Question on RAID servers

dark_hag666 · 15 Jan 2008 at 02:36

I've been debating now for quite a while, whether to built myself a server. It'd be either FreeNAS or WHS based but one thing has always put me off.

Assuming you have your boot drive and then, say, 2 big drives in RAID 1; your safe if one of the drive in RAID dies. But what if the boot drive fails, if you reinstalled the OS on a new drive would it detect the array?

dark_hag666 · 15 Jan 2008 at 09:29

I am talking about software RAID, Glass; this would mean the OS would have to be installed before the array was made.

As for making an image; I had though of that. Does anyone know if the following approach would be the easiest, or if it would work at all for that matter.

1. Install OS (FreeNAS for example) on disk 1
2. Set up the RAID array on disks 2 & 3
3. Take disk 1 and put it in my main rig (obviously not as the boot drive)
4. Make an image of the drive in Acronis, or another similar program, to be archived on a couple of DVDs
5. Put disk 1 back in server and proceed to file the RAID array up.

By the way, I assume the MBR (or what ever it is called) is locate on the disks of the array and not on the OS disk.

dark_hag666 · 16 Jan 2008 at 02:25

I thought motherboard based RAIDs were all software, not hardware.

dark_hag666 · 16 Jan 2008 at 05:48

Okay then, thanks. Will have to spec myself a rig up, and see if I have space in another room to house it.

dark_hag666 · 16 Jan 2008 at 06:25

That's what I originally thought Snapshot.

dark_hag666 · 16 Jan 2008 at 18:06

And FreeNAS anyone? I think I'm going to go the easy route anyway and get an IcyBox NAS; keep the spare parts I've may have used in the server for a workstation