question on a dual operating system raid 1 server

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MadJuggla9

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Oct 9, 2002
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I am setting up 2 dedicated servers at the moment and want to merge it into 1 ....

server1: 2k adv server, 800mhz duron, msi k7n420 pro, 256mb DDR (not mine), rock solid 350watt PSU reliable for 8 years now. full server case, 10gig HD

server2: rh fedora, 450mhz, intel gateway board, 192mb SD, rigged non-proprietary PSU, with a nice gap on one side, gateway case, 10gig HD

now i got to thinking ..... i just ordered 2 100gig HDs for the heck of the deal i got on them. 85 shipped guaranteed no DOA. I would like to sell the current gateway for some cash and install an all in one server for the main machine (upgrade the CPU and memory).

I want to be able to boot into windows or linux and have the same www root for each OS's server root. that way whichever OS happens to be bootted ... there wont be a problem getting to the same essential server. What is my best way of accomplishing this? I am 100% new to raid. im not very familiar with linux although i have setup a server and setup remote access in the past w/ fedora/linux.


my idea:
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raid 1 the 2 100s and install both OSs on the *100 gig* drive. possibly allocating 2 15 gig partitions for each OS and using the rest as a 70gig data partition to itself for the webserver and all. each OSs server would simply point to that partition for its server roots whether it be FTP, mail, my own data, http, etc....

I will be needing a raid card, and i have setup a linux/windows boot before but i forgot which i did first, i believe windows correct? (i didnt install them as servers or anything at that time)

am i on the right track?
 
At the moment, Linux and Windows can read from the same partition as long as the filesystem used is FAT (NTFS is also supported but FAT has been out longer and both OS can write to a FAT filesystem). NTFS is the preferred filesystem for Windows 2000 and higher and Ext2/3, Reiser, XFS, etc. is preferred for Linux. Since you want to do a separate partition for your data and Linux should have a swap partition, you should set up the partitions, size, and filesystems as so:

Primary partition 1: Windows 2000, 20GB, NTFS
Primary partition 2: Linux, 20GB, Ext2/3, Reiser, XFS, etc (your choice)
Primary partition 3: Swap for Linux, 1.5 x physical RAM
Primary partition 4: Data for webserver, rest of HD space, FAT

Although you may have issues with Linux and RAID 1 (thats what I see people have problems with using Gentoo), RAID 1 is the way to go for data availability. Is the main server going to be upgraded, or just add more HD space to it and merge the two systems into one?
 
z-lite said:
At the moment, Linux and Windows can read from the same partition as long as the filesystem used is FAT (NTFS is also supported but FAT has been out longer and both OS can write to a FAT filesystem). NTFS is the preferred filesystem for Windows 2000 and higher and Ext2/3, Reiser, XFS, etc. is preferred for Linux. Since you want to do a separate partition for your data and Linux should have a swap partition, you should set up the partitions, size, and filesystems as so:

Primary partition 1: Windows 2000, 20GB, NTFS
Primary partition 2: Linux, 20GB, Ext2/3, Reiser, XFS, etc (your choice)
Primary partition 3: Swap for Linux, 1.5 x physical RAM
Primary partition 4: Data for webserver, rest of HD space, FAT

Although you may have issues with Linux and RAID 1 (thats what I see people have problems with using Gentoo), RAID 1 is the way to go for data availability. Is the main server going to be upgraded, or just add more HD space to it and merge the two systems into one?
Click to expand...


On partition 4, if both OSs support NTFS, why not go with that? It has higher efficiency in storing files.

I will be using redhat fedora .... are there any issues there? From what I understand the fedora drivers as pretty good for general purpose.

Im wanting to sell my small gateway and i have the HD space so i was going to combine both onto 1 hard drive. I will be upgrading the custom machine with more memory and of course the 2 100 gigs. Im also putting the 2400+ i have in my current rig in the server once i upgrade to a 64bit when the prices drop near christmas.
 
Ranma_Sao said:
Why would you have a fileserver dual boot? Is this just for testing out things?
Click to expand...

I was kinda wondering this myself. Isn't the idea of a fileserver to be on almost all the time with little-to-no configuration past the initial setup?
 
i am not as familiar with linux as i am with windows. so until then i will be using windows for the file server. another reason is bc i need oracle for my school and again, i am unfamiliar with setting it all up with linux. not to mention getting all of the same information copied over if at all.

once everything runs smoothly on linux ..... then i will eventually have it running linux 24/7, until then its windows 24/7 except for when i feel like working with linux.

i am pretty set on my decision. my main goals are accomplishing these projects, just something to do if nothing else. I mean .... if both OSs can read from the data partition .... then this shouldnt be a problem.

From what i know .... i assume any raid card would work just fine? by the time it gets to OS installation the HD configuration has already been setup to display accordingly correct?
 
MadJuggla9 said:
i am not as familiar with linux as i am with windows. so until then i will be using windows for the file server. another reason is bc i need oracle for my school and again, i am unfamiliar with setting it all up with linux. not to mention getting all of the same information copied over if at all.

once everything runs smoothly on linux ..... then i will eventually have it running linux 24/7, until then its windows 24/7 except for when i feel like working with linux.

i am pretty set on my decision. my main goals are accomplishing these projects, just something to do if nothing else. I mean .... if both OSs can read from the data partition .... then this shouldnt be a problem.

From what i know .... i assume any raid card would work just fine? by the time it gets to OS installation the HD configuration has already been setup to display accordingly correct?
Click to expand...


Installing Oracle on Linux can be quite a long process - good idea sticking with Windows until you're more familiar with Linux. When you're ready to make the switch though, look under Documentation on http://otn.oracle.com ENDLESS amounts of info there on anything related to Oracle products.
 
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