For you Hardware/Server guys...Dell Poweredge 2850 SCSI Hard Drive topic

vanquish23vanquish23 Member Posts: 224
So here is the plan. I have a Dell Poweredge 2850 with 4 hot swap SCSI HDD's each with 146GB. Last night I installed Win Server 2003 Standard on drive 0 (Labled as 0 - 3 with a max of 6 drives usable) since the PowerEdge 2850 only supports Server 2003. I have been researching and made my choice for Network Monitoring Software to use Pandora FMS Open Source. I am decent with CentOS (aka Red Hat) and would like to aviod wiping out the Server 2003 as it took me 3-4 hours to install the OS and SQL Server 2008 (Not a fan of Windows Server).

I know CentOS has a GRUB boot loader. But to get to my question, I should just be able to add and remove the SCSI HDD's to install/boot whatever OS I would like to work with correct? Since the BIOS will load the Dell RAID and spin the disks up to speed, then search the disks for the Master Boot Record.


I hope my words make sense.
He who SYNs is of the devil, for the devil has SYN'ed and ACK'ed from the beginning. For this purpose, that the ACK might destroy the works of the devil.

Comments

  • ptilsenptilsen Member Posts: 2,835 ■■■■■■■■■■
    Last time I had to work with a Poweredge's RAID array in a similar capacity, it did not automatically load an array. After disconnecting a drive or set of drives, I had to re-import them to complete the array. I'm betting you will have the same experience. It's not a show-stopper; it just means you would have to hit a few buttons everytime you switched.

    TBH, if the server is really old enough that it doesn't support virtualization, you'd almost be better off using a VM on modern hardware. A ~$700 desktop is generally more powerful and useful than a pre-2008 server.
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  • vanquish23vanquish23 Member Posts: 224
    ptilsen wrote: »
    Last time I had to work with a Poweredge's RAID array in a similar capacity, it did not automatically load an array. After disconnecting a drive or set of drives, I had to re-import them to complete the array. I'm betting you will have the same experience. It's not a show-stopper; it just means you would have to hit a few buttons everytime you switched.

    TBH, if the server is really old enough that it doesn't support virtualization, you'd almost be better off using a VM on modern hardware. A ~$700 desktop is generally more powerful and useful than a pre-2008 server.

    You bring up a good point. Reloading the Array would just be more work than just installing a boot loader. I guess I will try the GRUB boot loader and see if that will work.


    I bougth the PowerEdge 2850 because it was cheap on ebay for around 200 with free shipping. The decent packages on ebay for a 2950 for VT/HT Server 2008 is 400 -500. I have 4 desktops, just have other plans for them. I got the Poweredge to setup in my networking rack.
    He who SYNs is of the devil, for the devil has SYN'ed and ACK'ed from the beginning. For this purpose, that the ACK might destroy the works of the devil.
  • LinuxRacrLinuxRacr Member Posts: 653 ■■■■□□□□□□
    I just bought a PE 2950 last week for $300 off craigslist, but I still need to get drives and memory for it.
    My WGU B.S. IT - Security Progress : Transferred In|Remaining|In Progress|Completed
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  • vanquish23vanquish23 Member Posts: 224
    LinuxRacr wrote: »
    I just bought a PE 2950 last week for $300 off craigslist, but I still need to get drives and memory for it.

    I bet your the one that bought that 2950 I had my eye on! LOL jk. There is one for 325 and free shipping with bezel, rail kit, and 2x Dual 3.2 processors, 8 GB ram.

    Going to get a switch this pay check.
    He who SYNs is of the devil, for the devil has SYN'ed and ACK'ed from the beginning. For this purpose, that the ACK might destroy the works of the devil.
  • LinuxRacrLinuxRacr Member Posts: 653 ■■■■□□□□□□
    Looks like mine has 2 Intel Xenon 5150 dual-core 2.66Ghz processors (virtualization enabled), and DRAC5 card. It also has a PERC5 card. I'm hoping to be able to get some decent performance out of this one once I get 16 GB or ram, and decide which drives I'm going to use.
    My WGU B.S. IT - Security Progress : Transferred In|Remaining|In Progress|Completed
    AGC1, CLC1, GAC1, INC1, CTV1, INT1, BVC1, TBP1, TCP1, QLT1, HHT1, QBT1, BBC1 (39 CUs), (0 CUs) (0 CUs)
    WFV1, BNC1, EAV1, EBV1, COV1 | MGC1, IWC1 | CQV1, CNV1, IWT1, RIT1 | DRV1, DSV1, TPV1, CVV1 | EUP1, EUC1, DHV1| CUV1, C173 | BOV1, CJV1, TXP1, TXC1 | TYP1, TYC1, SBT1, RGT1 (84 CUs) DONE!
  • onesaintonesaint Member Posts: 801
    vanquish23 wrote: »
    You bring up a good point. Reloading the Array would just be more work than just installing a boot loader. I guess I will try the GRUB boot loader and see if that will work.

    You might consider taking an image of the Win install, to CYA.

    Just for a bit of GRUB overkill, have a look here.
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