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  1. #1
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    What to do in case of hdd failure?

    I plan on colocating a SuperMicro based server with IPMI. It will most likely have 4 drives in RAID 10, 2 for OS, 2 for Data.

    I have not a clue as to what to do in case a drive fails. Does RAID automatically start using just the good drive? Having IPMI, is there something I can do remotely to temporarily remedy the issue while I get the colo provider to install a new drive?

    I just want to have a sorta "disaster recovery" plan in effect before I go live.

  2. #2
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    RAID 10 requires 4 drives to operate. You can't split it up 2 drives for OS and 2 drives for data unless you use RAID 1. In order to do that with RAID 10, you'll need to run two RAID 10 arrays, which would require 8 drives.

    Are you going to use hardware RAID or software RAID? The procedure for restoring from a drive failure is slightly different depending on which you choose.
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  3. #3
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    Your right. I'll be using RAID 1 for the 2 pairs of drives. Starting off with software RAID. But is it really "software" RAID if the SuperMicro board has RAID "support" on it?

  4. #4
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    The software RAID array will function in a degraded state until you replace the failed drive. You can then replace the drive and it will resync the data to the new drive. While the data is resyncing, the array will have degraded performance. Google for "linux software raid replace drive" and you should see the procedure.

    You don't want to use the RAID functionality built into the motherboard. It gives you no performance benefit over software RAID, but ties you to that specific motherboard. You can Google for "fakeraid" to see more info on why it is a bad idea.
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  5. #5
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    BTW, I'm using Windows Server 2008 R2 for this.

  6. #6
    qps has it dead-on... use software raid, even if it means a KVM/QEMU or Xen base... much more stable and expandable.
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  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by softwareguy View Post
    BTW, I'm using Windows Server 2008 R2 for this.
    Go HW raid, read up the details on how to replace a failed drive from the Raid card vendor - it will vary somewhat between cards. But it basically means replacing the failed drive and syncing the data.

    Use SW raid if you are using Linux and require one of the simple raid configurations (Raid 0, 1 or 10) if you need something else, then go HW Raid.
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  8. #8
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    Make sure you have monitoring in placed for the raid also.

    Specially 4 U
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  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by softwareguy View Post
    BTW, I'm using Windows Server 2008 R2 for this.
    The you want to use a HW raid card with Battery Backup and setup the two RAID-1 arrays before installing the OS
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  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by softwareguy View Post
    Does RAID automatically start using just the good drive?
    Yes

    Having IPMI, is there something I can do remotely to temporarily remedy the issue while I get the colo provider to install a new drive?
    Have a spare drive at provider location. Either sitting in a bin somewhere on site or as a universal spare on server.
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  11. #11
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    You will have better performance if you use all 4 drives in raid 10. You can partition the volume so that you have the separation you want.

  12. #12
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    You probably dont want to go down this route as you typically pay more for more space, but if you get a 2U server you've obviously got space for hot-spares, so should a drive fail the raid array will automatically rebuild itself, you can then go buy a drive and have it shipped to the DC.

    RAID10 is fairly safe anyway as long as you monitor the array and check your drive health now and again. Replace at least one on each side of the raid set after ~3yrs to avoid any issues if they are under heavy workloads.

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by teamrss View Post
    qps has it dead-on... use software raid, even if it means a KVM/QEMU or Xen base... much more stable and expandable.
    I'm sorry, but this is bad advice. You don't stick an emulation layer under an OS to increase stability . . . this is self-defeating. Windows software RAID is utter garbage, that can be thrown out the door right away. This is Windows, get a good hardware card.

    Also OP, it doesn't really make any sense to have the OS and data on separate RAID 1 arrays. Go with RAID 10 and call it a day.

  14. #14
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    I thought you want to keep the OS on separate drive?

  15. #15
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    Yes, just like [CTI] Todd mentioned, use Raid-10 and just setup two separate volumes to gain the performance.
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  16. #16
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    Ok, so in a RAID 10 with 4 drives, and a separate volume for the OS (and other programs), where do I store a copy of the OS image in case I need to rebuild the OS partition? I'm assuming on the other partition? If the OS gets corrupted, using IPMI, what is the procedure for restoring the OS image?

  17. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by softwareguy View Post
    If the OS gets corrupted, using IPMI, what is the procedure for restoring the OS image?
    Connect, re-install your OS and restore any backups if necessary.

  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by softwareguy View Post
    Ok, so in a RAID 10 with 4 drives, and a separate volume for the OS (and other programs), where do I store a copy of the OS image in case I need to rebuild the OS partition? I'm assuming on the other partition? If the OS gets corrupted, using IPMI, what is the procedure for restoring the OS image?
    If I am not making any mistake,
    4 of your disk should be the exact copy of each other( data wise), you will need to install MBR on on other drives which are on Raid1 and then you can simply boot from raid device instead of local HD (/boot doesn't support anything above raid1 when it comes to mdadm).

    Gabe from Ioflood is the boss when it comes to SW raids. I hope he will chime in and explain the rest

  19. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by qps View Post
    You don't want to use the RAID functionality built into the motherboard. It gives you no performance benefit over software RAID, but ties you to that specific motherboard. You can Google for "fakeraid" to see more info on why it is a bad idea.
    +1

    On machines where we use software RAID, we just use the Linux /dev/md* device and not the on-board software RAID. I never saw a point to it, and yes, it ties you to that particular MB. It also can be a pain to hit CTRL-I fast enough for the Intel one to pop into its configuration mode before it disappears and continues booting. Very annoying.
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  20. #20
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    I'm only saying this as the op doesn't seem to have much knowledge on servers, but if this is a critical machine, as it sounds like it is, you may want to look in to getting a managed windows server. This way you can potentially have someone to help you with these technical issues when they arise.

    If you don't want the additional cost of a manage solution, I suggest you start doing a lot of research and reading and perhaps even build a test box at home and test a failed drive before you ship the server out

  21. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by jo2jo View Post

    If you don't want the additional cost of a manage solution, I suggest you start doing a lot of research and reading and perhaps even build a test box at home and test a failed drive before you ship the server out
    That's exactly what I planned on doing. So failed drive = pulling the power from it while it's running?

  22. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by softwareguy View Post
    That's exactly what I planned on doing. So failed drive = pulling the power from it while it's running?
    Yes, with hot swap that's fine. Just make sure your SATA ports are configured in AHCI mode and not IDE mode.

    For Windows, as mentioned, get a hardware RAID card. If you really don't have the budget for one, Intel Matrix RAID will still be better than Windows software RAID (but not as good as Linux software RAID). Given the prevalence of Intel RAID nowadays on pretty much any Intel motherboard, it won't be hard to replace your motherboard with another that will be able to read the RAID array.
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