Upgrade Linux Server -RAID-

LewisJS

Hi,

I have a Linux server (ubuntu) running MySQL, it currently just has the one drive and I want to have RAID (probably RAID 10).

Im a bit stuck on what RAID card i should purchase and how to go about the install.

Would I be able to back up the whole server and then restore it to the new RAID drives or maybe ghost the old to new?
Would I have problem with linux reconising the drives?

Thank in advance.

dynamik

I just got one of these for RAID-10, and it's been great (after flashing the card's BIOS; Windows would hang on loading prior to that): Newegg.com - HighPoint RocketRAID 2300 PCI Express SATA II Controller Card RAID 0/1/5/10 JBOD - Controllers / RAID Cards

It's not true hardware RAID, but it fit my budget and the performance is fine what I need. Just check their website and make sure they have a compatible driver for your distro, and you shouldn't have any problems getting it to see the drive.

Someone else will probably be able to give you better advice on how to do that type of backup/restore, so I'm going to pass on that part of the question

qplayed

1. backup your system
-configs
-**** db to a file
-home dirs
2. install raid card and configure inyour case raid 10
-3ware, lsi, adaptec for high end cards
-rocket raid will do also
3. install new system and all related packages
4. **** mysql back in and rock and roll!

or.....

1. leave current sytem intact
2. install raid card and drives
- configure raid 10
3. mount raid volume and edit fstab
4. move db to new volume

tiersten

Assuming your processor is fast enough and you don't need hotswap or the ability to attach a very large number of drives, Linux Software RAID will work fine for you. Software RAID can actually be faster than hardware RAID.

Software RAID will also mean you're not vendor locked.

Therhino

what about playing with lvms

If its a hardware raid then set up the lvms and go...that way you are expandable and such

1) dmesg + fdisk -l
2) figure out how it will be split
3) tar and zip old file
tar -czf old.tar.gz "directory"
4) pvcreate -M2 /dev/sdb
pvcreate -M2 /dev/sdc
(you get the point)
5)vgcreate sql_vg /dev/sdb /dev/sdc /dev/sddd
6)lvcreate -L "your size" -n "name of folder" mysql_vg /dev/sdb
7)mkfs."fstype" -p lock_nolock -j 1 /dev/mysql_vg/"name of folder"
vi /etc/fstab
/dev/mysql_vg /mysql "fstype" defaults,nodev 0 0
9)chown -R user: /mysql
10) ln -s "any symbolics you need to make to make it look like before
11) untar all of your saved files
12) make sure ownership is correct on all directories

UnixGeek

I've had good experiences with 3ware controllers when a hardware RAID is called for. That said, I'm an advocate of software RAID in situations where purchasing two controllers so that you'll have a spare standing by isn't feasible.

With a hardware RAID, if the controller dies, you need to track down a compatible model from the same manufacturer to be able to access your data. If a software RAID dies, any SATA/SCSI/SAS controller supported by your OS will do. That's going to be a lot easier to track down locally.