[olug] Home file server - FreeNAS or Openfiler or ???

[Christopher Cashell]

On Mon, Mar 28, 2011 at 11:00 PM, Dan Linder <dan at linder.org> wrote:
> ...or another option I'd like an opinion on:
>  * How about a plain-jane distribution using LVM2 and a big ext4 filesystem?
>  I believe I could then use LVM to add a new drive, or remove (lvreduce?)
> the smallest drive and add+extend a new bigger hdd?  (I guess I'd loose
> single-drive failure that Drobo or ZFS would provide..)

You can either get a RAID controller (expensive), or use Linux
software raid to get single disk failure recovery (RAID5).  Linux
software RAID also supports RAID1, RAID6, and RAID10 if you want high
levels of availability (at the cost of reduced disk space).

This solution can be a little complicated if you aren't familiar and
comfortable with LVM and Linux software RAID, but it is absolutely
doable.  It also gives you the benefit of having a full featured Linux
system available, as most home servers are not being heavily stressed,
and can perform multiple roles and duties.

Some distributions, such as RHEL/CentOS and Debian/Ubuntu offer
various levels of support for software RAID and LVM in their
installers, which can help you get up and running without having to
dig into the full complexity of setting up RAID/LVM on your own.

> Dan

-- 
Christopher