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  1. #1
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    Harddisk locations on a RaQ3

    When looking at the opened RaQ, which of the harddisks is the primary and which is the secondary one ?
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  2. #2
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    The one closes to the PSU is the second and the first is the one closes to the CPU.

    As for the IDE, the connector that is closes to the LCD panel is IDE1 and the other is IDE2
    -=- GQ Hong -=-
    GalacNet WebMaster

  3. #3
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    Thanks for the fast reply :-)

    I asked because I need to recover a RaQ3: For this reason, I have one harddisk ready with the pre-built OS, the RaQ already contains a second one (with the crashed OS).

    My understanding about the RAID implementation is that when I replace the old primary HD with the new fresh one, the server automatically restores itself (the secondary HD) when turning power on. Is this correct ?

    And another question: Do you know of network cards that are compatible with the Sun OS restore CD ? The original cards I have found on a list are no longer available... I would need a PCMCIA card for a notebook (HP Pavilion zv6000, internal adapter does not work).
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  4. #4
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    Yes, if you have RAID1 running, just swap the HDD that has crashed and the RAID will do the rest for you. To be safe, place the good HDD at IDE1 and the new one at IDE2.

    The cards usable are :
    PCI Cards:
    Intel PRO/100+ Server Adapter (PILA8470B)
    Linksys EtherFast 10/100 LAN Card (LNE100TX)
    Netgear Fast Ethernet PCI Adapter (FA312TX)
    3Com OfficeConnect Fast Ethernet NIC (3CSOHO100-TX)
    3Com Fast EtherLink XL PCI NIC (3C905B-TX)
    PCMCIA Cards:
    Netgear Fast Ethernet PCMCIA Adapter (FA410TX)
    3Com Megahertz 10/100 LAN PC Card (3CCFE574BT)
    Xircom CreditCard Ethernet 10/100 (CE3B-100BTX)

    For myself I use the 3Com Fast EtherLink XL PCI NIC (3C905B-TX) and Linksys EtherFast 10/100 LAN Card (LNE100TX)

    You got to try and get one, maybe from ebay or setup your PC with the right PCI card.

    The PCI ones should be easier to get. And once you do get a few just in case. In my case I got 5.
    -=- GQ Hong -=-
    GalacNet WebMaster

  5. #5
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    > Yes, if you have RAID1 running, just swap the HDD that has crashed and the
    > RAID will do the rest for you. To be safe, place the good HDD at IDE1 and the
    > new one at IDE2.

    Just a misunderstanding: The OS on the server has crasehed, so the "bad" OS is on both disks. When replacing the existing primary with a new one having the OS already loaded, the remaining secondary one becomes overwritten, am I correct ?

    > PCMCIA Cards:
    > Netgear Fast Ethernet PCMCIA Adapter (FA410TX)
    > 3Com Megahertz 10/100 LAN PC Card (3CCFE574BT)
    > Xircom CreditCard Ethernet 10/100 (CE3B-100BTX)

    Yes, I know this list. But no single one is available any longer. I just found the successor of the Netgear card, but am not sure if it will work.

    Maybe someone can recommend a different compatible card ?

    > You got to try and get one, maybe from ebay or setup your PC with the right PCI
    > card.

    I don't like to buy something from eBay, don't trust them really... anyway, hope for more answers :-) Otherwise I will see to get a desktop or minitower PC with a PCI card... however it is not handy to transport the desktop with display and keyboard to the server, doing so with a notebook is quite easier :-)
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  6. #6
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    ermm... You need 2 HDDs if you are using the RAID1 installation disk. If not you got to use the single HDD restore disk. But usually, I would not use Raid1 on a RaQ3 or RaQ4, really brings down preformance.

    Anyway hope you find a compatible card soon
    -=- GQ Hong -=-
    GalacNet WebMaster

  7. #7
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    > ermm... You need 2 HDDs if you are using the RAID1 installation disk. If not you got
    > to use the single HDD restore disk. But usually, I would not use Raid1 on a RaQ3 or
    > RaQ4, really brings down preformance.

    It seems that we don't come together here ;-) Let me explain it again: The server already has two hard drives, but I need to reinstall the OS again. I have a (third) harddisk with the needed OS.

    So my idea is to simply take out the existing primary HD from the server and insert the new HD with the clean OS. Then the server would built RAID again and the second (still existing HD) becomes synchronized with the new one.

    I think this should be possible, but since we are misunderstanding here obviously, I become unsure whether or not this works. But think it does, don't ?
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  8. #8
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    Didn't you say the second HDD was also corrupted?

    I don't think the OS will allow you to run RAID1 without the send HDD in the slot. I tried to do this with the Cobalt Control Station and it always fails.

    I think the problem here is how to get a RAID1 Cobalt OS into 1 single HDD.

    Scene 1 :
    2nd HDD in slot with new HDD in IDE1 = fresh install with all data wiped

    Scene 2 :
    HDD in IDE 1 and install RAID1 = fail to install

    Scene 3 :
    Insert HDD with Clean OS (RAID1 config) into connector 1 = wipe out second HDD's data

    But here is the thing... I don't remember if the cobalt will know which to use. In theory it will use the first IDE HDD to rebuilt. So it will be safer to format the second HDD incase it goes wrong.
    -=- GQ Hong -=-
    GalacNet WebMaster

  9. #9
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    > Didn't you say the second HDD was also corrupted?

    No, it isn't broken.

    > I don't think the OS will allow you to run RAID1 without the send HDD in the slot.
    > I tried to do this with the Cobalt Control Station and it always fails.

    The second HD remains where it is. I would just take out the primary HD and replace it with the new one.

    I don't want to make a RAID1 system to a single user disk system.

    > Scene 3 :
    > Insert HDD with Clean OS (RAID1 config) into connector 1 = wipe out second
    > HDD's data
    >
    > But here is the thing... I don't remember if the cobalt will know which to use. In
    > theory it will use the first IDE HDD to rebuilt. So it will be safer to format the
    > second HDD incase it goes wrong.

    Yes, that's exactly what I wanted to do. Okay, then I should consider to format the second HD before. I guess it doesn't play a role which filesystem I use, just important that the HD becomes emptied ?

    Anyway, is it correct that when I restore the OS using the restore CD, the harddisks haven't to be clean (existing files are overwritten) ?

    Today 01:35 PM
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  10. #10
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    The cobalt should see IDE1 as the master and if both have RAID systems in it, it will clear out the second. The other HDD being empty is just a pre-caution incase the wrong things get over-written.

    I think plugging the second HDD in IDE1 will wipe out anything you place on IDE2 as well. At least that was what happened to mine when I tied a few years back.
    -=- GQ Hong -=-
    GalacNet WebMaster

  11. #11
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    The auto-rebuild only happens if the primary has a RAID-configured OS installed on it. If your new 3rd drive has RAID support in it, and you place it in the primary slot, then yes, the old drive should be overwritten.

    If the 3rd drive does not have RAID already, then no overwrite will happen, and the RaQ will think it's a single drive system and you would have to manually format the 2nd drive and add it as additional storage (not mirrored storage).
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  12. #12
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    Yes, that's clear. Thank you. All what I wanted to verify is that inserting a new HD with OS on it (RAID1 configured) will overwrite an existing secondary HD's data when synchronizing.

    Unfortunately I was quite busy the last days and haven't had the time so far. Hopefully later this week, we'll see. So far, thanks for all your assistance (quite responsive forum :-)
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  13. #13
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    To be safe, if at all possible, unformat/departition the "bad" drive before proceeding. The RAID rebuild will be "certain" if the target drive does not have any partitions on it already. I have heard of cases where OSRCDs would not properly work with pre-partitioned drives; it's possible the RAID rebuild could break the same way.
    http://www.lamphowto.com/ - LAMP and LAMP+SSL HowTo
    http://www.cobaltfaqs.com/ - Cobalt FAQs and HowTos

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