[KLUG Members] SuSe 9.1 Linux Software RAID

[Adam Tauno Williams]

> > Has anyone got the Linux Software RAID to work on SuSe 9.1? The 2.6 
> > kernel no longer supports my Promise Fastrack configuration (SuSe even 
> > makes a point to remind me of it in message boxes throuhgout the install).
> > I'm not looking at anything fancy (RAID0 or RAID1 is fine).
> > I'm running 4 80GB IDE drives on the machine.
> > Any tips? I've been through a couple of config attempts and no luck so far.
> I have setup software raid with 2.4.  I believe this are plenty of
> step-by-steps out there on this topic.  Check google or tldp.org.

Same here, there is even a KLUG presentation -
ftp://kalamazoolinux.org/pdf/DataAccess-2003.pdf

What specific problems are you having?

> If you have any specific questions I will help out the best I can.
> With 4 drives I would suggest RAID 5 or 0+1.  

RAID5 is good unless you've got alot of small random writes (like a
database server).  Whatever you use RAID5 for it is best to create a
small mirrored partition for your filesystem journal(s).

> Depending on the processor
> specs RAID 5 may create a significant amount of CPU overhead. 

With the MMX extensions in Intel processors the RAID5 parity
calculations are extremely fast and efficient.  I don't know what the
status is of supporting the fp extensions on other processor types.

>  I would
> avoid RAID 1 (Striping) since the failure of one drive would result in
> the loss of your entire set.  I would also put all 4 drives on a
> different channel if possible to maximize throughput (we are talking
> IDE...aren't we?)

Yep, mirrored pairs on the same bus are the kiss-of-performance-death.