On Fri, 24 May 2002, Rajesh Kumar Mallah. wrote:
> I am setting up a new database server.
> the data is critical that is why i am thniking
> to mirror the SCSI disks in RAID 1 configuration.
> I do not have a hardware raid controller.
> could anyone give me some pointer , or suggest me
> if its advisable to use RAID 1 with database servers.
Hi Mallah. Sorry I'm so delayed in responding to this.
Before you consider raid because the data is critical, I'd suggest you
come up with a disaster recovery scenario first. Raid is good, but it's a
false sense of security. Raid is meant to protect media failures, and only
media failures. There are many other types of failures that you should
consider before media failures.
Sorry to preach, but I do this as a day job so I can't help it
sometimes...
Software raid will slow down performance, but if performance isn't a
problem, then it's OK. I use NetBSD which has a program called raidframe
that apparently works pretty well. I haven't had time to set it up yet.
FreeBSD uses vinum, and Linux has a new volume management system that
looks pretty slick as well. I don't remember what it's called.
If performance is an issue, buy a hardware raid controller, and use scsi.
It's expensive, but so is data.
Andy
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