[Gllug] Server setup

[Jan Kokoska]

On Mon, 2004-12-13 at 00:51 +0000, Jan Kokoska wrote:
> On Sun, 2004-12-12 at 23:34 +0000, George Wright wrote:
> 
> > How does one go about setting up a RAID-1 mirroring array between the 2 80GB 
> > IDE drives? Do I install as normal on one drive then set up the RAID or do I 
> > need to do it when I actually install?
> 
> Anytime, doesn't matter. Create identical partitions on both disks (I
> set 500 MB swap first, 200 MB / next, the rest /usr where /tmp
> -> /usr/TMP, /var -> /usr/VAR, /home -> /usr/HOME, reasons behind it,
> doesn't matter). 
> 
> If they differ in size, check you have same disk geometry, if not, force
> it with fdisk (make second like first). Rare problem, I hit it of
> course, you might be more lucky.
> 
> Set partition types to FD : Linux raid autodetect (cfdisk is your
> friend).
> 
> Traditionally, I has been recommended against putting your swap space on
> SW RAID, so don't do it. Set up two swapspaces instead ('mkswap',
> 'swapon' and editing '/etc/fstab' are helpful).
> 
> Create SW RAIDs:
> mdadm --create /dev/md0 --level=1 --raid-devices=2 /dev/hda2 /dev/hdc2
> 
> That is if you actually put swaps first on /dev/hda1 and /dev/hdc1,
> respectively.

Ooops, shortcut magic burnt me now, sent by mistake (tired, too).

Anyway, RAID for /usr is the same..

Ah, and if you want to create RAID with existing system on one of the
dissk, you need to mark *the oter* partitions failed, when adding, to it
synces in the right direction.

Generally, 'man mdadm'.

> 
> > Another thing is I'd like to be able to hook the machine up to a phone line so 
> > I can use it as a dial in server so that if I'm totally internet-less I can 
> > always phone in using my mobile and bluetooth and gain access that way... 
> > What would be the best way to set this up? Will it render the phone line 
> > useless for incoming voice calls or faxes?

Magic. Your modem should have IN and OUT lines, so connect your normal
phone to OUT and cable form your ISP to IN. Obviously, when you're
connected, the phone will just hear some high-pitched squeeking.. I
doubt this is possible, what you ask for.


> > Also, I'd want to use the server as some sort of network storage device for 
> > backup of important data as it'll be the only machine with redundancy. Would 
> > NFS be best or are there other better solutions out there that I could use?
> > 

NFS is fine, but I prefer to check the stuff into subversion repository.
That is *far* safer and you can check it out anywhere (as long as you
know the password) and maintain multiple versions. It is harder, but if
you are developer, you need it anyway.

Regards,
Jan

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