Therese Trudeau wrote: > > > You are definitely making your life more difficult then is needed > > for a desktop machine. > > > > You said you have 4 hard disks. Make a software RAID1 out of the > > first two. Make a software RAID1 out of the second two and your > > good to go. > > > > You can use dump/restore to backup the logical volumes on the second > > RAID set to an LV on the first. > > > > No need for bare metal restore. Just need to get some working Linux > > distro to be able to read your files. > > > > Going HW RAID for your desktop is going to get in the way of you > > getting things going and if your HW RAID card fails then what? Your > > drives will only work with another identical HW RAID card. > > > > -Ross > > That makes total sense Ross, I think I may end up going with software > raid and investing in a good hot swap redundant power supply that > would fit into an ATX case, combined with a good UPS. > > That brings up a last question on possiblity of either a 3ware or > acrea RAID 1 cards. I'm wondering how long I would be able to order > a replacement RAID card from either of 3ware or areea. Anyone know > if 3ware or acrea stock identical replacement cards for their SATA > 4 port raid cards for several years out? Do they stock past the > three year warranty period? The problem with this is if you buy the previous generation card because it's cheap and vendors stop selling it then you may be SOL. -Ross ______________________________________________________________________ This e-mail, and any attachments thereto, is intended only for use by the addressee(s) named herein and may contain legally privileged and/or confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient of this e-mail, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this e-mail, and any attachments thereto, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error, please immediately notify the sender and permanently delete the original and any copy or printout thereof.