[mdlug] Time to build a new server

[Adam Tauno Williams]

On Fri, 2011-08-12 at 10:50 -0400, Robert Adkins II wrote: 
> This one will be built using actual "server" hardward, as opposed to the
> light server/big bad desktop hardware that I have been using.
> My intention is to have one internal drive containing the OS, configuration,
> etc., etc. and a series of externally accessible Hotplug drives. Two will be
> in a RAID 1 set containing partitions separating the various datashares. The
> remaining hot plug bays will be used for nightly/bi-nightly or even just
> weekly back-up purposes.

Verifying good compatibility for hot-plug / multi-drive solutions is a
nightmware; let someone else do it for you.

<http://www.siliconmechanics.com/c1246/rack-server-products.php>

> Anyone here have familiarity with particular server mainboard manufacturers
> that support such a setup on Linux out of the box with a default kernel?

It is *way* beyond that;  drive [firmware] compatibility really matters
for hot-swap situations.  Buy enough drives to fill your array - and a
couple of extras - when you purchase the server.  Finding known
compatible drives later can be a real nuisance.  And slight
incompatibilities can cause performance issues that are very hard to
track down as well as spontaneous 'mystery failures'.

> (Yeah, I can easily build a kernel, but if I don't have to in order to get
> things up and running, why should I?)

The kernel isn't the problem;  the hardware [motherboard chipset +
controller + drives] is the problem.