RAID 5 Questions

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by Oats

VMWare doesn't do RDM for local drives.

It can, I've got a couple setup right now in my ESXi testbed.

[Oats]

Originally Posted by stanger89

It can, I've got a couple setup right now in my ESXi testbed.

Don't you have to make some pretty advanced changes to get it working though.

I don't know why they don't just support it out of the box. I've read VMWare Server 1.0 does, but they removed it from Server 2. I think ESX supported it too but they removed it from ESXi. I knew there were hacks to get it back into Server 2 but I haven't looked at ESXi yet.

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by Oats

Don't you have to make some pretty advanced changes to get it working though.

Not really (IMO), just 'vmkfstools -z <hdd> <file>' in the service console. Then you just pick <file> as a "virtual" hard drive in your VM.

I don't know why they don't just support it out of the box. I've read VMWare Server 1.0 does, but they removed it from Server 2. I think ESX supported it too but they removed it from ESXi. I knew there were hacks to get it back into Server 2 but I haven't looked at ESXi yet.

Yeah I don't know either, in one sense they do support it out of the box, you can do it with stock tools included in ESXi, it's just not in the GUI/Maintenance console.

[wrems]

Stanger, how likely is it you're going to try commingling unRAID and Sage with ESXi? I know Clift already asked in another thread, but the idea has been resonating. Let us know if you do and if you end up creating a new thread

[RocKKer]

No talk of RAID can go without someone from the Linux side suggesting Linux software raid as a possible solution! If your locked into a Windows solution then all this is for not, however if your willing to entertain a Linux solution, I gotta put my .02 in -

Originally Posted by wrems

1. Are raid arrays transferable?

Definitely transferable to ANY Linux that can run mdadm/LVM2. It really isn't that hard to set up, installing Linux these days is not hard either.

Originally Posted by wrems

2. If I upgrade my mobo, re-install windows, or install a different version of windows what happens to the data in my array? Will it be ready and waiting after reinstalling everything?

Linux software RAID doesn't care about hardware, if you can run Linux on the hardware then you can run Linux software RAID. Once you get the new server configured, running and connect the physical array, the RAID array is there.

Originally Posted by wrems

The main reason I've been considering unraid is the separation of my data in a remote location and far and away from any server related problems. I know I'm probably over thinking it, at the same time, I haven't found my answers. I don't want to have to back up my array just to re-install windows or something. Is this even a concern?

Are there any personal recommendations of raid cards I should be looking into?

This sounds tailor made for a Linux software solution. Create your media tank, some box somewhere convenient on your network, running some Linux distro, running whatever RAID level you deem necessary, setup Samba to share out the file systems Windows style. No RAID specific hardware to buy so your not locked in to ANY RAID hardware.

Another option is some ready made NAS solution, it does seem to meet your separation requirements, although your still locked into hardware.

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by wrems

Stanger, how likely is it you're going to try commingling unRAID and Sage with ESXi? I know Clift already asked in another thread, but the idea has been resonating. Let us know if you do and if you end up creating a new thread

At the moment it's largely up to getting the motivation/prioritization to buy the new hardware. If I had a VT-d machine other than my i7 desktop (which 1, I don't want to give up for that and 2, don't want an i7 as my 24/7 server) I'd probably have really tried it already.