RAID Advice for a New Server 2

[JohnBates]

hi experts,

I'm trying to advise my I.T. manager on just what we need
for this new server - it will be an HP, but I'll just pretend (and wish) that it will be an IBM x-series

If the server has a total of 5 (72GB) SCSI hard drives:

1. Would it be better to dedicate the Operating System (Windows 2000 Server) to 1 drive?
2. Should the OS be on a RAID 1 config? RAID 0 ?

3. The 4 remaining drives can be RAID 5 and can have the SQL Server databases installed there, right?

4. Or should we just have a single RAID 5 array and have OS and databases on it? I don't think this is the preferred route myself.


I'm a database administrator so I'm looking for a simple configuration. We are a small dept. and I need something our small team can understand and support.

Thanks for your recommendations.
John

 

[rclarke250]

Raid 1 for OS, raid 5 for Data. That is the method used most often.

 

[JohnBates]

Thanks rclarke250. I've read some of your posts in this forum and I respect your opinion.

I've never used RAID 1, only RAID 5.

Can RAID 1 work if just 1 HDD is configured for RAID 1?

thanks. John

 

[scsiraid]

You need 2 drives for RAID 1.

 

[rclarke250]

scsiraid is right, you will want 2 logical drives, 1 with 2 hdd in a raid 1, and 1 logical drive with 3 hdd's in a raid 5. You also might want to think about adding a 6th hdd as a HS. And thank you for the kind words.

 

[JG5]

We usually do an 8 gig Raid ADG for the OS, a dedicated 4 gig Raid 5 for the swap partition and the remaining balance Raid 5. We were doing Raid 5 on the OS and Raid 0 on the swap, but we've lost data "nearly every time" HP sends out a tech to swap a drive because they don't know what they're doing most of the time. We've found that ADG and Raid 5 method offers the most protection, particularly for many servers located around the country that are centrally managed.

 

[JohnBates]

thanks JG5. wow, pretty impressive.

I'm limited to a total of 6 drives so I will probaby
go with a config. of: 2 drives for O/S and swap file, 4 RAID 5 drives for the databases.

A hot-swappable spare would be nice but since I'm limited to only 6, may as well be using all of them to get better performance.

John

 

[JG5]

No problem at all. Acutally, the configuration I mentioned was specifically for file and print servers. If you're going to be running Exchange, you definitely want separate drives for your log files and databases. What will be the function of the server?

 

[JohnBates]

What will be the function of the server?"

Strictly a Microsoft SQL Server database server. No Exchange or web use on it.

Thanks.

 

[technome]

Good posting on raid1 and 5, bit old but relavant

http://searchstorage.discussions.techtarget.com/WebX?14@399.8ZjPbuYLBlC.0@.ee83ce3/417

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Chernobyl disaster..a must see pictorial

http://www.kiddofspeed.com/default.htm