Re: [cobalt-users] Is is possible to "mirror" RAQ2s?

["Steven Werby" <steven-lists@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Zero Z. Batzell Dean <zero@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> After looking into "affordable" hard drive backup options for the RAQ2, I
> discovered there weren't any (correct me if I'm wrong here).

Do you have any backup plan in place at all currently?  At a minimum you can
manually FTP your critical system and site files to an off-server location like
your PC (or Mac).  An experienced Linux admin could quickly write you scripts
for backing up your files using tar and gzip for system and data files and
mysqldump for MySQL data files.  Creating a crontab entry to run the scripts
will allow you to backup the files automatically at whatever times and
frequencies you desire.  Again, an experienced Linux admin could easily do this.

> Someone from this list recommend I get 2 RAQ3s and have them mirror each
> other or something.

It's overkill to buy a second server just to backup the first.  For less money
than that you could buy a more powerful 2U server with hardware RAID and
hot-swappable drives and then if a drive fails you'll have a mirrored backup
ready to go within the same unit.  The VA Linux FullOn 2240
(http://www.valinux.com/systems/productinfo.html?product=16#raid) lists for
under $4,700 with 4 hot-swappable 9GB drives, 256MB of RAM, and a 650 mHz PIII
processor (expandable to dual processors) running Redhat 6.2.  There are other
similar hardware options available also from other vendors.

> My question is, what can I do with my current RAQ2 to backup the data?  Can
> I just get a second RAQ2?  Can I get a RAQ3 and link it to a RAQ2?

I'm somewhat familiar with your main site and I don't get the feeling that the
site's files are so critical that losing a day's worth of updates and
modifications is the end of the world.  If that's true, then I just recommend a
simple backup system (like the plan I described at the top of the email) to
backup the files locally on the server and then either manually transfer them
via FTP or an encrytped protocol to a PC/Mac, second server you have access to
or a virtual hosting account somewhere else.  An additional script can even be
written in conjunction with some open source software to automatically transfer
your backups to an offsite location via FTP and even generate the backups and
send off-site on the fly.

> I want to go the cheapest route that allows me to reliable backup data on
> my server.

The method I described is cheap.  An experienced system admin could create a
custom backup system for you to meet your needs in very little time (definitely
under an hour).  You'll also want a recovery plan.  A backup plan makes little
sense without a recovery plan that is easily understood by the person who will
need to carry it out.  I prefer to break my server files I'll be backing up into
10-20 backup files depending on the server.  By keeping the backups small I
avoid transferring 1 gigabyte files across the internet or my network and
extracting single files, multiple files and entire directories can be done
quickly and easily.  No matter what backup plan you choose you'll want to make
sure you're comfortable recovering the files so that when HD crash #3 occurs
you'll be ready.  BTW, it might not be a bad idea to buy a 2nd HD and take out
your current drive and mirror it to the 2nd drive and keep that drive handy to
drop in when the drive crashes.  Otherwise you'll need to wait several days for
a HD to be air-mailed from Cobalt or have your colocation facility provide you a
second server when the drive crashes.

> That way if I lose a hard drive, I don't lose thousands of
> dollars worth of data... but unfortunately, I don't have thousands of
> dollars to spend on backing it up...  (but I WILL consider a second server
> if that's an option... though if you ask me, it seems ridiculous I can't
> just hook up a second Hard DRIVE and mirror one drive to the other...)

The RaQ2 wasn't designed for mirroring.  The RaQ4 has software RAID built-in so
if you like the ease of use of the GUI, the support from the friendly users on
this site and are comfortable with software RAID (probably would be more than
sufficient for you) you might want to look into it.  I hope my comments help.
If I can be of further assistance let me know.

Steven Werby {steven-lists@xxxxxxxxxxxx}