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Hi there.
I'll be getting new storage for the holidays for my networks file server. It's currently in Frankenstein mode with four different hard drives of all sizes, two PATA's and two SATA's, in an LVM volume. I've been meaning to clean it up with a nice, big harddrive (2TB) for a few months now, and with the holidays right around the corner...
However, this has raised a few questions for me...
First question deals with Linux specifically. If you're not a Linux guru, feel free to skip to #2 (I'll be asking this on more Linux-specific forums also to get a well-rounded idea). I plan to upgrade the storage in the server over time. I'll start out with 1x 2TB HDD, and eventually add another one. Preferably, once I add a new one, I'd like a way to create a RAID0* config. Is there ANY way to do this on-the-fly without losing data, or will I have to backup all that data before hand? Reason I ask is because... well, this is my large file server -- it has the largest collective GB in the house, and there's no way I'll be able to backup 2TB worth of data. If it matters any, I'll be using linux-specific FakeRAID (but if FakeRAID isn't able to do this, while a dedicated RAID card is, let me know!)
* over time, I'd like to add a third drive and switch over to RAID5 so that I could have some redundancy in case of failure. Having it in RAID0 for a while doesn't worry me, since almost all of the data stored on the server is replaceable (music, movies), just a pain to replace (downloading). The above questio0n also applies to a RAID0 -> RAID5 conversion: can I do it on-the-fly?
2) With the new beefy addition coming soon, I've been trying to figure out what to do with the OS itself. I'd like to keep the data on the 2TB drive strictly storage, and not have the OS on it -- it just seems cleaner to me. I'm also going to have the drive spin down when no streaming media, and so I do not want the OS and all the smaller files to be on it requiring the drive to spin up every time the server does something. However, this leaves me in a weird spot: I don't want the OS on the 2TB drive, but I also don't want to waste room and power by putting it on a drive all on it's own. The OS is small -- just enough to install Linux and some source code files. Few GBs max. I don't need a 40GB drive powering it.
Someone recommended me to use PCI storage: basically it's SSD storage the plugs into a PCI slot (or Mini-PCI). That way the system is contained on the motherboard while the storage is on the HDDs. This would be perfect if I could find a cheap one, but the ones on Newegg are ridiculously expensive (read: 16GB Mini-PCI = $80. I can buy a 16GB flash drive for $30! ) What do you guys think? I'll probably stick the OS on a 40GB drive at first, but I'm thinking long term here. =)
I'll be getting new storage for the holidays for my networks file server. It's currently in Frankenstein mode with four different hard drives of all sizes, two PATA's and two SATA's, in an LVM volume. I've been meaning to clean it up with a nice, big harddrive (2TB) for a few months now, and with the holidays right around the corner...
However, this has raised a few questions for me...
First question deals with Linux specifically. If you're not a Linux guru, feel free to skip to #2 (I'll be asking this on more Linux-specific forums also to get a well-rounded idea). I plan to upgrade the storage in the server over time. I'll start out with 1x 2TB HDD, and eventually add another one. Preferably, once I add a new one, I'd like a way to create a RAID0* config. Is there ANY way to do this on-the-fly without losing data, or will I have to backup all that data before hand? Reason I ask is because... well, this is my large file server -- it has the largest collective GB in the house, and there's no way I'll be able to backup 2TB worth of data. If it matters any, I'll be using linux-specific FakeRAID (but if FakeRAID isn't able to do this, while a dedicated RAID card is, let me know!)
* over time, I'd like to add a third drive and switch over to RAID5 so that I could have some redundancy in case of failure. Having it in RAID0 for a while doesn't worry me, since almost all of the data stored on the server is replaceable (music, movies), just a pain to replace (downloading). The above questio0n also applies to a RAID0 -> RAID5 conversion: can I do it on-the-fly?
2) With the new beefy addition coming soon, I've been trying to figure out what to do with the OS itself. I'd like to keep the data on the 2TB drive strictly storage, and not have the OS on it -- it just seems cleaner to me. I'm also going to have the drive spin down when no streaming media, and so I do not want the OS and all the smaller files to be on it requiring the drive to spin up every time the server does something. However, this leaves me in a weird spot: I don't want the OS on the 2TB drive, but I also don't want to waste room and power by putting it on a drive all on it's own. The OS is small -- just enough to install Linux and some source code files. Few GBs max. I don't need a 40GB drive powering it.
Someone recommended me to use PCI storage: basically it's SSD storage the plugs into a PCI slot (or Mini-PCI). That way the system is contained on the motherboard while the storage is on the HDDs. This would be perfect if I could find a cheap one, but the ones on Newegg are ridiculously expensive (read: 16GB Mini-PCI = $80. I can buy a 16GB flash drive for $30! ) What do you guys think? I'll probably stick the OS on a 40GB drive at first, but I'm thinking long term here. =)
