I'm setting up new linux boxes, hoping to install whatever OS I choose to a software RAID array. I've got 4 identical SATA drives, and would ideally like to use RAID-10. I've read a bunch of slightly stale How-To docs, and have a few questions. (1) Can Linux boot from /boot on RAID-10? Oldest info I found said no boot from RAID at all, then more recent docs said boot from RAID-1 works. I found nothing on RAID-10. What's the latest sccop on this? (2) As far as I can tell, none of the installers in Centos, Ubuntu or Opensuse are RAID-10 aware. Seems like the sanest way to get setup would be to boot from SystemRescueCD, do the partitioning and RAID creation, then re-boot from an installer disk using the pre-setup disks. Am I missing some other, simpler approach? (3) Assuming that I'll have to boot from RAID-1 (Just suspect that RAID-10 is not yet an option for /boot, but willing to be shown wrong!), I'm considering 3 partitioning/raid_config options, (a) DISK1 DISK2 DISK3 DISK4 [ RAID-1 /boot ] [ RAID-1 swap ] [ RAID-10 LVM, /root & 'other' parts ] (b) DISK1 DISK2 DISK3 DISK4 [ RAID-1 /boot ] [ RAID-1 swap ] [ RAID-10 LVM, /root & 'other' parts ] (c) DISK1 DISK2 DISK3 DISK4 [ RAID-1 /boot ] [ RAID-10 LVM, /root, swap & 'other' ] Are there any clear benefits/concerns of one config over the other? (4) In setting up the RAID arrays, I've got a choice of metadata versions. It seems that the distros' installers default to "1.0", but that "1.1" & "1.2" are both available, too. Should I just use the newest, 1.2? Any problems if I do? (5) In whatever config is "best" in (3), above, is it still good advice to install the bootlader into multiple MBRs? For example, if I extend the RAID-1 over all 4-disks, then, I install the loader into all four MBRs? I think these are the last details I need to iron out before getting started. Thanks for any help! Ben -- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-raid" in the body of a message to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
