Topic: RAID Management Question

[p-jones]

markdeblois:

Are you sure you raid is faulty ???

You have an 'on the card' raid solution which will probably present itself to sme as just one drive since all the raid functions are occuring on the card. The results you are getting are very possibly normal for such a setup and may not be indicative of a non operating raid setup.

[jumba]

You need to add the removed partition sdb2 back into md2


#mdadm /dev/md2 -a /dev/sdb2

then doing

#mdadm --detail --verbose /dev/md2

should show 2 active disks and a remirror in operation

Excellent!

It's rebuilding right now as I write this reply:

Code: [Select]


[root@server ~]# mdadm --detail --verbose /dev/md2
/dev/md2:
        Version : 00.90.01
  Creation Time : Mon Nov 21 18:26:51 2005
     Raid Level : raid1
     Array Size : 143267584 (136.63 GiB 146.71 GB)
    Device Size : 143267584 (136.63 GiB 146.71 GB)
   Raid Devices : 2
  Total Devices : 2
Preferred Minor : 2
    Persistence : Superblock is persistent

    Update Time : Thu Aug  2 11:34:18 2007
          State : clean, degraded, recovering
 Active Devices : 1
Working Devices : 2
 Failed Devices : 0
  Spare Devices : 1

 Rebuild Status : 18% complete

           UUID : 7ed9fc4a:085df8f6:4737e5b4:f7188a71
         Events : 0.22495617

    Number   Major   Minor   RaidDevice State
       0       8        2        0      active sync   /dev/sda2
       1       0        0        -      removed

       2       8       18        1      spare rebuilding   /dev/sdb2



Many thanks for your quick answer!!!!

[magwm]

hello,

could someone with some raid experience give a look at this thread

http://forums.contribs.org/index.php?topic=37980.0

thanks a bundle

[socate]

Hi All,

I have a question: I install SME on RAID1 on server with mainboard S3000AH; I disable RAID Controller and I user software RAID! Now, my problem is that all the time the Hard Disk LED Light is always ON and only sometimes became OFF.

Before, I install on standard SATA and the indicator was OK - wos ON only on Disk activity. What I need to do in this case? Is normal? This is my first time when I use software RAID

[Visseroth]

Hi, I'm a bit of a newb to sme and am still familiarizing myself with the linux/unix world so bare with me.....

I have a system with 3 hard drives.

/dev/hda is the OS drive. It's stand alone.

/dev/hde and /dev/hdg are 2 160GB HDs and are setup with a hardware raid.

However the system did not mount them and did not assign them with /dev/md3

/dev/hda was assign with /dev/md1 and md2

What I'm wanting to do is leave the OS on /dev/hda so that /dev/hde and hdg can be used primarily as storage and backup.


How do I mount my raid so that I can store files on it and point the i-bay there?

The only reason I choose to put the OS on the seperate hard drive is so that if the OS become currupt due to an update or my stupidity then I don't have to warry about loosing my backups on my raid.

Here is information about my setup.....

Code: [Select]

# mdadm --detail --verbose /dev/md2
/dev/md2:
        Version : 00.90.01
  Creation Time : Sat Aug  4 17:33:54 2007
     Raid Level : raid1
     Array Size : 29920960 (28.53 GiB 30.64 GB)
    Device Size : 29920960 (28.53 GiB 30.64 GB)
   Raid Devices : 2
  Total Devices : 2
Preferred Minor : 2
    Persistence : Superblock is persistent

    Update Time : Sun Aug  5 16:17:41 2007
          State : clean
 Active Devices : 2
Working Devices : 2
 Failed Devices : 0
  Spare Devices : 0

           UUID : 48ae16a1:ccc6b479:122db933:43c74533
         Events : 0.31121

    Number   Major   Minor   RaidDevice State
       0       3        2        0      active sync   /dev/hda2
       1      34        2        1      active sync   /dev/hdg2


Code: [Select]

# cat /proc/mdstat
Personalities : [raid1]
md2 : active raid1 hda2[0] hdg2[1]
      29920960 blocks [2/2] [UU]

md1 : active raid1 hda1[0] hdg1[1]
      104320 blocks [2/2] [UU]

unused devices: <none>


Code: [Select]

# fdisk -l

Disk /dev/hda: 30.7 GB, 30750031872 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 3738 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/hda1   *           1          13      104391   fd  Linux raid autodetect
/dev/hda2              14        3738    29921062+  fd  Linux raid autodetect

Disk /dev/hde: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/hde1               1       19457   156288321   83  Linux

Disk /dev/hdg: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/hdg1               1       19457   156288321   83  Linux

Disk /dev/md1: 106 MB, 106823680 bytes
2 heads, 4 sectors/track, 26080 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 8 * 512 = 4096 bytes

Disk /dev/md1 doesn't contain a valid partition table

Disk /dev/md2: 30.6 GB, 30639063040 bytes
2 heads, 4 sectors/track, 7480240 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 8 * 512 = 4096 bytes

Disk /dev/md2 doesn't contain a valid partition table

Disk /dev/dm-0: 28.5 GB, 28521267200 bytes
2 heads, 4 sectors/track, 6963200 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 8 * 512 = 4096 bytes

Disk /dev/dm-0 doesn't contain a valid partition table

Disk /dev/dm-1: 2080 MB, 2080374784 bytes
2 heads, 4 sectors/track, 507904 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 8 * 512 = 4096 bytes

Disk /dev/dm-1 doesn't contain a valid partition table


Code: [Select]

# lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 82845 845 (Brookdale) Chipset Host Bridge (rev 11)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82845 845 (Brookdale) Chipset AGP Bridge (rev 11)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 PCI Bridge (rev 05)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801BA ISA Bridge (LPC) (rev 05)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801BA IDE U100 Controller (rev 05)
00:1f.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801BA/BAM USB Controller #1 (rev 05)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801BA/BAM SMBus Controller (rev 05)
00:1f.4 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801BA/BAM USB Controller #1 (rev 05)
02:0c.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82557/8/9 [Ethernet Pro 100] (rev 0d)
02:0d.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82557/8/9 [Ethernet Pro 100] (rev 0d)
02:0e.0 RAID bus controller: Promise Technology, Inc. PDC20267 (FastTrak100/Ultra100) (rev 02)


[TrevorB]

I have a system with 3 hard drives.

/dev/hda is the OS drive. It's stand alone.

/dev/hde and /dev/hdg are 2 160GB HDs and are setup with a hardware raid.

If they are a hardware raid then they should appear to the OS as just 1 drive. I suggest that you use the inbuilt software raid and leave the psuedo hardware raid of your motherboard turned off (if you search you'll find lots on this)

However the system did not mount them and did not assign them with /dev/md3

/dev/md3 is NOT a standard item in smeserver. It allocates /dev/md1 & /dev/md2

/dev/hda was assign with /dev/md1 and md2

No, /dev/hda & /dev/hdg were assigned as raid 1 array /dev/md1 & 2 (but only using 30Gb of /dev/hdg2). Look at your output below...

Code: [Select]

# mdadm --detail --verbose /dev/md2
/dev/md2:
        Version : 00.90.01
  Creation Time : Sat Aug  4 17:33:54 2007
     Raid Level : raid1
     Array Size : 29920960 (28.53 GiB 30.64 GB)
    Device Size : 29920960 (28.53 GiB 30.64 GB)
   Raid Devices : 2
  Total Devices : 2
Preferred Minor : 2
    Persistence : Superblock is persistent

    Update Time : Sun Aug  5 16:17:41 2007
          State : clean
 Active Devices : 2
Working Devices : 2
 Failed Devices : 0
  Spare Devices : 0

           UUID : 48ae16a1:ccc6b479:122db933:43c74533
         Events : 0.31121

    Number   Major   Minor   RaidDevice State
       0       3        2        0      active sync   /dev/hda2
       1      34        2        1      active sync   /dev/hdg2


What I'm wanting to do is leave the OS on /dev/hda so that /dev/hde and hdg can be used primarily as storage and backup.

That's a bit easier.

1. disable hardware raid
2. disconnect /dev/hde & /dev/hdg
3. Install smeserver
4. attach /dev/hde & /dev/hdg
5. partition /dev/hde1 & /dev/hdg1 as linux raid autodetect (if you need to)
6. create /dev/md3 (mdadm --create /dev/md3 --raidlevel=0 /dev/hde1 /dev/hdg1) - check this command as I'm working from memory
7. format /dev/md3 as ext3 (mkfs.ext3 /dev/md3)

How do I mount my raid so that I can store files on it and point the i-bay there?

For ALL ibays to be on those drives, copy over the contents of your ibays directories to the new disks & add a line into /etc/fstab

Code: [Select]

mkdir /tmp/newdisk
mount /dev/md3 /tmp/newdisk
cp -R /home/e-smith/files/ibays/* /tmp/newdisk/.
umount /dev/md3
mount /dev/md3 /home/e-smith/files/ibaysedit /etc/fstab and add

Code: [Select]

/dev/md3 /home/e-smith/files/ibays ext3 defaults
As per anything that plays at this level, I suggest that you do this on a non-critical (or test) box first to make sure you get the process right. I would suggest that you may want to do some more reading first.

You may also want to read the AddExtraHardDisk howto

Good Luck
Trevor B

[Visseroth]

Well thank you so very very much for the reply. And a very informative reply.

I talked with a linux buddy of mine too, though he's been out of the loop a little while he suggested the same thing but to drop the 30GB HD and just stick with the 2 160GB HDs and let sme handle the raids.

As he put it, "Intel is more then likely using a cheap halfway raid, where the Windows will typically talk to the BIOS and say, "oh this is a raid, I don't see it" until you install the raid driver, then it uses it as a raid, but it's still a software raid and not a true raid"

Also, I don't know that I can disable the BIOS raid and still be able to use those controllers.

You see the motherboard has 4 IDE controllers. Primary, Secondary, RAID1 and RAID2.

So, I'll play with it and see what I can come up with and being that this machine has a 2.6Ghz CPU with HT I should see next to almost no performance loss. Not that it matters for a home system that will handle very little.

Oh, and the Secondary IDE controller is being used by the CD ROM so I'm wanting to keep hde and hdg plugged in right where they are at on RAID1 and RAID2.

So again thank you. I'll post again with my results for anyone else that stumbles across this issue and is a newb like me.

[TrevorB]

I talked with a linux buddy of mine too, though he's been out of the loop a little while he suggested the same thing but to drop the 30GB HD and just stick with the 2 160GB HDs and let sme handle the raids.

Best bet!

As he put it, "Intel is more then likely using a cheap halfway raid, where the Windows will typically talk to the BIOS and say, "oh this is a raid, I don't see it" until you install the raid driver, then it uses it as a raid, but it's still a software raid and not a true raid"

Correct.

Also, I don't know that I can disable the BIOS raid and still be able to use those controllers.

You should be OK, they should then appear as normal IDE controllers (as they are really presented to the OS as a normal IDE with some raid support software in the chipset).

Oh, and the Secondary IDE controller is being used by the CD ROM so I'm wanting to keep hde and hdg plugged in right where they are at on RAID1 and RAID2.

Newer chipsets seem to handle the differences between CD drives and HD's OK, so you shouldn't get a performance hit if you can't use your RAID1 & RAID2 connections.

Good Luck
Trevor B

[Visseroth]

OK, so I made the change.

I left RAID enabled in the BIOS and recieved no errors on reboot.

I installed SME server on the raid drivers while they were plugged into IDE channels (I will call) 3 and 4.

After installation here are my results......

Code: [Select]

mdadm --detail --verbose /dev/md2
/dev/md2:
        Version : 00.90.01
  Creation Time : Mon Aug  6 15:51:09 2007
     Raid Level : raid1
     Array Size : 156183808 (148.95 GiB 159.93 GB)
    Device Size : 156183808 (148.95 GiB 159.93 GB)
   Raid Devices : 2
  Total Devices : 2
Preferred Minor : 2
    Persistence : Superblock is persistent

    Update Time : Mon Aug  6 17:43:27 2007
          State : clean
 Active Devices : 2
Working Devices : 2
 Failed Devices : 0
  Spare Devices : 0

           UUID : e1781cd7:fa525c81:1a4e771b:97b6b144
         Events : 0.732

    Number   Major   Minor   RaidDevice State
       0      33        2        0      active sync   /dev/hde2
       1      34        2        1      active sync   /dev/hdg2


As you can see there are no problems. I did check the drive status after installation and they said that they were unclean but that syncing was being done and at the time was 85% complete.

Also. I changed the server from a normal server to a server gateway and putch eth1 on a DMZ to my firewall so that I can only open ports to the firewall portion of the server and so I can leave the client network 100% secure.

I'll try to draw it with text........

Code: [Select]


----------
| modem |
----------      ------------------ This is DMZ access that is firewalled
      |       /                          at both the firewall and server.
 ----------     ---------               Only the ports necessary are open.
|Firewall  |---| Server |
 ----------     ---------
      |       /   ------------------This is Local network access only
 ---------- /
| Switch  |
 ----------


Any ideas and/or suggestions are greatly appreciated as I'm still a newb that must know all that I can soak up. LOL