Configuring RAID

Raynair · 05-15-2007, 05:57 PM

Hello everyone. I'm a last quarter networking student and I volunteered to work on setting up RAID as part of our huge course project. What I need to know is how exactly to set up RAID-5. This project includes 5 school campuses with about 250 workstations per campus. We wanted to run RAID to back up all of our servers at the main campus, which includes an FTP, Web, Application, DHCP/DNS, Database, and Mail server. This is something we never went into detail about and was never fully explained how to setup RAID.

If anyone could point me to a good article or if anyone could list out steps to setting this up it would be much appreciated.

newhouse1390 · 05-16-2007, 07:26 AM

When you are working with production systems in any environment you need to test the implementation, even if this is a project, it still requires vigorous testing and planning.

Given your limited knowledge on the subject I would suggest a mentor to assist in this operation. However since you are already on the task here is a little bit on RAID configurations.

If you are Running Windows Servers the "mirrored volumes" can be easily created from the Disk Management utility.

This is a good resource but you are past the first few steps.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/tec.../2005/05/RAID/

Good Luck!

Chevy · 05-21-2007, 12:45 AM

Just a few things:

1 - RAID is not a form of backup, it is a form of redundancy - Redundant Array of Inexpensive (sometimes read as Independent) Disks.

2 - Mirroring (or any other RAID implementation) should only be done via Software (read: Windows Disk Manager) as a last resort. Always use a RAID add-on card (or RAID supporting motherboard) so the array is managed at the hardware level.

**Cellus** · 05-22-2007, 12:40 AM

First and foremost, and this can not be reinforced enough, is that - as Chevy said - Software RAID should only be used as a last resort. It is slow and relatively unreliable (when reliability is key for fault tolerance). You really should be using Hardware RAID controllers, built into a motherboard or as an add-on, for any production environment (as in live, not test). Period.

RAID 5 (striped with parity) provides a blend of fault tolerance and performance. This is good when you need both, however it does not by any means excel at either one of them. You must also have three HDDs to assemble an array. Before you choose to use RAID 5 though, you should truly look into what the priorities are - if you, for example, decide to use RAID 5 via software, the performance hit is severe. Also due to its complexity, some RAID controllers (lower-end models) may not support it. RAID 5 is a good all-round array with decent fault tolerance and performance, however it does suffer when there is a lot of writing. If a server is under heavy load and does a lot of writing, and you need fault tolerance, then you should instead use RAID 1. If you do not need any fault tolerance (trusting your backups), then there is RAID 0.

RAID 1 (mirrored) provides good fault tolerance, however its performance is less than RAID 5. It's simple (supported by pretty much any RAID controller under the sun, including software), however it isn't very space-effective. To get one-drive's worth of space requires two drives (for mirroring).

For your first-time out, you should definitely get assistance from someone who has experience to show you how to properly set things up.

crazijoe · 05-22-2007, 06:46 AM

Normally RAID 5 arrays are used for shared data. A better backup stratagy would be some sort of offsite backup. Beit tape or online. Something that will get you backup and running incase of fire or AOG.

As above stated, Hardware RAID is your best chioce. Especially with the size topography as you have stated.

Quote:

This is something we never went into detail about and was never fully explained how to setup RAID.

If anyone could point me to a good article or if anyone could list out steps to setting this up it would be much appreciated.

Hardware RAID arrays can be vendor specific as the process of configuring the array.

05-15-2007, 05:57 PM	#1 (permalink)
Raynair Registered User Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 1 OS: XP Pro	Configuring RAID Hello everyone. I'm a last quarter networking student and I volunteered to work on setting up RAID as part of our huge course project. What I need to know is how exactly to set up RAID-5. This project includes 5 school campuses with about 250 workstations per campus. We wanted to run RAID to back up all of our servers at the main campus, which includes an FTP, Web, Application, DHCP/DNS, Database, and Mail server. This is something we never went into detail about and was never fully explained how to setup RAID. If anyone could point me to a good article or if anyone could list out steps to setting this up it would be much appreciated.

05-16-2007, 07:26 AM	#2 (permalink)
newhouse1390 Member, Networking Team Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Ohio Posts: 1,040 OS: Windows Server 2003	Re: Configuring RAID When you are working with production systems in any environment you need to test the implementation, even if this is a project, it still requires vigorous testing and planning. Given your limited knowledge on the subject I would suggest a mentor to assist in this operation. However since you are already on the task here is a little bit on RAID configurations. If you are Running Windows Servers the "mirrored volumes" can be easily created from the Disk Management utility. This is a good resource but you are past the first few steps. http://www.microsoft.com/technet/tec.../2005/05/RAID/ Good Luck! __________________ Because you can read this thank a teacher, because it's English thank a soldier.

05-21-2007, 12:45 AM	#3 (permalink)
Chevy Retired Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Notlob Posts: 5,452 OS: Vista Ultimate My System	Re: Configuring RAID Just a few things: 1 - RAID is not a form of backup, it is a form of redundancy - Redundant Array of Inexpensive (sometimes read as Independent) Disks. 2 - Mirroring (or any other RAID implementation) should only be done via Software (read: Windows Disk Manager) as a last resort. Always use a RAID add-on card (or RAID supporting motherboard) so the array is managed at the hardware level.

05-22-2007, 12:40 AM	#4 (permalink)
Cellus Moderator Networking Team Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Canada Posts: 2,664 OS: Windows Vista Business SP1, Windows XP Professional SP3 My System	Re: Configuring RAID First and foremost, and this can not be reinforced enough, is that - as Chevy said - Software RAID should only be used as a last resort. It is slow and relatively unreliable (when reliability is key for fault tolerance). You really should be using Hardware RAID controllers, built into a motherboard or as an add-on, for any production environment (as in live, not test). Period. RAID 5 (striped with parity) provides a blend of fault tolerance and performance. This is good when you need both, however it does not by any means excel at either one of them. You must also have three HDDs to assemble an array. Before you choose to use RAID 5 though, you should truly look into what the priorities are - if you, for example, decide to use RAID 5 via software, the performance hit is severe. Also due to its complexity, some RAID controllers (lower-end models) may not support it. RAID 5 is a good all-round array with decent fault tolerance and performance, however it does suffer when there is a lot of writing. If a server is under heavy load and does a lot of writing, and you need fault tolerance, then you should instead use RAID 1. If you do not need any fault tolerance (trusting your backups), then there is RAID 0. RAID 1 (mirrored) provides good fault tolerance, however its performance is less than RAID 5. It's simple (supported by pretty much any RAID controller under the sun, including software), however it isn't very space-effective. To get one-drive's worth of space requires two drives (for mirroring). For your first-time out, you should definitely get assistance from someone who has experience to show you how to properly set things up. __________________ TSF Networking Team Virus/Trojan/Spyware Removal Help Donate! Last edited by Cellus; 05-22-2007 at 12:42 AM.