I'm about to build a Red Hat file server for home usage -- mp3s, backups,
and possibly home directories. I'm planning to buy a pair of large
(120gb, probably) HD's and run them RAID1. The machine is an old PII/400
with 64 or 128mb of RAM (can't remember).
I want the OS on the RAID drives as well -- might as well protect the
OS from drive failure too.
I'm trying to decide:
- How to do the RAID.
- Promise RAID controller?
- PCI IDE controller and software RAID?
- Onboard IDE controller and software RAID? (and HD overlay software)
- Which OS to go with -- Red Hat 7.3 or 8.0.
Since this is a networked file server, performance will generally be
bandwidth-bound, so I'm not too worried about getting the very most out
of the RAID performance. I want to keep CPU usage low though, since it's
only a 400mhz machine and it seems like most NICs use quite a bit of
CPU on their own.
I've read the ATA RAID HOWTO at murty.net and it looks like installation
won't be *too* painful once I choose a strategy. Can anyone offer some
pointers?
Thanks.
--
scott evans :: www.antisleep.com
