Topic: New server install configuration

[calisun]

I just got a new (used) server and I have three questions about how to configure the SME9_64 Server setup.

First question: The server has a build in RAID controller card, I will be using 4 drives in RAID 10 configuration (for speed and redundancy).
The default install option for SME Server is RAID install, should I choose some other option since RAID is handled by hardware?

Second question: The server has four Intel Xeon processors, with six cores for each processor. Should I do any configuration changes in order for the SME server to take full advantage of all the cores?

Third Question: The server has 64GIG of RAM, do I need to make any changes to configuration in order for SME server take advantage of all the RAM?

Thank you in advance for any help.

[janet]

calisun

If the motherboard & disk controller is supported by CentOS, them SME server should recognize them & nothing much for you to do. The installer should load the correct modules to suit the hardware.

If you must use hardware RAID, then select single drive installation (do not select software RAID as well). There are boot switches to select when doing the OS install.

Personally I would use software RAID1 with just 2 drives, less hassle, less dependence on specific hardware should things fail, & probably just as fast depending whether your RAID card is fake or real RAID.

[Stefano]

Just 2c of mine..
With such an hw I'd install something like esxi or proxmox and SME as a VM.. raid 10 HW...
I doubt that a SME setup would/could never use all those resources..
With this approach, you can setup many VMs and use you HW in a more smart way

[Mirfster]

Agree with Stefano.  I have moved my instances of SME to ESXi/vSphere.  Lets you take snapshots of the VMs as well, so you can always revert if you need to.  Just house the vital data elsewhere (like FreeNas) and have backups.