[CentOS] settings up cheap a NAS / SAN server, is it possible?

Wed Jul 2 13:50:33 UTC 2008
Rudi Ahlers <Rudi at SoftDux.com>

nate wrote:
> Rudi Ahlers wrote:
>
>   
>> I think my action plan now will be to figure out how to install CentOS
>> on a USB memory stick and make it boot on any machine (making it easy to
>> replace if need be), and then to play around with the RAID a bit and see
>> how well it works.
>>     
>
> Another option you may want to consider is a PATA->CF adapter. I use
> these for my OpenBSD firewalls and have them installed on 1GB CF cards.
> Performance should be better? Compatibility certainly is better, there's
> no way I could boot to USB off these aging P3-800 systems. The CF cards
> just show up as regular HDs
>
> I use these ($7):
> http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=SY-ADIDE2CF-B1&cpc=SCH
>
> Paired with Lexar CF cards. Not all CF is created equal, well maybe it is
> today. I found my Lexar CF cards were 5-10x faster than my Kingston cards
> of the same size, which surprised me. Not that I need high performance in
> firewalls that do no disk I/O but it was painful for the OS install to
> take hours(Kingston) instead of minutes(Lexar). Both pairs of CF cards
> are a few years old, today maybe everything out there is reasonably
> fast.
>
> At least with the above adapters be aware that those adapters above
> do stick up. I think a 2U chassis can fit them(I have tons of experience
> in supermicro systems). But no guarantees. You may need another adapter
> or perhaps a male to female IDE cable so that you can mount it another
> way in the chassis.
>
> I suppose you could even get two and run RAID.
>
> Just don't put your swap on the flash if you can avoid it.
>
> nate
>
>
> ______________________________________________
Thanx, nate

That's a good suggestion, but I think the USB memory sticks could work 
better / more reliable, and will be easier to access in the cabinet. 
I'll play around with it a bit and see how it works.

-- 

Kind Regards
Rudi Ahlers
CEO, SoftDux

Web:   http://www.SoftDux.com
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