Can Windows Server 2003 build RAID over SAN?
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We have got a requirement to deliver a redundancy solution using SAN. Let's say we are going to build two RAID 5 arrays and then mirror them to a RAID 1. I have a hardware solution that can build two RAID 5, but they cannot build a mirror on the top of them. I have a number of questions: 1) Can Windows Server 2003 build a RAID over SAN at all? 2) Can Windows Server 2003 build RAID 1 on the top of, in other words mirror, two RAID 5? 2) If I power off one RAID 5 and power it on again, can Windows 2003 rebuild the entire or part of this RAID 5 via the mirror? Regards,
Best, Jun
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We have got a requirement to deliver a redundancy solution using SAN. Let's say we are going to build two RAID 5 arrays and then mirror them to a RAID 1. I have a hardware solution that can build two RAID 5, but they cannot build a mirror on the top of them. I have a number of questions: 1) Can Windows Server 2003 build a RAID over SAN at all? 2) Can Windows Server 2003 build RAID 1 on the top of, in other words mirror, two RAID 5? 2) If I power off one RAID 5 and power it on again, can Windows 2003 rebuild the entire or part of this RAID 5 via the mirror? Regards,
Best, Jun
First, if you're looking at a software based solution for RAID (i.e. Windows), you're screwing yourself performance-wise. You should really be directing this question to SAN vendors to see what they can offer.
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We have got a requirement to deliver a redundancy solution using SAN. Let's say we are going to build two RAID 5 arrays and then mirror them to a RAID 1. I have a hardware solution that can build two RAID 5, but they cannot build a mirror on the top of them. I have a number of questions: 1) Can Windows Server 2003 build a RAID over SAN at all? 2) Can Windows Server 2003 build RAID 1 on the top of, in other words mirror, two RAID 5? 2) If I power off one RAID 5 and power it on again, can Windows 2003 rebuild the entire or part of this RAID 5 via the mirror? Regards,
Best, Jun
Read this[^], specifically looking at RAID 1+0 and RAID 0+1, these seem to be doing what your asking, just not in software though generally.
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We have got a requirement to deliver a redundancy solution using SAN. Let's say we are going to build two RAID 5 arrays and then mirror them to a RAID 1. I have a hardware solution that can build two RAID 5, but they cannot build a mirror on the top of them. I have a number of questions: 1) Can Windows Server 2003 build a RAID over SAN at all? 2) Can Windows Server 2003 build RAID 1 on the top of, in other words mirror, two RAID 5? 2) If I power off one RAID 5 and power it on again, can Windows 2003 rebuild the entire or part of this RAID 5 via the mirror? Regards,
Best, Jun
If you are looking at a SAN based solution - it probably means you have a lot of data and need lots of features (like iSCSI with pass-through write capability). Otherwise, you could use a NAS device with SATA disks. First of all (as mentioned in an earlier response) do NOT use a software based RAID solution. Secondly, if high-availability is important, go with RAID6 and not RAID5. If there will be a lot of I/O on the array, you need a performance boost. My overall advice: don't build one yourself. Purchase a NetApp (with their really cool RAID DP) or HP StorageWorks unit. We purchased an HP StorageWorks MSA2012i. Our configuration has 2.7TB usable space and uses a RAID6 array with dual controllers. I think it cost just over $7000 (with an account manager).