[mdlug] New Server - Hardware Configuration

[Michael ORourke]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Aaron Kulkis" <akulkis00 at gmail.com>
To: "MDLUG's Main discussion list" <mdlug at mdlug.org>
Sent: Wednesday, April 25, 2012 6:58 AM
Subject: Re: [mdlug] New Server - Hardware Configuration


> Michael ORourke wrote:
>> What about a small SAN device?  Also, you could attach an iSCSI SAN to a
>> front-end Linux server.  Another thing you didn't mention was backups.
>> Having multiple RAID sets is NOT a backup strategy.  This is a common
>> mistake many people make.
>
> Mirroring over SAN????
>
> No... just no.
>
> Way too slow.

That's strange, I don't recall recommending that.
But I agree that it can be slow.

>
>> If it were me, I would try to seperate the storage from the server. 
>> Perhaps
>> with a RAID6 configuration and a hot spare.  That way you could lose up 
>> to 3
>> drives and still be fully operational.  There are several low cost SAN
>> vendors out there which are certainly worth a look.  I don't quite
>> understand why they are pushing a server with 3 RAID cards.  Sounds like
>> this might become an expensive and difficult to support file server.
>>
>
> A SAN is nothing more than a file server.

I guess it depends on the SAN device, but yes, it can be a file server.

> Now you're converting this into a file server with external storage
> in another file server.  By this logic, we should implement the
> SAN with a small box and ITS hard drives in a 3rd box...which are
> actually located in a 4th box... ad infinitum or until the budget
> runs out.
>
> So... maybe the best thing to do is just keep the disk drives
> in the same box, and keep things as simple as possible.
>

Okay, I get  your point.  My thought was, if you are going to roll-your-own 
server
with a bank of disk drives and multiple controllers, then why not just throw 
in a SAN,
carve up the volumes, and be done with it.
It seems that managing multiple RAID sets of hot-swapable drives, volumes, 
and
disk clone jobs is going to be a big headache.

> All the SAN does is in this case is introduce additional points
> of failure without any increase in system reliability or data
> availability.

Yes it does introduce additional hardware into the mix.  So that's a valid 
point, but is
trying to cram everything into one giant server box really more reliable or 
provide a
higher data availability solution?

>> -Mike
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "Robert Adkins II" <radkins at impelind.com>
>> To: "'MDLUG's Main discussion list'" <mdlug at mdlug.org>
>> Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2012 8:34 AM
>> Subject: [mdlug] New Server - Hardware Configuration
>>
>>
>>> It's time to upgrade the old servers here at the office.
>>>
>>> Here's the plan:
>>>
>>> Matched pair of HDs for the Main OS Drive. These will be mirrored.
>>>
>>> Matched Pair or two matched pairs of drives for Filesharing. These will 
>>> be
>>> mirrored.
>>>
>>> Separate RAID Card that supports Hot Swap on Linux to allow for two to
>>> three
>>> removable drive bays that will be used to duplicate the entirety of the
>>> mirrored data drives.
>>>
>>> I have a quote from Dell for a server that uses their Linux Compatible
>>> RAID
>>> cards. Right now, they are quoting three RAID Cards. The onboad card 
>>> that
>>> the OS will be booting off of, a second card that will be for the data
>>> drives and a final card that won't be setup as RAID, which means that it
>>> won't/shouldn't crap out the kernel while supporting hot swapping.
>>>
>>> Thoughts? Opinions?
>>>
>>> Thanks.
>>>
>>>
>>> -- 
>>>
>>> Regards,
>>> Robert Adkins II
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>> mdlug at mdlug.org
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>>>
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>>
>>
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