Linux distro for dual boot, on a RAID array
 

I'm using Fedora at the moment, and I'm not quite happy with it, software issues.

I chose this distro as it saw my 'fake' RAID array, and installed on it with no fuss. I tried getting Ubuntu (I liked that distro too :rolleyes: ) to install on the array previous to trying Fedora - no joy!

If anyone could point me towards other distro's that'll install on my rig, without me having to mess about, it'd be a great help.

Thanks,

JJ.

It might be easier to resolve your software issues. There isn't any certainty that a different distro won't have the same problems. What are the software issues you are having?

Yes, I agree with forrestt

Cheers guys.

The problems I'm having? Well, if I use desktop effects, all windows open at the upper left of my screen, hiding the menu bar, and the min, max, and close buttons. It took me a day to find out I could hold Alt and drag windows (!), but having to do this is not good.

Opera has developed a phobia, and will not play! It refuses to start, it has been working fine, and now isn't. I've tried re-installing it, to no avail. Firefox, nah. dont like using it for some reason. Have used Opera for the past year.

Beryl is installed, it wont do a thing, I cant even change themes with Emerald.

I'm really hoping that there's another distro I can try. I dont mind breaking things - good job really!

I've been using Debian. I had some difficulties with Woody and Sarge, but since I started using Etch it has been good. Easy installs, everything works, etc.

Just curious because I need to set up RAID and backup on my file server, what is fake RAID? Is it RAID 1?

Good Day,
JP.

The raid controllers found on motherboards are in reality software raid, and use the CPU to handle the data, interupts and the checksum calculations, whereas a SCSI raid controller will perform all of the functions without loading down the system. Even ATA raid controller cards tend to be fake raid. SATA raid cards are OK except for the Promise raid controller card which uses the CPU to handle the redundancy calculations.

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You could also consider raid 0 to be fake raid. It simply concatenates multiple drive into a single drive. It would be better to use LVM instead.

So when you say fake RAID you mean RAID that your main CPU is involved in processing (software required). "Real" RAID would be a dedicated card in a slot or a special controller on the mother board.

Right?

Thanks,
JP.

That's the way I've been looking at it JP.

I did have a seperate HDD to use, that was donated to my son. It'd solve my probs, but not the earache from my son not having all his games installed. So it's either find another distro, or forget about Linux, and I dont want to do that.

Yes, instead of a raid controller, you actually have a drive controller, with many raid features implemented in software. The raid array on the disk isn't fake; the controller is faking it. This is partly due to the differences between an ATA vs SCSI controller. SCSI uses an actual bus and doesn't need to utilize the CPU to perform file transfers. For example, our old inserters at work would use scsi to transfer video files to the video decoders via the SCSI bus. The inserter machine was only Pentium II grade, so there would have been no way to do it without using SCSI devices.

However I would call a raid-0 array a fake raid array.

So I was right in my OP.

Do any other distros support a fake RAID array 'out of the box' appart from Fedora?

There is a way to install Debian/Ubuntu etc on fake RAID, but it's not straighforward. For some reason, Debian, even in Etch, hasn't put dmraid in the installer by default. It's there, but it's an older version and the partition manager doesn't recognize anything in /dev/mapper. Don't get me wrong: I'm a staunch Debian user, but this is something that kind of lets us down a bit.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/FakeRaidHowto

No **** :D That's some scary text my eyes have just scanned!

Cheers any way Quakeboy02

I tried another guide that used 'mdadm' while using Ububtu (alternative), I had no joy. I'm just not able to understand Linux at that level just yet, and I have a working rig (now) that I can't afford to mess up because of failure to be able to comprehend the methods required. :newbie:

Be aware that when using mdadm to make a bootable RAID, you must put a separate "/boot" primary partition on the first drive.

A hardware RAID controller is not a dedicated card. It is but it is not quite true. A hardware RAID controller contains a processor, RAM, storage controller chip, an optional XOR chip, and any miscellaneous chips to improve RAID performance. Software RAID controllers contains only the storage controller chip and software that contains RAID instructions to be copied to the main system's memory. Yes, hardware RAID controllers have a higher count of chips, but this not always the case. All the chips can be embedded in one chip and telling the difference gets harder. You have to accept the honesty of the controller brand or read the CPU usage to tell the difference. Another way to tell is the cost of the controller. Usually hardware RAID controllers cost +150 US dollars while software RAID controllers are a lot less.

RAID-0 is a type of RAID level. RAID-5 is another type of RAID level. Neither of these levels have nothing to do what is software RAID and what is hardware RAID.

Hardware RAID controllers does make a lot easier to use an OS with out causing a lot of problems like booting. 3ware controllers works in Linux with out any special software. The kernel version 2.6.14 and up supports all 3ware controllers. You can go from Windows to Linux and Linux to Windows with out any problems with the 3ware controller. You can also upgrade the kernel with out worrying if the software for 3ware can be compiled.