Hot Swap Newbie

[FTL_Ian]

I'm building a server. Need to be able to hot swap failed drives, as this will be a 24/7 mission critical unit.

Is hot swap / rebuild a feature of RAID controllers on server-class mobos, or do I need to get a PCI card for this purpose?

If I need a card, do I need one card for each array of disks?

For instance, I was considering running two drives in RAID 1 for the system and two drives in RAID 1 for my storage. (Would you suggest a different configuration?)

Also, how does the rebuild feature function? For instance, my server will be playing audio 24/7. If a drive is hot swapped, will the rebuild interfere with playback?

Thanks for your help!

 

[sandmanwn]

First off I find it hard to recommend building a hot swap box for mission critical servers. You are WAY better off getting a unit through HP/Dell/etc and getting a service contract.

That being said to do a hot swap box you will need the following.
Hot swap capable raid controller. Like this.
Hot swap enclosure. Like This.
And obviously a case that can house the enclosure unless you get an external hot swap enclosure.

During the installation of the raid controller will ask you about the various raid setups you will be using and it will also ask you to set a priority for rebuilding a damaged array. Once you have done this and finished your setup if a hard drive does die then the steps are simple.
-Remove the damaged drive.
-Insert new drive.
-The array should automatically rebuild itself with the priority level you provided during your initial setup.
-Thats it

The rebuild will cause a slowdown in your system, but if you set the rebuild priority to its lowest setting the burden should be small enough to only be slightly noticeable.

 

[FTL_Ian]

First off I find it hard to recommend building a hot swap box for mission critical servers. You are WAY better off getting a unit through HP/Dell/etc and getting a service contract.

Thanks for the concern, but I like doing things myself. I plan on constructing a 2nd identical unit and rackmounting it below the main unit that I can swap the drives to in the event of a processor or other mainboard related failure. With that as a backup in addition to the RAID and redundant power supplies, I should be pretty bulletproof.

So as I understand it, one hot-swap supporting RAID card with 4 ports can handle two RAID 1 configurations?

 

[sandmanwn]

yes most controllers with 4 ports or more, hardware or software, can control two arrays at the same time.

and the above products in my link are just from a quick search. there are many more manufacturers and better deals to find.