Need help with setting up RAID for my server

[dmitrysm]

Hi everyone! I want to buy a new server for my small company (15 workers). I chose Dell Server T310 or T410 platform. Basically I will be a file server to share some important files inside my network. And I would like to have 4 hard drives (2 mirrored pairs). First pair is for operation system and all programs and second pair is for all my data. A guy on the phone from Dell suggested to buy RAID 5 controller and then reconfigure settings in BIOS in order to have 2 mirrored pairs of hard drives. I didn't find any information how to do it, So, I wonder if anyone has done it in the past and could explain me how to do it. Thanks

 

[Hefemeister]

So you want 2 sets of raid1 (mirrored) arrays?

Raid5 (striped disks with distributed parity) would require 3 drives but does run faster than a raid1 array.

If you went that route you would need 2 drives for os and programs in raid1 and 3 drives for data in raid5.

Another option would be to have a large rad5 array with 2 partitions. One for OS and the other for data. Only 3 drives needed for this.

Usually you will have a raid bios that you can enter after post. Getting into it will vary depending upon what controller card you have or if you use a onboard controller.

Both raid 1 and 5 have fault tolerance which means you can loose 1 drive and still be operational. Keep in mind raid is in no way a replacement for backups.

 

[kmote]

You want to set up 2 RAID 1 arrays on the same controller? No problem. If you are booting from an array you need to pay attention to what OS you are booting because Dell might supply you with an LSI *shudder*