[plug] Linux backup programs

[Andrew Furey]

> > Doesn't RAID 1 require me to re-format and
> re-install frig'n
> > everything from scratch?
> 
> Doesn't appear so.. can't say I've set it up myself,
> but a quick google
> search on "raid 1 linux software" raises a few
> howtos... it appears that
> the usual 'installation' procedure for RAID1 is to
> install your system
> onto one hard drive first, and then go to raid from
> there.. (you need a
> bootloader that groks raid tho)

RAID-1 conversion is easy - we did it on a production
server without a hitch. Of course I spent the previous
month streamlining the process :) The Software-RAID
howto is your friend here.

Basically, in /etc/raidtab, whatever partition is
defined as "raid-disk 0" is taken to be the master,
and all the others synchronise off it.

So you install your system onto (say) /dev/hda1, then
define /dev/hda1 to be raid-disk 0, run mkraid (with
--force if necessary, but read docs first), then from
then on you refer to the device as (say) /dev/md0,
rather than using the individual devices at all.

As far as bootloaders, LILO for one won't allow the
kernel to be on a mirrored device. So you'll need a
separate non-mirrored /boot partition (but you may
have this anyway depending on your disk size). Not
sure about other bootloaders.

HTH
Andrew

=====
In a world without walls and fences, who needs windows and gates?

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