Separate Boot Drive

[jeffkelly]

Regarding a server with a RAID 5 array, is it better to boot from a drive separate from the RAID controller or boot directly from the RAID array (C drive being a 2 gig partition on the RAID)?

 

[TheLad]

In my opinion, it is foolish to boot any server from anything other than a RAID array (whether that be a RAID1, RAID5 etc...) because you have fault tolerance in this configuration which is not present in a single disk setup.

Booting off a separate disk would mean that if that disk failed in any way, your server would also fail and would require a rebuild. What are the chances of that happening? It is quite common and not worth the risk of having the server unavailable to your business.

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"Insert funny comment in here!"
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[marvhuffaker]

The only way I would buy off on doing it on a separate disk is if it is also in a RAID setup, at least a RAID 1 Mirror.

Leaving the SYS drive and Boot drive non-redundant is very foolish way to configure a server since the server will not boot or be functional without them.

Marvin Huffaker, MCNE

http://www.redjuju.com

 

[jeffkelly]

Thanks for the feedback. I certainly understand the need for redundancy....and I want to do the installation right the first time.

J