[mythtv-users] Using media stored on multiple drives withoutLVM?

[ANTHONY JOSEPH MESSINA]

>> also condier, anything more than 3 drives in one box is likely to be
>> hotter noisier an not something you want all on one system.  it would be
>> nicer no to have a huge server box in your living room with 5 drives
>> running full balls all the time.
>
>
> Ha ha, well, I wasn't advocating such a system for a frontend. :)  All my
> storage is in a backend that I keep housed in the basement.  Thus, case
> size, noise, etc, really aren't an issue.  I'd expect anyone building a
> truly scalable system would do the same, but of course, everyone's
> requirements are different.
>
> As for the rest, like I say, if you're happy with non-growable storage,
> RAID-5 is absolutely something to consider (although the initial outlay,
> in
> terms of cost, can be a bit daunting).
>
> It is worth noting, though, that RAID-5 has one danger:  silent failure.
> Unless you use SMART and keep an eye on it, it's possible for the parity
> stripe to become inconsistent with the array.  Something to keep in mind
> for
> anyone looking at a RAID-5 solution.

true about the silent failure, but the card i use does use an annoyingly
loud beeping to let you know a drive has entered failed state and also the
lsi site has linux tools.  i use megamon which also sends me an email. 
you may live in a house, but i live in an apartment complex and my storage
unit is about 300 feet away.  i was lucky enough to be able to set up a
server closet down there (from which i run the messinet.com domain) among
other things.  anyway, the megamon tool from lsi gives me notifications
about drive statuses including scheduled consistency checks, etc.

the cost, yes, a bummer. but i could sell it to the wife because of raid
5's reliability. you see, if i use lvm and one drive failed, i explained
to her, that i would have to re-rip every movie and that would take time
that we couldn't be together watching her movies. that worked well.  :)

-- 
Anthony - http://messinet.com
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