I'm seeking advice from all you linux jocks regarding softraid. With Seagate 2T drives now going for $90 a pop*, I think it's time for me to resurrect an old server and build a raid array using mdadm. This server will be mostly a backup repository for data, DVD ISOs, backups of my audio files, etc. In other words, I intend to run the server on an as-needed basis, not keep it on 24/7.
The server: old pentium 4, 4gb ram, onboard SATAI, Promise PCI SATAII controller (simple SATA, not fake-raid), running ubuntu server 10.4LTS, OS on a slow, 40gig laptop PATA drive. Questions: 1). Should the array constitute 4 2T drives, all connected to the PCI Promise SATAII controller? or should I try to shoehorn in a 5th 2T drive, connected to the mobo's SATAI controller? Would the mix of SATAI & SATAII impede r/w performance too much? 2). Should I partition the 2T drives or not? I.e., should the md device be assembled from /dev/sdb, /dev/sdc, /dev/sdd, /dev/sde or /dev/sdb1, /dev/sdc1, /dev/sdd1, /dev/sde1? 3). What level of raid would you folks recommend? 5? 10? 4). What filesystem should I choose for /dev/md0? Remember, this is going house largely static data: backups, DVD ISOs, audio files, etc. Also remember that /dev/md0, raid 5 with 4 2T drives will be 6T large. What's the appropriate file system for a volume that big? Thanks, and I humbly await the wisdom of this forum.. * $89.99, actually: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148413.. Kind of takes your breath away, doesn't it? Who here is old enough that they remember spending more than $1,000 for their 1st >1 gigabyte hard disk? -- gharris999 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ gharris999's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=115 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=84125 _______________________________________________ unix mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/unix
