[SunHELP] Disk Layout Issues...

[Mike's List]

It really depends, if you want some sort of a "backup" then mirroring would
be nice.  I believe what SDS mentioned is that if you have all your metadb
on two disks on the same controller, there's a high factor or no failover
or safe recovery.  Usually you want to spread your metadb over multiple
disks on multiple controllers.  But then it really depends on what you're
doing (high server environment or just hobby/project web site).

Basic disk layout

slice 0 /			free hog
slice 1	swap			at least the size of your memory (for core
		dump, but usually twice the size of memory to be safe)
slice 2 (do not touch)
slice 3 /var			4G if you have 40Gigs to play with
		main thing is you want /var on own slice for security
slice 4 5mb-10mb for metadb

http://info.rutgers.edu/Techdir/solarisbody.html
the above is a bit outdated I think...


- Mike


On Sun, 14 Oct 2001, Michael Vang wrote:

> I'm assuming that having 2 disks versus 1 is better for a server
> layout...
> 
> Would having / on disk 1 and /export/home on disk 2 be best?
> 
> Or is there another layout, possibly with SDS, that is better...
> 
> I figure using 2 swap slices is a good idea, too...
> 
> I have the opportunity to purchase either 1 80GB disk or 2 40GB disks
> for my U5...
> 
> I've already purchased the bracket for the 2nd disk, so I am leaning
> towards the 2 disk approach...
> 
> I looked into mirroring, but it looks like a hack on the U5...
> 
> -----
> When using Solstice DiskSuite 4.1 software, it is recommended that you
> have a minimum of three metadevice databases to maintain a "quorum." It
> is further recommended that the databases be maintained on different
> disks, which would require three IDE hard drives in the system. Because
> the Ultra 5 system can support only two hard drives, only two metadevice
> databases are possible. This limitation has a known impact.
> 
> Solstice DiskSuite software will function with only two disks and two
> database replicas. However, if one disk fails, there is not a quorum. No
> problem with the system will be seen until after the system is powered
> down. After the system is powered down, it will not power on and boot in
> multiuser mode without system administration intervention.
> 
> For example, if the quorum is not seen during boot due to a hard drive
> failure, the system boots in single-user mode. The problem is reported
> by the system when the machine is rebooted. The output is similar to the
> following example:
> -----
> 
> I'm worried too about the CMD PCIO646 IDE chip on the U5...
> 
> http://www.cmd.com/ApplicationNotes/0646UDesignTips.pdf
> 
> Apparently there are issues with DMA operation when both channels are
> active...
> 
> Any thoughts?
> 
> Anyone have a U5 with 2 disks? How does it perform?
> 
> This is for my new project: http://www.teamprimerib.com/freeshell.html
> 
> Thanks!
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