Re: Converting IDE RAID 1 to SATA RAID 1

Previously "JonnyCab®" <shutout39@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>> > I do see your point. Wouldn't the newer SATA controller somehow see the
> new
>> > disk and "adopt" it as its own (for the lack of a better way of
> describing
>> > the process)?
>>
>> No. If it is connected to the IDE controller no other hardware has
>> any business messing with it. It likely cannot even see it without
>> sort of "hacking" the OS driver layer.

> Hmmm...I meant to ask if the SATA controller would be able to "see" (and
> boot from) the disk created by the IDE controller once it was removed from
> the IDE controller and connected as a single drive to the SATA controller.
> I was not going to enable both controllers at the same time.

I see. Depends on whether they both use metadata or not
and if they do whether it is identical.

>> > I converted two machines from single IDE to RAID 1 by simply
>> > installing the original single drive into a new RAID 1 IDE array,
> building
>> > the array with one new disk, then removing the original disk and
> installing
>> > a second new disk, and then having the first disk build the second. It
>> > worked perfectly, and took only a few hours.
>>
>> Ok. So the old controller may not store a superblock on disk. Or your
>> disks are short one sector and you are lucky it was not allocated
>> (smart controllers store it at the end of the disk and some partition
>> tools dont use the last few MBs on disk). You might also have one
>> sector you better not write any data to.

> Well, it's worked fine for almost two years. I'd have to say I trust
> Promise pretty well by now, so that sector may be protected by the
> controller.

Most likely it is. I agree.

>> > Here are some details: The servers (I actually want to do this to two
> of
>> > them) are Tyan Tiger 200T (S2505T) boards with Promise FastTrak100 RAID
> IDE
>> > controllers. They've worked rock-solid flawlessly in RAID 1
> configurations
>> > for several years, and I want to continue to use them until I can
> upgrade
>> > the boards, processors, power supplies, and memory, probably in a year
> or
>> > two. I replace the drives (as preventative maintenance) each year. For
>> > now, I want to move the IDE drives out of the inside of the cases and
> into
>> > fan-ventilated I-Star BPU-230 SATA enclosures, so the drives can be
> replaced
>> > when necessary without taking the cases apart . Since I'm over 500
> miles
>> > away from the servers, it's much easier for me to instruct someone to
>> > replace a drive in a tray than inside a cage filled with cables,
> especially
>> > when the case has to be pulled out and disassembled.
>>
>> > Anyway, the new controller will be a Promise TX2300 with a pair of
> Maxtor
>> > 7L250S0 Maxline III 16MB 250GB (5-year, enterprise-level) drives.
>>
>> > I'm not a fan of Ghost, which is the only "cloning" software I've used.
>> > I've seen it take almost a day to run, and I don't have that kind of
> time to
>> > wait for it. I've put new drives into RAID arrays and watched the array
>> > take under two hours to copy to the new disk, so you can see why I'm a
>> > little hesitant to use software.
>>
>> > Thanks for any additional insight, and/or any suggestions for software
> that
>> > doesn't run like it's written by Microsoft or Symantec. LOL
>>
>> Depending on what your server does, you can make an image or backup
>> while the server runs and recreate the installation on a separate
>> system on the SATA disks and then swap them in. You need to have
>> some sensible backup procedure anysways that lets you do something
>> close.
>>
>> Probably the easiest approach for now is to stay with IDE and just move
>> the disks into IDE enclosures that can be removed from the front.

> I want to use the SATA enclosures because of the 80mm, long-life fans, not
> the cheesy 40mm sleeve-bearing fans that are always installed in the
> individual enclosures. Those fans last for less than a year, they don't
> warn of their failure, and they leave the drive alone to fry itself. I also
> wanted to take advantage of SATA's slightly faster speeds and NCQ, without
> having to spend more $$$ on updating the board/processor/memory. I have to
> work withing a company budget right now.

Well, yes. I can understand your reasoning. But I fear you will
at least have to experiment and you may discover that what you want
to do is not that easy.

Arno
.

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