Would like to install Ubuntu with software based RAID 1

[chris-hancox]

Hi everyone.

I have a system with two 4TB drives and the board does not support RAID. I'd like to install Ubuntu 16.04 LTS onto one drive and add the other in RAID 1 so I have redundancy.

I have no idea how to do this but it is apparently possible. A lot of articles seem to reference old versions of Ubuntu and the new installer lacks these options.

I am grateful for any assistance. :)

[bcschmerker]

Looks as though your problem is rather similar to mine. I'm currently pondering adding a fourth Toshiba® PH2050U-1I54 to the three already in my own rig and reformatting as two RAID 1 pairs (of two 500GiB HDD's each), using the carryover Seagate® ST382015A (from the prior Ubuntu® 12.04.6-LTS install), or alternately the also-recently-added Western Digital® WD1600JS-55NCB1, for /boot, swap and filesystem root under Ubuntu® 16.04.0-LTS. (I haven't attempted to use hardware RAID to date on my Gigabyte® GA-MA78GM-S2HP Rev. 2.0; it does support RAID on the SATA subsystem according to the factory documentation.)

[chris-hancox]

I'd like to use the two 4TB drives as boot drives if all all possible.

I know that some Gigabyte boards use 3rd party controllers which have performance issues so make sure you think about that also.

[JP_Rockagetty_III]

I would also like to install RAID-1 for a file server. A couple of years ago, I got Ubuntu Desktop and Samba working on an old system, and created a shared directory - having network storage, instantly accessible, was better than burning backup data to DVDs, and WAY better than using Travan tape cartridges! Right now, I have kodibuntu working on one of my machines, and NAS4FREE (which is BSD-based) on another machine. So I think I have the skills to make Ubuntu RAID-1 work, if I can find a more recent tutorial.

It would be nice to install both Samba and KODI on this server, so I could have a combination video and file server. Yes, RAID-1 is not an efficient use of space for video entertainment - I could always rip the DVDs again if a drive fails. But for my financial records, I want redundancy, and a RAID system that I can understand - and that is RAID-1.

There are a couple of tutorials out there that suggest using "Ubuntu SERVER" and the "Guided" RAID install that it has. Then install Ubuntu-desktop afterwards. I have not tried this, but I might try it soon.

[JP_Rockagetty_III]

Let me just put this here:

http://linux-sys-adm.com/how-to-install-and-activate-raid-1-ubuntu-server-14.04-lts-step-by-step-by-step/

I have not tried this; I do not know if this works or not. But I did get RAID-1 to work (with identical ZFS-formatted 320 GB SATA drives) under NAS4FREE. I'll follow the link above in a few weeks. When I get all the parts, I will try to set up Ubuntu Server according to those directions. Then I'll install KODI, because it plays VOB files, and I don't have to touch physical DVDs to enjoy my entertainment (and KODI is cool as well).

I will try really hard to get RAID-1 to work under Ubuntu. If I succeed, I'll try to remember to post in this thread how it was done.
(http://linux-sys-adm.com/how-to-install-and-activate-raid-1-ubuntu-server-14.04-lts-step-by-step-by-step/)

[JP_Rockagetty_III]

Okay, I've got the parts now: Asrock AM1H-ITX, AMD 5350, 8 GB Ram Arctic Alpine M1-Passive CPU cooler Two 3 TB HGST drives Fractal Design Node 304 case Seasonic 600W PSU Here are the guides I am using: https://help.ubuntu.com/lts/serverguide/advanced-installation.html http://linux-sys-adm.com/how-to-install-and-activate-raid-1-ubuntu-server-14.04-lts-step-by-step-by-step/ A few questions: 1. If I remove the DVD-RW after the initial setup, will this cause a problem? My case doesn't have an exposed 5.25-inch bay. 2. Will I really set up both disks with identical partitions? Will root and swap (and /lib, /var, whatever) be duplicated on both disks? 3. If the disk with GRUB on it fails, and I boot the other disk from a rescue DVD, can I insert a fresh hard drive and get it to rebuild, as if the failure never happened? 4. If I get a rescue disk that knows about GPT partitions, would something like gparted know the disks are in a RAID array? Would the partition table be something human-readable, so I know I succeeded? The pre-built units (Synology, etc.) really did look good, but I thought I could do better building it myself. Does anyone have experience doing RAID-1 on 16.04 yet? Is there anything I should watch out for? Any help is greatly appreciated.