB disk too. I've got to say this gmirror thing is scarily easy to set up. I just hope when/if one of the disks die it will carry on running! Ashley Hi Ashley, I'm glad things worked well for you. Faith got you this far but how long do you want to depend upon it? A long time ago I was tasked with the administration of some HP-UX boxes running on K-series hardware. I didn't setup the hardware and I didn't do the system install but I was expected, as the systems consultant, to give reasonable assurances that in the case of system failure the recovery procedures would work. As it turns out I had to also write those procedures. After I did so I insisted that a failure be simulated and that it be determined whether or not we could recover our operation starting from scratch with just our backups and system tapes. After all, there is no one easier to fire than a consultant and it's always the consultant's fault :) So my recommendation is that you simulate a disk going bad now before it happens for real. For instance, what happens if you unplug the disk from the controller, or remove its power connection, etc? Just my $0.02 -- Duane Whitty ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Switch from SATA-RAID to gmirror?
On Apr 06, 2006, at 5:35 pm, Duane Whitty wrote: Hi Ashley, I'm glad things worked well for you. Faith got you this far but how long do you want to depend upon it? A long time ago I was tasked with the administration of some HP-UX boxes running on K-series hardware. I didn't setup the hardware and I didn't do the system install but I was expected, as the systems consultant, to give reasonable assurances that in the case of system failure the recovery procedures would work. As it turns out I had to also write those procedures. After I did so I insisted that a failure be simulated and that it be determined whether or not we could recover our operation starting from scratch with just our backups and system tapes. After all, there is no one easier to fire than a consultant and it's always the consultant's fault :) So my recommendation is that you simulate a disk going bad now before it happens for real. For instance, what happens if you unplug the disk from the controller, or remove its power connection, etc? Just my $0.02 Duane, Your $0.02 is probably worth a lot more than that... I'm not in a hurry to put things to the test but I will eventually. Fortunately, we've just bought redundant servers for everything (apart from a Win2k3 server running SQL Server, which cost us more in licensing than hardware, and which we are unfortunately stuck with for the foreseeable future). This server is one of them - so even if the whole array fails, we will have another machine to fall back on. But when it's settled down, I'll pull the plug on the primary drive and see if it will reboot. We have two more servers on the way destined to run Postgres. We've bought them with Areca RAID 6 cards, and I will definitely enjoy pulling two of the drives just to see what it does. Our new policy is redundant EVERYTHING in the live environment. Mainly this is not for the reduced protection from failure, but for the freedom to take servers offline for upgrades or testing. Currently we're in a situation where a guy's whole business depends on a single-disk webserver running Postgres (because it was the only BSD machine we had at the time), which desperately needs upgrading for performance tuning, but which we just can't do. Ashley ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
