USB HDD RAID 5 Setup

aaron_summer

Good Day Every,

I have 3 320 USB External HDDs (all identical HDD Models) and need to setup an external RAID 5 with them to keep all my photos and videos safely archived.

I have Ubuntu Server installed and would like to know if anyone can walk me through setting up a software raid 5 setup for these USB drives? Or at least point me to a resource where this has been done before.

Thanks in advance,

nutz

I would like to know also.

aaron_summer · 11:44 AM

After some research I was able to build a simple software controlled RAID 1 array with 2 of my external 320 GB USB drives.

Tools used: gparted, gedit, mdadm and of course some coffee

First I needed to know the location of my USB drives ...

Code:

cat proc/diskstats

My two USB drives were mounted (?) to /dev/sda1 and /dev/sdb1.

I then opened gparted and removed the partitions from both drives, and created a new partition using the full disk space and formated to EXT3 file type. (I wonder if I could have gotten away with not formatting the drives?)

Then I opened a terminal window and installed the mdadm tools for software raid ...

Code:

sudo apt-get install mdadm

After the mdadm installed I used it to build the RAID 1 ...

Code:

sudo mdadm --create --verbose /dev/md0 --level=1 --raid-devices=2 /dev/sda1 /dev/sdb1

Then to sync the two drives together I needed to reboot the computer.

Once the computer restarted I opened a terminal to view the progress of the sync ...

Code:

cat /proc/mdstat

or

Code:

watch cat /proc/mdstat

The above will refresh the results every 2 seconds by default

After about 2.5 hours the drives where synced and ready to be formated with the reiserfs.

Code:

sudo mkfs -t reiserfs /dev/md0

GREAT! We have a virtual drive that is all formated and ready to be mounted. To make things run smooth I edited the /etc/fstab file with gedit...

Code:

sudo gedit /etc/fstab

I added the following line to /etc/fstab ...

Code:

/dev/md0 /media/raid auto defaults 0 0

The above will allow me to use mount -a and have the device mount as /media/raid. Remember to make the /media/raid directory ...

Code:

sudo mkdir /media/raid

Next let's mount the raid device ...

Code:

sudo mount -a

Almost done ... next you will need to use chown to allow writing to the drive by users other than root.

Now you are done.

This worked perfectly for me and runs very well.

Please add comments if I have missed anything ... remember I am very very new to linux and this was my first attempt at creating a software raid 1 with external usb drives.

HalNineThousand

What happens if the drives get disconnected and somehow not connected in the same order at some later date? Do they change device IDs and the RAID stops working?

June 10th, 2007	#1
aaron_summer 5 Cups of Ubuntu Join Date: May 2007 Location: Vancouver, BC Beans: 25 Ubuntu 7.04 Feisty Fawn	USB HDD RAID 5 Setup Good Day Every, I have 3 320 USB External HDDs (all identical HDD Models) and need to setup an external RAID 5 with them to keep all my photos and videos safely archived. I have Ubuntu Server installed and would like to know if anyone can walk me through setting up a software raid 5 setup for these USB drives? Or at least point me to a resource where this has been done before. Thanks in advance, __________________ Aaron Summer Ubuntu 7.04 Server, Intel Dual Core 3.0 Ghz Processor, 1 GB Ram, 80GB HDD

June 14th, 2007	#2
nutz Quad Shot of Ubuntu Join Date: May 2007 Location: Phoenix,AZ My beans are hidden! Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope	Re: USB HDD RAID 5 Setup I would like to know also. __________________ Even if the voices aren't real, they've got some great ideas!

June 15th, 2007	#3
aaron_summer 5 Cups of Ubuntu Join Date: May 2007 Location: Vancouver, BC Beans: 25 Ubuntu 7.04 Feisty Fawn	Re: USB HDD RAID 5 Setup After some research I was able to build a simple software controlled RAID 1 array with 2 of my external 320 GB USB drives. Tools used: gparted, gedit, mdadm and of course some coffee First I needed to know the location of my USB drives ... Code: cat proc/diskstats My two USB drives were mounted (?) to /dev/sda1 and /dev/sdb1. I then opened gparted and removed the partitions from both drives, and created a new partition using the full disk space and formated to EXT3 file type. (I wonder if I could have gotten away with not formatting the drives?) Then I opened a terminal window and installed the mdadm tools for software raid ... Code: sudo apt-get install mdadm After the mdadm installed I used it to build the RAID 1 ... Code: sudo mdadm --create --verbose /dev/md0 --level=1 --raid-devices=2 /dev/sda1 /dev/sdb1 Then to sync the two drives together I needed to reboot the computer. Once the computer restarted I opened a terminal to view the progress of the sync ... Code: cat /proc/mdstat or Code: watch cat /proc/mdstat The above will refresh the results every 2 seconds by default After about 2.5 hours the drives where synced and ready to be formated with the reiserfs. Code: sudo mkfs -t reiserfs /dev/md0 GREAT! We have a virtual drive that is all formated and ready to be mounted. To make things run smooth I edited the /etc/fstab file with gedit... Code: sudo gedit /etc/fstab I added the following line to /etc/fstab ... Code: /dev/md0 /media/raid auto defaults 0 0 The above will allow me to use mount -a and have the device mount as /media/raid. Remember to make the /media/raid directory ... Code: sudo mkdir /media/raid Next let's mount the raid device ... Code: sudo mount -a Almost done ... next you will need to use chown to allow writing to the drive by users other than root. Now you are done. This worked perfectly for me and runs very well. Please add comments if I have missed anything ... remember I am very very new to linux and this was my first attempt at creating a software raid 1 with external usb drives. __________________ Aaron Summer Ubuntu 7.04 Server, Intel Dual Core 3.0 Ghz Processor, 1 GB Ram, 80GB HDD Last edited by aaron_summer; June 15th, 2007 at 11:44 AM..

August 18th, 2007	#4
HalNineThousand 5 Cups of Ubuntu Join Date: Jul 2006 My beans are hidden! Kubuntu 6.06	Re: USB HDD RAID 5 Setup What happens if the drives get disconnected and somehow not connected in the same order at some later date? Do they change device IDs and the RAID stops working?

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode