I've not yet tried Software RAID 1 with Centos 4.x but I've done so with
Fedora Core 1 / X86-32 so I'd assume that my comments would apply.
I tend to prefer software RAID simply because then I'm not locked to a
specific vendor/controller. If a hardware failure occurs that takes out the
controller but leaves at least one of the HDDs ok, I can take one software
RAID HDD, stick it into another controller, and have a working system in very
short order. Hardware RAID frequently does not have this advantage.
When I've set up RAID, I did so with the RH installer, and have always picked
RAID1. (RAID5 is a joke for SW RAID) I've set up a number of RAID installs
with "boot/root" and extensions using the Software RAID howto. (google it)
Experimentally, I've set up a RAID array, removed one drive, booted, shutdown,
and then replaced it with the other. Both drives booted fine, so there
doesn't appear to be any particular issue with grub. When done, I had to
resync the drives (again, see the Software RAID howto)
The only time I ran into trouble is that when you set up a RAID array, you
have to have all the partitions installed on the machine at setup time. It
seems you can't add active partitions after the fact.
Other than that, in 5 cases, it's been basically perfect for me, and I plan to
deploy Centos 4.x/Software RAID/Boot-root again sometime next month.
Hope this helps, =)
-Ben
On Thursday 20 October 2005 07:59, Steve Bergman wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I have a client that insists on going with software rather than hardware
> raid1 to save a few dollars.
>
> Can Centos 4.2 do Boot and Root on software Raid1?
>
> I've heard criticisms of Grub and bootable RAID. Also, if it is not set
> up to work out of the box, I'd like to try to talk them out of it.
>
> I've been down that road before. If I go nonstandard, by the time I
> actually need to boot from the second drive in an emergency, I've
> forgotten the special procedure.
>
> (Why can't businesses just spend a few extra dollars to do things right?!)
>
> Thanks for any info.
>
> -Steve
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