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Can you make a server "RAID 1"?

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TommyHolly

Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2003
Location
Chicago
Hello,
My work had a 1 terrabyte server (basically 1,000 Gigabytes). We had about 650 gigs of stuff on it. One of the "arrays" went bad and we lost almost all of the data on that server...ugh (I'm assuming an "array" is just one portion of a combined hard drive)

My question is: Could I set up a RAID system on the server so that it duplicates data and divides the arrays into (2) 500 Gigabyte hard drives so we have a back up? Is that possible?
 
yes, absolutly yes, and in hindsight, it should have been that way from the begining. But, you cant change the past. Was this server set up as a raid 0 array?
 
TommyHolly said:
Hello,
My work had a 1 terrabyte server (basically 1,000 Gigabytes). We had about 650 gigs of stuff on it. One of the "arrays" went bad and we lost almost all of the data on that server...ugh (I'm assuming an "array" is just one portion of a combined hard drive)

My question is: Could I set up a RAID system on the server so that it duplicates data and divides the arrays into (2) 500 Gigabyte hard drives so we have a back up? Is that possible?
Firstly, an "array" would be the whole thing, not just one hdd. Did you have this set up as RAID 0 or JBOD? Anyway, yes, you can set it up to do RAID 1 (mirroring). You might also want to try RAID 5 if you have 3 or more disks.
 
Most motherboards have RAID 1 controllers built in, but you might not want to do that since RAID 1 renders half of your drives (it requires an even number of drives and they should be the same size) effectively useless. RAID 5 would be a much better option since it can be used with any number of drives (as long as it's 3 or higher) and the space of only one disk on the array is rendered useless. It's a bit more expensive, but it does support things like automatic recovery after a disk failure just as RAID 1 does assuming you buy a good RAID controller, and it will improve read performance a bit more than RAID 1 (but not as much as RAID 0), which can be useful for servers.
 
The server is a Dell Poweredge that has 10 bays in it's "array" for a total storage space of 1 Terrabyte. We need to store about 700 Gb of data on it.

So here is my problem:
1. I'm not sure if it was in RAID 0 or anything else because I know nothing about servers or Raid setups.

2. Because of the 700 Gb of data, how would I set up a back-up Raid 1 system?

3. Should we buy another duplicate server and somehow connect them together using some sort of RAID set up or am I talking Apples and Oranges?

4. Can we just buy more HDs for the array? RIght now the 10 slots are full...can you build on it?
 
I called Dell and they are next to no help at all?? I can't get anyone on the phone that can help. All I found out is that there are 2 types of RAID, Software and Hardware.

Because I need to save 650 Gb of data:
1.What Hard Drive sizes should I choose? Do I need 5 times 650 Gb to use Raid 5?
2. Can I add onto the current server Hard Drives that i already have?
 
First, What size hard drives are in your server currently and also how many. Second, What kind of drives are they, SCSI, SATA, or IDE.

To answer your Question about adding another drive, you need to add the same type and size of drive to be able to successfully add it into a raid array.

and if this is a Poweredge like you say it is and has 10 bays, this probably has a SCSI Raid Controller by either LSI or Adaptec. With either brand you would need to watch the system boot up and look for one of those two brands to come up on the screen identifying the drives connected to the card. It is there where you would press (usually ctrl+ some letter) to get into the cards setup utility where you can setup the raid array.

hope this helps a little
 
Yeah it does. The total system memory is 1 Tb (Terrabyte) and all 10 bays are taken up. So I am guessing that each bay is 100 Gb. One of those bays went bad and we lost all our data a few months ago.

So in order to do a RAID 5 configuration on a server that needs to hold 650 Gb of data, how much total Hard Drive space do I need? Do I need to times the amount of data by 5 or is it just double? Will I need to replace every bay with a 200 Gb Hard Drive or even more?
 
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