Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 09:19:37 -0800 From: "Scott Hess" <scott@avantgo.com> To: "Aaron Sonntag" <aaron@sonntag.org>, "Mike Smith" <msmith@FreeBSD.ORG> Cc: <FreeBSD-hardware@FreeBSD.ORG> Subject: Re: SCSI RAID controller support Message-ID: <14d601bf48b2$e534bb00$1e80000a@avantgo.com> References: <EFEFLFENNNOBGMNPFNNFGEGCCLAA.aaron@sonntag.org>
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You are correct in that you only need enough on the non-RAID device to boot the system. The easiest option would be to just put all of / on the boot device, maybe 10M-20M, total. You could also likely wire together a system where the kernel and some minimal subset exist on the boot device, with the real root mounted over the boot root after the requisite drivers are in place (I'm not sure if FreeBSD has any equivalent to the /boot partition, which is specifically for this type of thing). WARNING: there's a reason that the / partition is there! A minimal / should contain all (ALL) of the tools you need to repair the system (in fact, it never hurts to try booting single user and seeing whether you know how to get things done without /usr mounted). For that reason, I would recommend that instead of playing tricks to get a mirrorred /, you instead manually mirror /, arrange things so that you can mount it read-only, and then use standard mounting tricks to get the majority of your system up and running. If the normal boot / dies, boot from the backup boot /. Or just punt and get a RAID controller you can boot from, scott ----- Original Message ----- From: Aaron Sonntag <aaron@sonntag.org> To: Mike Smith <msmith@FreeBSD.ORG>; Aaron Sonntag <aaron@sonntag.org> Cc: <FreeBSD-hardware@FreeBSD.ORG> Sent: Friday, December 17, 1999 8:07 AM Subject: RE: SCSI RAID controller support > Thank your for your help thus far! > > Mr. Smith, you said that I can't mirror the boot drive either. How would > you go about securing the OS in a server such as the one I am looking at > purchasing? It doesn't do me much good to have 10,000 worth of hot swap > drives and power supplies if my main OS is still residing on a single point > of failure... any thoughts? What is the minimum I would have to have on > this boot drive? I could put /usr and /var and /etc on the RAID array > correct? Or do you mean I can't have the boot sector proper on the raid > array... meaning that a tiny slice of the OS for the boot partition is all I > need to be off of the array? I have to make this system completely > redundant at least one time over and at this point the only hole seems to be > the lack of any ability to protect the main OS with mirroring via > hardware(controller) or software(FreeBSD vinum?). Your thoughts and time > are greatly appreciated. > > Aaron > > -----Original Message----- > From: owner-freebsd-hardware@FreeBSD.ORG > [mailto:owner-freebsd-hardware@FreeBSD.ORG]On Behalf Of Mike Smith > Sent: Thursday, December 16, 1999 7:36 PM > To: Aaron Sonntag > Cc: Mike Smith; FreeBSD-hardware@FreeBSD.ORG > Subject: Re: SCSI RAID controller support > > > Yeah the Dell rep was telling me that the Adaptec controller was an OEM > > based on the 7897 chipset. > > Er. Well, saying the aac-364 is "based on the 7897 chipset" is a bit > like saying my car is "based on Michelins". Yes, it does use them, but > it's really a complete computer system built around a StrongARM 110. > > > I am not going to be allowed to run 4.x on this > > server. I will be able to run 3.4 when it is on CD later this month. > Will > > this help? I also did not plan on booting from the RAID controller. I > had > > planned on doing software mirroring on the SCSI boot drives and the RAID5 > on > > the hardware controller. > > Ok. Note that you can't really "software mirror" the boot volume either, > unless you're talking about something else I'm not aware of. > > > Will this allow me to use the Dell/Adaptec > > controller at all? I read in some FreeBSD documentation that the 7897 > > chipset was supported... but I guess not in a RAID controller? > > The aic7897 is supported, yes. The Adaptec aac-364 is not. > > > Based upon > > what you said I can at least use the AMI controller with 3.4 if I don't > mind > > booting off a different controller right? I hate to drag this out but a > lot > > of money is involved (relatively) and I really only have one shot at this. > > Not a problem. Yes, the AMI controller is perfectly viable with 3.4, and > I've been getting quite a lot of good feedback on it so far. > > > One more question. Is there any vendor like Dell or SAG that is FreeBSD > > friendly? > > This is always a difficult recommendation to make, simply because > anything I say may be taken as endorsement and I don't want people to > feel left out. Having said that, I've never had cause to regret > recommending both Telenet Systems (www.tesys.com) and ASA Computers > (www.asacomputers.com). > > -- > \\ Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. \\ Mike Smith > \\ Tell him he should learn how to fish himself, \\ msmith@freebsd.org > \\ and he'll hate you for a lifetime. \\ msmith@cdrom.com > > > > > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org > with "unsubscribe freebsd-hardware" in the body of the message > > > > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org > with "unsubscribe freebsd-hardware" in the body of the message To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-hardware" in the body of the message
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