Rod.. Whitworth wrote: > On Mon, 10 Oct 2005 23:09:39 -0500, J Moore wrote: > >>I want to set up an OBSD box as a file server for some Windoze boxes. I >>think a RAID 1 setup will provide sufficient reliability - and it >>appears to be the cheapest way to go. >> >>I don't desire to become an expert on RAID, I don't want to spend a lot >>of money, and I'm confused by what I've read on the subject. Here's how >>I'd like it to work:
Danger! Danger! :) >> >>One of the disks craps out... an alarm goes off... I walk in with a new >>drive, and replace the failed one (hot-swap?)... beeping stops... no >>data is lost, system "heals" itself by taking care of the new drive... >>years pass, and life is good. >> >>Is this feasible - can I remain ignorant of the RAID details and jargon, >>and still benefit from it? Well, gee. That sounds like such a reasonable request. For HW RAID, this should be possible, unfortunately, it is rarely that simple. There's only one RAID system that I think is anything close to as simple as you desire: ... > Accusys ACS-7500 or its competitors. > No equity position in any of them. And yes, that's it. :) I'll admit to a lot of "sweat equity" in the Accusys ACS7500. I love the things -- the simplicity, the fact that they usually "just work", etc. As close as they are to "Just Work"ing, I still felt the following notes are important: http://www.holland-consulting.net/tech/acs7500.html I also note that if you google for ACS7500, you end up seeing that page before seeing the Accusys website...their site is really lame. There's some stuff I'm finding burried under the covers of their website...I'll be updating my page sometime soon (hopefully). I've recently found the ACS7500 has a mostly-hidden serial interface and apparently has the ability to be managed/monitored via the ATA interface and that serial interface. That leads to some interesting possibilities (though, at the moment, ONLY possibilities -- there is no OpenBSD support for the ATA-based management at the moment, and the serial interface is mostly undocumented)... I will also (hopefully) be getting an ACS7630 soon, I'm sure I'll have something to say about it when I get it... Anyway...you HAVE to spend time getting to know whatever RAID solution you are using. Practice, practice, practice!!! Try swapping drives -- what happens if you swap a drive with a larger drive? smaller drive? how does it indicate errors? etc... In short: never trust anyone else to haul your butt out of the fire. Nick.
