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View Full Version : add a hard drive and use software raid?



cranium
1st October 2006, 03:26 AM
Hi all,

I have a second hard drive that I would like to add to my machine that is already set up. I have some questions about software radi in FC5.

1. Do the drives have to be exactly the same: manufacturer, etc or just the same size?
2. Is it possible to add the hard drive and raid these to drives together?
3. If yes to #2, can you give a resource(s) or suggestions?
4. If no to #2, is it possible on a fresh install? If so, can you give a resource(s) or suggestions?

Thank you for your time,
cranium

huw-l
1st October 2006, 01:49 PM
1. No
2. Yes
3. Adding software RAID to a non-root or non-boot partition is pretty easy. The software RAID howto contains most of what you need to know. http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Software-RAID-HOWTO.html
However adding RAID to a root or boot partition is very difficult. I've done it once and vow never to do it again.
4. adding RAID at install time is the best way. In disk druid create partitons of the same size on both disks. Set their type to software raid. Then hit the RAID tab and create a new raid disk with those two partions. Then set the filesystem and mount-point on the raid device just like you would a normal disk.
The redhat sysadmin guide contains all the info you need: http://www.centos.org/docs/4/html/rhel-sag-en-4/

nhydra
2nd October 2006, 09:52 AM
Yes. You can make software raid very easy. I have such one on my machine, a raid 0 level.
It is very fast and want to say that is not required to be the exactly the same. It is recommended but not required, all is because of the performance and compatibility.