Louis-David Mitterrand wrote:
>
> Hello,
>
> Our HP Netserver has three 4.26GB disks of which only one is used
> presently. After acquiring a Mylex Acceleraid170 I thought it might be
> possible to:
>
> - install the controller with all three disks plugged into it;
> - define the first disk (on which lives our present root partition under
> Debian/Linux) as a non-RAID disk (JBOD in Mylex-speak?);
> - make sure the Mylex controller leaves alone our boot disk while
> allowing us to boot from it;
> - (alternatively leave this first disk on the SCSI controller)
> - configure a degraded RAID5 partition on the remaining two drives;
> - reboot the machine from the first (intact) disk;
> - copy the whole root filesystem to the degraded RAID5 partition;
> - boot from the degraded partition and check all is OK;
> - add the original first (boot) disk to the RAID5 partition for rebuild;
>
> In the process of implementing some of these steps two questions have
> occurred:
>
> 1) is it safe to let the Mylex controller temporarily manage our boot
> disk as a single, non-RAID drive? Will the EZ-Assist configuration
> destroy any and all data even when selecting single-drive mode (JBOD)?
>
The A170 will write a "Configuration On Disk" (COD) out to the drive
when it is configured. The COD will be placed at the end of the of
the drive. So, your partition will no longer be correct, but it is
unlikely to overwrite anything you care about unless you completely
filled the drive.
> 2) apparently is isn't possible to configure a RAID5 partition on two
> disks in the EZ-Assist menu? There is no option to build an initial
> degraded partition. Is there a workaround?
>
The EzAssist firmware will "protect" you against yourself i.e. not
allow you to configure a RAID5 with less than 3 disks. I am not
aware of any work around for what you want to do. Actually, I
would be surprised if you could find any RAID tool would let you
build a "degraded" RAID. Not stunned, but certainly surprised. :)
> I couldn't find any answer in the Mylex docs.
>
> Thanks in advance for any suggestions,
> --
> THESEE: Qui m'a trahi ? Pourquoi ne suis-je pas veng� ?
> La Gr�ce, � qui mon bras fut tant de fois utile,
> A-t-elle au criminel accord� quelque asile ?
> (Ph�dre, J-B Racine, acte 3, sc�ne 5)
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--
Dan Jones, Manager, Storage Products VA Linux Systems
V:(510)687-6737 F:(510)683-8602 47071 Bayside Parkway
[EMAIL PROTECTED] Fremont, CA 94538
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