On 07/23 01:56 , Les Mikesell wrote:
> > - When one drive dies, the whole machine kernel panicking and locking up.
> >   The data was still good on the second drive; but it required a site visit
> >   to get things working again; and then another site visit to replace the
> >   drive.
> 
> That has to do with putting two IDE drives on the same controller.

A valid point. It was probably impossible to do otherwise because of cabling
reasons at the time.

> Same here. I like to keep at least the boot and root partitions on scsi.

You have more money to work with than we do. :)
I recognize the value of using SCSI drives in some situations; but I don't
believe the extra cost is worth it when compared to a 3ware IDE RAID array.
(Which often performs better).
It's also a lot easier to find a replacement IDE drive down at the local
superstore.

> IDE drives can fail in ways that keep the machine from booting at all - 
> even from a drive on the other controller.  But I'd expect people 
> involved with doing backups and recovery to know how to open a case, 

Most of our installations are 'lights out' effectively. The people onsite
know enough to call our phone number when the Internet doesn't work, but
that's about it. 

> mdadm is pretty good about knowing which partitions are already in use. 
> In the case where you are adding the replacement mirror I don't think it 
> will let you do it wrong.

Memory is hazy; but I know I've blown away partitions' data at least once in
the course of setting up an md array. Fortunately there wasn't anything on
it yet. :) (Mind you, it's pretty easy to blow away data with *any* RAID
management utility, and I recognize that).

> Just be sure to include the cost of a spare offsite controller to be 
> sure you will be able to access the disks if that's all you have left 
> after a disaster, and the time to learn the details of the 
> vendor-specific utilities.

- Yes, we keep spare controllers on hand.
- The 3ware management utilities aren't as flexible as the md management
  utilities, but they are much simpler and easier to use. 

I certainly won't disparage your choice of software; if it works for you,
more power to you. One-size-fits-all solutions serve no one well.

-- 
Carl Soderstrom
Systems Administrator
Real-Time Enterprises
www.real-time.com

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