How to Software RAID?

[JazDigital]

I need direction (major UNIX newbie) on creating a Software RAID 1 set on an SCO server 5.0.6. I have a root drive that is in production and I'm afraid of losing the HDD.

Can I use VDM with a drive that already has data on it?

Thanks,

Jaz

 

[apeasecpc]

How are you backing up your system now?

RAID is not a good backup solution, and if you are hoping to use RAID as a substitute for proper backups, you are asking for trouble. I have a friend who is in the data recovery business, who has seen many cases where someone's RAID did not accurately detect when a drive had failed, and as a result all of their redundancy was wiped out.

If you have a good backup solution you shouldn't be worried about the HD failing because if that happens you just pop in a new one and restore your backup, and you're back up in just a couple of hours.

If your system is so critical that you really do need to have it mirrored, you probably would be better off with a hardware solution.