hw vs sw raid (was Re: [TriLUG] RAID newbie question...)

[Jason Tower]

On Monday 04 August 2003 15:19, Roy Vestal wrote:
> <shameless plug>
> yeah but for the right $$$, Jason may have 2 controllers sitting
> around. At least I know he has some SCSI ones.
> </shameless plug>

<even more shameless plug>
actually, what i do have is several dell optiplex p133/166 systems that 
make spanky backup machines.  they accomodate large disks (up to 
120gb), run just fine headless, and are very quiet.  install your 
favorite distro, set up samba and/or nfs, and you've got a nice little 
backup system.

another true story:  about a month ago i was clearing out some old files 
on my main server.  i change into my archive directory and intended to 
remove an old copy of var by typing 'rm -rf var/' but instead i type 
'rm -rf /var'.  fun and hilarity ensued.  fortunately, all i had to do 
to correct my mistake was ssh in to my trusty backup box and restore 
the /var directory from my nightly backup.  all i lost was three or 
four messages in my inbox.  note that a raid 1 setup would have been of 
no help in a situation like this.  backup servers rule!

jason