Date: Fri, 06 Jul 2001 19:12:03 -0700 From: Seth Murray <smurray@comboard.com> To: <freebsd-hardware@freebsd.org> Subject: Seeking Hardware Suggestions for First FreeBSD System Message-ID: <B76BBE03.F3A5%smurray@comboard.com>
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Our small consulting company has decided to "dive into" BSD and wishes to
build our own server to support some important projects. We are considering
two designs and hope you might comment. High-system availability is
critical:
SCSI RAID SYSTEM
Intel STL2 or TYAN S2510 Motherboard with appropriate processors.
Intel SC5000 chassis with redundant power and hot-swap SCSI backplane.
Appropriate SCSI drives configured for RAID 1, probably Seagate or
similar
Other common stuff
Both boards are available with built-in SCSI controllers (Adaptec 7896 on
Intel and LSI SYM53C1010 on TYAN). Will we need a SCSI RAID card (like
Adaptec 2100S) or can vinum work directly through hot-swap backplane? Also,
if we can go the vinum route, can we boot off of the RAID, or will we need a
separate system drive?
How does vinum compare to a hardware RAID controller as far as reliability
and performance?
IDE RAID SYSTEM
TYAN also makes a board (S2515) with on-board IDE RAID (Promise Fastrak100).
We're considering this board, instead, but see differing opinions in the
message archives about IDE RAID operability. If we can go IDE RAID, we'd
like to, and would select a different chassis (preferably with redundant
power, fans, and hot-swap on the drives, if possible). Anyone working with
this?
We're favoring the TYAN boards because the already have two Ethernet ports,
which we want to use for NAT, and both come with or without the on-board
SCSI. Anyone have the skinny on STL2 vs. TYAN S2510 or S2515?
The bottom line is we're seeking redundant power, fans, and RAID 1 in a
happy little BSD box.
Any recommendations are welcome and appreciated. Thanks for suffering a BSD
rookie.
+-------------------------------------
| Seth Murray
| The Communications Boardroom
| smurray@comboard.com
| http://www.comboard.com/
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