Unsolved
20 Posts
0
945
November 11th, 2020 09:00
Recommended Configurations for System and Data Backup with PERC H700 RAID
I'm setting up a server that uses UBUNTU with a base install of a number of web apps and databases like MySQL, PostGres, Apache, NGINX, PHP, phpMyAdmin, compilations tools, other tools and a proprietary server app. That is a base install.
That data and database components consist of the actual webapps (some web folders served by Apache and NGINX which will be mostly static except for some maintenance and no larger than 1 GB), the database files (a couple for MySQL and 1 for PostGres) and a fairly large folder containing datafiles that could expanding to many terabytes over the years.
I have an old DELL PowerEdge r710 server with the RAID card that supports RAID 0,1, and 5 with 6 2TB drives in 3.5 inch drive bays. I also have a 3.5 to 2.5 in adapter that allows putting an SSD in one of the swappable bays.
I also swapped out the DVD drive for an SSD caddy that has a 500 GB SSD drive.
Initially, I played around with putting the "base install" system disk on the DVD drive bay SSD or on a VD SSD supported by the RAID. I actually like the setup with the SSD in the DVD drive bay since it makes managing the RAID a little easier. Another alternative would be to get a PCIe card that supports an internal SSD, but I don't want to fork out the cash for that at this point.
Anyways, my goals are:
1. Create a base system install that has all of the server software and initial setup that I can easily backup and restore in case of corruption or loss of the system disk. I'm using UBUNTU, and there are actually some basic tools there that allow one to create a disk image that can be created and stored pretty easily, although it takes a little time to restore from a disk image.
2. Backup critical data on a rolling basis as need, either through actual backup or by leveraging the RAID. The backup that I need besides the base system are:
a. The webapp files (e.g. MVC PHP framework site, NGINX proxy files). The would probably not be changed that frequently, so even just an ad hoc backup for these would work. These will not get much bigger than 1 GB total.
b. The MySQL and PostGres databases on a daily basis. These also are not expected to get too large, probably not more than 10 GB even over many years. A couple of MySQL DB and 1 PostGres DB.
c. The raw Data Files (These have to be stored on the RAID, basically in a folder, and the custom app on the base install manages these files, which could be 2 or more TB per year)
I did find some script that can do some of the database backups as a CRON job, but I'm still trying to figure out how best to do this with the hardware that I have.
BTW, there is another server that might only have the RAID and no SSD, so I would need to do something similar there with having an SSD for a system disk.
Thanks.
DELL-Stefan R
Moderator
•
790 Posts
0
November 12th, 2020 00:00
Hi sscotti!
Tech Support monitors this and we saw your post. We can't advise you if this config will be good enough for your needs. But our sales team can offer you a consulting service that might help out in regards to your questions.
If you need to check Dell part compatibility, let us know - we can check that for you in our databases.
BTW... RAID should never be considered as good as a proper data backup - bear that in mind.
BR
Stefan
theflash1932
11 Legend
•
16.3K Posts
0
November 12th, 2020 06:00
I'm far from a Linux admin-level user, but here are some thoughts:
1. Have you considered running Ubuntu as a VM? This would likely simplify and speed up backup/recovery significantly.
2. I would advise against "leveraging the RAID" as a backup strategy. RAID is not backup, but is a first line of defense to protect uptime against disk failure. There are a number of issues you may encounter when attempting to use RAID out of scope.
I'm sure many of the apps you mentioned have some sort of backup function that may improve restore ability, but that's a bit beyond "the top of my head" to offer much there.
sscotti
20 Posts
0
November 23rd, 2020 19:00
Still pondering the "best" way to do this. I actually have a server myself:
6 2TB drives (3.5), PERC H700 and an SSD in the DVD bay (500MB). I kind of like having the SSD in the DVD drive bay, and it is easy enough to make an image (with Disk or Gdisk) of that to keep on external media so that it can be restored if need be. The system disk will not be modifed much once it is setup because most of the data will be kept on the RAID. Unfortunately, the production system is in the Cayman Islands, not setup yet, and because of COVID not really possible to go down there for now, so I'll have to walk someone else through.
They do not have an SSD in the DVD drive bay and will not. The bus speed for that SATA is somewhat lower. I've thought about putting an SSD in one of the PCI slots, which is doable, but not at this time.
So for the system down there I am probably going to have to setup the system disk in one of the RAID slots. We have an adapter for one of that bays that allows putting an SSD in one of those slots, and then the other 5 could be used for data, or 1 for backup and the other 4 for data.
So it would be nice to install a system on one of those and also have a backup system there also that could be dual booted from if necessary. Not really sure how to go about that such that if one of the system disks goes bad we could boot from the other.
For backup, I've looked into using an S3 bucket with AWS or another vendor vs. using a Business Dropbox accounts. Both have advantages and disadvantages, although I like being able to backup to the Cloud and restore from the cloud if necessary. Dropbox seems like it is more expensive than AWS, but easier to use. They have an app for LINUX. The only thing I am concerned about there is that the files we want to sync are managed by another server (Orthanc), so I am not sure if there will be some collisions regarding access to the files. Dropbox should be almost exclusively reading though.
DELL-Stefan R
Moderator
•
790 Posts
0
November 24th, 2020 00:00
Hi sscotti.
Never had such a situation, to have multi-boot on a PowerEdge server.
In general, if there is the need to have more than just one os running, users decide to install a hypervisor (like ESXi or Hyper-V or any similar os) followed by the virtual machines running the desired operating systems (Windows, Linux, ...).
You can use a single SSD for the hypervisor setting it up as a RAID0. This lets the controller "see" the drive and enables you to install the hypervisor on it.
Setting up the remaining drives as you desire, all in one RAID5 (or RAID6) or maybe just 5 in the RAID and one as a global hot-spare - as you wish.
This virtual disc then servers as your datastore - wherein you create the virtual machines for the different operating systems.
Finally, you can reserve and dedicate space for the single virtual machines if needed.
This is what I recommend.
BR
Stefan