[CentOS] "multi-boot" drive partitioning

redhat at mckerrs.net redhat at mckerrs.net
Tue Dec 18 06:07:24 UTC 2007


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Frank Cox" <theatre at sasktel.net> 
To: "CentOS mailing list" <centos at centos.org> 
Cc: redhat at mckerrs.net 
Sent: Tuesday, December 18, 2007 3:42:56 PM (GMT+1000) Australia/Brisbane 
Subject: Re: [CentOS] "multi-boot" drive partitioning 

On Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:32:37 +1000 (EST) 
"redhat at mckerrs.net" <redhat at mckerrs.net> wrote: 

> You have another computer, which, I presume, is exactly the same as the 'live' one ? 

In this application, I have five computers. Four of them are in use, running 
24/7, doing four different jobs ranging from running a webserver to answering 
the phone to creating plates for a printing press. 

The fifth one is going to spend most of its life switched off, sitting in the 
corner, ready to swap in for any one of the other four machines. 

> I'd still bet my money on the the fact that you'd spend more time rooting around with installation, backups and restores than if you setup software mirroring and used virtualization. 

> How does this compare to your solution with regards to complexity and system 
availability ? 

Unless I'm missing something (which is highly likely) I still don't see how 
that would get me where I'm going. I don't need to have a "second copy" of 
anything running, until the "main machine" quits. I'll be quite happy to have 
the spare machine gathering dust in the corner, as long as I know it's ready to 
boot up and "assume the position" if it's needed. 

-- 
MELVILLE THEATRE ~ Melville Sask ~ http://www.melvilletheatre.com 

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The problem with machines gathering dust is that quite often they do not waken up. It is much better to have all machines active so that you know they are all working. And with your setup you will never know for sure that it is "ready to boot up" until you need it. However, that is a minor point. 

I may be missing something too, but as far as I can tell you will definitely be jumping through many undocumented hoops to get your stuff working, whereas with the centos virtualization there are truckloads of 'us' using this stuff on production servers and there is also very good documentation from upstream. 

I appreciate that you may not have the time for going the full blown virtualization route but I'd predict that any initial effort would pay handsome dividends in the future. The ease with which you can 'commission' a new vm is scary. You can also live migrate running vms etc. 


I still don't really understand your requirements or any constraints for that matter but I'm sure that your solution is, at best, a band-aid which will potentially cause you many headaches. 



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