Reiner Buehl put forth on 1/5/2010 7:27 AM: > Hi all, > > I have a Debian Etch system that runs on a RAID 1 software raid system. > now I would like to upgrade it to Lenny by splitting the mirror off and > keep one mirror as a backup. Alternatively I could add a third disk as a > second mirror and split off this one. > If the upgrade works, I then add in the old disk again. If it fails I'd > like to be able to rebuild the array using the OLD mirror that I kept. > Does anybody have a more detailed description on how to do this? I know > I can fail a drive with mdadm, but my understanding is that the data on > this this drive can't then be used again after that. Is that correct or > can the bad upgrade disk be failed and then the old disk un-failed? How > would I tell the system which disk to use? What preparation steps are > necessary other than making both/all mirrors bootable?
The purpose of RAID implementations is to A. Prevent data loss due to disk failure B. In some cases increase disk I/O throughput RAID was never intended as a file backup mechanism, which it seems is what you are wanting to use it for in this instance. Tape, eSATA/USB/firewire disk, CD/DVD-R, Magneto Optical, USB stick, and other such devices are meant for this task, along with tar'ing files to remote network storage via ftp/nfs/cifs. You're standing on the edge of the earth with this method. I'd dare say few people have stood where you are standing now. You may well be better off using a more traditional and proven method, instead of trying to take the "easy" way out. ;) -- Stan -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org