Fred Nussbaum wrote:
Hi I hope someone has the answer to the next question.
I'll try.
I'm looking for a way to use a server with three OSes,
WITH ALL OSes USING (software) RAID-1.
To be specific: Windows 2003 server, SuSe Professional
and Fedora Core 3.
Oh, gawd! W2K3. Using their software RAID?
The machine works with an Intel SE7520JR2 board and
two SATA disk of equal size.
The options I've come up with are as follows:
A)
1)
- Install Windows 2003 on the first 'simple' disk with
a system/root partition and a data partition.
- Upgrade this disk from 'simple' to 'dynamic'.
- Mirror both partitions to the second disk.
This will create a dynamic disk database which
contains the 'simple' disk partition table info and
ONE 0x42 partition table entry in the MBR at sector 0.
Reverting to an 'simple' disk involves breaking the
mirror and deleting the partitions on the second disk!
No one but Microsoft understands their disk database. It won't work on
FC3 or SuSE, AFAIK.
2) Create a boot, root and swap partition for SuSe on
the first (now windows? 'dynamic') disk and mirror
those on the second disk and install the software
after this.
3) The same for Fedora Core 3.
Uh, I don't think so.
B)
1) Install Windows 2003 on the first 'simple' disk
with a system/root partition and a data partition.
2) Create a (mirrored) boot, root and swap partition
on the first disk for SuSe, but do not install!
3) Create a (mirrored) boot, root and swap partition
on the first disk for FC, but do not install!
4) Upgrade the (windows) 'simple' disk to 'dynamic'.
As soon as you invoke the Windows stuff, you're stuck.
C)
Make use of the RAID-1 option on the motherboard.
If that does a true hardware RAID, then that's the option to take. To
all OSes, it will appear as a single drive. But again, ONLY if that's
a hardware RAID.
If I do so, will I still be able to install SuSE and
FC linux?
If it's a hardware RAID, yes. The controller will only present one
"logical" drive to the OS, representing the RAID 1 you set up.
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- VitalStream, Inc. http://www.vitalstream.com -
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