i've been looking at getting a Dell 1650 rack server for a 2003 server lab environment to develop hands on experience with Raid 5 and hot swappable components, etc... my question is... how would you go about mirroring the OS and then implementing Raid 5 on the data volume in a situation such as this... the Dell 1650 comes with 3 SCSI disks and ROMB but i don't believe i can extend the storage options beyond the 3 SCSI bays in the front... although it does have two pci slots on the riser card in the back... pci ide controller card?... doesn't really keep things nice and tidy if i have the OS hdd's outside the box... should i be looking at a server that is a bit more scalable than a rack unit if i need 5 drives for fault tolerance? haven't even put much thought into a backup solution for the Raid array either... i'm just wanting to get a good feel for fault tolerance solutions for a small business environments that could get the job done in one box...

My question is, why would you buy a Dell? My experience with them says this is not a good choice. You should be able to find a good 1U rack mount server (why bother though if you don't have a rack??) with more than 3 drive bays. That sounds like a pretty low end server to me. We have some at work that have as many as 8 hot swappable drive bays (1U rack mount custom built dual Xeon servers). My own experience with small business is to get a non-rack mount server with 5 bays minimum.....6 is better. Use RAID 1 for the OS (two HDD's) and a RAID 5 with 3 HDD's and the remaining HDD as a hotswap spare. Most small business have no need for a rack and ergo, a rack mount server. Backup is pretty simple. Again, pertaining to a small business environment, you can use the built in Windows ntbackup program and a tape drive.

we'll i didn't want to get too windy with the original post... but i was looking at the Dell because it is low end (old too)... i'd like a rack mount because i do actually have a rack (used to be filled with samplers, audio equipment...) and i am a little pressed for room... and money... just looking to spend around $400... this is going to be strictly for a 2003 server lab environment in my home... i'm still looking at other rack mount options from early 2000 that have ROMB... anyways... yea... i'm mostly curious... never had experience with fault tolerance... i have access to a 2003 server environment at school but all we have are old 1.8 GHz dell workstations... most of these low end rack mounts i see on ebay only have 3 drive bays... in fact... my college just invested in a Dell 2950 (also only three drive bays)... i guess you can't cram too much in a 1u rack space...

Well, for labbing purposes it doesn't much matter what you use, but when it comes to a real business you'll want to first ascertain their needs, available space, and whether or not they have a rack. You'd be surprised how much you can stick in a 1U rack mount server. Mostly it depends on the design of the server itself. All that aside, since it's for lab purposes you could do as you please. If it were me, I'd start by creating a RAID 1 with two of the disks and set the 3'd up as a hotswap spare. Then I'd redo the system and make it a RAID 5 with all 3 disks. This will familiarize you with creating RAID's and installing on them. Things to keep in mind: Generally, you want to create the RAID on blank disks. Once the RAID is configured the disks have to sync and this takes time. More so with data on the disks. Always update the RAID BIOS before doing anything with it. When it comes time to install the operating system have the SCSI drivers on hand on a floppy, you'll need them. When the install reaches the point where it says, "Press F5 to install SCSI...." that's where you need the drivers.......press F5. One does what one can do with what one has available. If that's all you can afford that's all you can afford. I'm not a big fan of Dell or any brand name but that's my personal feelings on the subject, that doesn't mean the equipment won't do what you want it to. Take advantage of the hotswap spare (if available) in the RAID 1 configuration. Take one drive offline and see if the spare syncs and joins the array. While labbing, lab everything you can think of and take notes. Good documentation will save you time in the future when things do go wrong for a client. Good luck and have fun!

"Always update the RAID BIOS before doing anything with it." NEVER update any bios until you know it will fix a known problem. When doing so make sure you are connected to a ups or this is the fastest way of making trash out of working hardware. Give a person a fish, they eat for a day. Suggest they internet search and they learn a skill for a lifetime.