[luau] videl.ics.hawaii.edu disk failure - a detente

[R.Scott Belford]

On Thursday, December 4, 2003, at 11:45 AM, Warren Togami wrote:

> It is this kind of attitude and your lack of sound technical knowledge 
> from which you make hard-headed assumptions that really angers me.  
> This makes me question if I really want to continue contributing to 
> this group.
>
> Granted I make a lot of stubborn decisions too, but I believe I have 
> the technical correctness to back it up, so I am correct at least 95% 
> of the time.
>
> It is inherently problematic that we continue to attack each other 
> personally like this.  Let us meet in person for lunch after finals 
> and try to work this out once and for all.


This was not how this thread was supposed to evolve.  I am, by all 
definitions, only intermediate in my evolving knowledge of Linux, and I 
have never claimed differently.  I am an impassioned student, though, 
and I am devoted to making my "knowledge" as knowable as possible by as 
many as possible.  Hence my 400 + hours devoted to HOSEF and the 
promotion and de-mystification of Linux to those who lack "sound 
technical knowledge."  I am average, but I am trying to build our local 
community in my own humble way.

Videl has been your baby and your gift to the community, and I know 
that all are grateful.  I regret infringing on your turf by offering a 
drive that was not what you wanted.  I took your comments seriously, 
though, and I have spent some time investigating my lack of knowledge.  
I just don't see that it really matters if the drives do not match.  We 
software raid partitions, not drives.  Fdisking a 60 gb partition as 
type FD and correcting the /etc/raidtab to reflect the new partition's 
location is all that is needed to add redundancy to Videl.  Redundancy 
that seems to have been missing for weeks now.  If, in doing so, we 
leave 100gb of my gift on the table, that seems like my problem.

Some of you may know that we are in the process of adding a dual 
athlon, 1gb ram, mega-box to our arsenal.  This is an older, spare 
machine at Pricebusters that I am buying from Pricebusters and giving 
to HOSEF.  Once in the rack, thanks to the kind efforts of Brian Chee, 
it will be offloading a lot of Videl's burden.  At this point, we are 
due for some server downtime while drives and mirrors are moved.  A 
good time, it seemed, to add the yet-to-be-given matching 160gb drive.

It seemed Warren, and I regret my mistake, that my drive was a good 
compromise between your desire to replace the 60gb drive and Vince's 
suggestion to add two, new, higher capacity drives.  My drive could add 
redundancy while we waited on the community to help with the other.  
When the community contributed another drive, we could then combine it 
with the other 160 gb in Videl.  I have already offered to front the 
community $ for the other drive.

The end result is 100 gb more than you asked for in Videl, and I am 
offering to pay for it.  The hosef server would take over mirroring and 
lists, and it appears that we would move the 120gb mirror from videl to 
hosef.  This leaves Videl much less burdened than it is with a lot more 
storage.  I just don't see the problem, there.

True, the array will run at the speed of the older drive.  That is my 
loss.  When we add another drive, they will run at the speed of the new 
drive.  Our gain.  Software raid on a standard ata controller permits 
this.  Tonight we could add the new drive and enjoy the peace of mind 
redundancy brings while we wait on more contributions.  I never meant 
for my gift to be a reflection of my "hard-headed" personality or to 
compel you to question if you "want to continue contributing to this 
group."  I really was just trying to find a solution.  I have found all 
else that ensued very confusing and somewhat discouraging.  I am 
definitely sorry if I seemed disrespectful of all that you have done or 
of your expertise status.

The direction of serial ata drives and a 3ware controller is 
compelling, though, and if immediate redundancy is not an urgent 
concern, perhaps the drive can be exchanged for a serial one and you 
can wait for other contributions, if that is your choice.  The drive is 
HOSEF's now, so let's just figure out the best way to apply it or its 
credit.


for those wondering what the heck software raid is or how to do it, 
Daniel Robbins has a great article, with references, at


http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-raid1/index.html


--scott

success without humility is simply an indulgence in arrogance

R. Scott Belford
Chair and more - The Hawaii Open Source Education Foundation
PO Box 392
Kailua, HI 96734
808.689.6518
scott at hosef.org