Hi all,
I'm a complete linux noob, very much at the low end of the learning curve, and I'm seeking some advice. I've set up Red Hat 9 on a system that I'm running as a server. I'm considering switching to another distribution, since support for RH9 is ending very soon. My big concerns are these:

1)I have two 250GB drives in a software RAID-0 array in my RH server.
2)These drives are running on a Highpoint Rocket 133 IDE controller.

It would kinda suck if I lost all my data on this array. Do all linux distros use the same RAID implementations, so that another distro would easily recognize and work with this existing array?

Also, it was a breeze getting this setup to run on RH9, as it already had native support for the IDE controller. How much of a pain (for a noob) is it going to be to get this thing to work on another distro?

Furthermore, I guess the all-encompassing question....what is a noob-friendly distro that I should be looking toward? I'm tending to think I might go toward Fedora, since it's allegedly related to RH9, and so therefore wouldn't be too hard to set up.

any advice regarding this predicament would be appreciated!

If you found installation easy with RH, Mandrake should be a snap. There is not likely any rush to switch as "support" from RH is hardly necessary after an installation of Linux. It just keeps on running. If you are concerned about upgrading individual packages to keep up with bug fixes, you can use RPMfind.net or the organizations releasing the bug fixes to keep up to date.

If you upgrade, or switch distros, you need a major backup of your data. The installation is its own backup. Just document any patching or upgrading of packages that you do. Your data should be in /home or /var or someplace you know about. CDs, DVDs and harddrives are the best means of backup. For safety, it helps if the backup is on another machine so a single disaster does not kill your data. Installations of any seriousness should have a backup server on which you can mirror your data. A failure of one server then means a quick switch to the other will keep you going. If your server is expensive the backup could be a lesser machine to keep costs down while maintaining data and some level of service. If your data is important, you should be using RAID1 which has some redundancy. In RAID0, a single disc failure could cost you a lot of trouble.

"Do all linux distros use the same RAID implementations, so that another distro would easily recognize and work with this existing array?"

Yes.

"These drives are running on a Highpoint Rocket 133 IDE controller."

HighPoint probably has the best Linux support of any controller manufacturer.


"Furthermore, I guess the all-encompassing question....what is a noob-friendly distro that I should be looking toward? I'm tending to think I might go toward Fedora, since it's allegedly related to RH9, and so therefore wouldn't be too hard to set up. "

If you use Fedora then use Fedora Core 1. Fedora Core 2 is not stable enough yet to use in a production environment.

If you want vendor support then I recommend that you buy SuSE. If you want a free distribution then I recommend Fedora.

Whatever you install, install it in parallel to your Red Hat system and dual boot until your new system is stable.

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Steve Stites