Hi all,

I have a set of x86-based systems that I'd like to configure
diskless and then serve their filesystems from a single RAID server.
One catch is that each system has different hardware and will
require different drivers. I'm guessing that I can put the superset
of drivers in a (common) root filesystem that's mounted via NFS, but
I really don't know where to start setting this up from either the
server or client side. Can someone provide any insight?


Thanks very much,
Dave

On Thu, 10 Aug 2006, Dave Littell wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> I have a set of x86-based systems that I'd like to configure diskless and then
> serve their filesystems from a single RAID server. One catch is that each
> system has different hardware and will require different drivers. I'm
> guessing that I can put the superset of drivers in a (common) root filesystem
> that's mounted via NFS, but I really don't know where to start setting this up
> from either the server or client side. Can someone provide any insight?

What are the reasons for wanting to do this?

--
Chris

Chris Lawrence wrote:
> On Thu, 10 Aug 2006, Dave Littell wrote:
>
>
>>Hi all,
>>
>>I have a set of x86-based systems that I'd like to configure diskless and then
>>serve their filesystems from a single RAID server. One catch is that each
>>system has different hardware and will require different drivers. I'm
>>guessing that I can put the superset of drivers in a (common) root filesystem
>>that's mounted via NFS, but I really don't know where to start setting this up
>>from either the server or client side. Can someone provide any insight?
>
>
> What are the reasons for wanting to do this?
>

The machines implement a real-time missile simulation and data
acquisition system that gets (literally) forklifted into a semi,
driven cross-country, dragged up a mountain, and is still expected
to work flawlessly. Our latest exercise demonstrated that the
(U320) SCSI drives/subchassis/cabling isn't handling the jiggling
very well. Multiple systems had problems booting almost every day
and the current RAID system developed enough issues that it'll have
to be completely reworked.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

The thinking is that we can approach this on two fronts - fewer
overall disks and fewer physical connections to the remaining disks
(SATA or maybe SAS) in a RAID system.


Thanks,
Dave

In article <RlPCg.10040$7m5.5890@trnddc05>,
Dave Littell <littelld_nospam@verizon.net> wrote:

> Chris Lawrence wrote:
> > On Thu, 10 Aug 2006, Dave Littell wrote:
> >
> >
> >>Hi all,
> >>
> >>I have a set of x86-based systems that I'd like to configure diskless and
> >>then
> >>serve their filesystems from a single RAID server. One catch is that each
> >>system has different hardware and will require different drivers. I'm
> >>guessing that I can put the superset of drivers in a (common) root
> >>filesystem
> >>that's mounted via NFS, but I really don't know where to start setting this
> >>up
> >>from either the server or client side. Can someone provide any insight?
> >
> >
> > What are the reasons for wanting to do this?
> >
>
> The machines implement a real-time missile simulation and data
> acquisition system that gets (literally) forklifted into a semi,
> driven cross-country, dragged up a mountain, and is still expected
> to work flawlessly. Our latest exercise demonstrated that the
> (U320) SCSI drives/subchassis/cabling isn't handling the jiggling
> very well. Multiple systems had problems booting almost every day
> and the current RAID system developed enough issues that it'll have
> to be completely reworked.
>
> Lather, rinse, repeat.
>
> The thinking is that we can approach this on two fronts - fewer
> overall disks and fewer physical connections to the remaining disks
> (SATA or maybe SAS) in a RAID system.
>
>
> Thanks,
> Dave

If you really want to test the ruggedness (if that's word) of your
systems, put them in a mil-spec transport case, mark it FRAGILE and send
it somewhere via FED-EX. They've shredded servers a friend sent to a
trade show packed this way, then refused to replace them as they were
"improperly packaged".

--
DeeDee, don't press that button! DeeDee! NO! Dee...

On 2006-08-10, Dave Littell <littelld_nospam@verizon.net> wrote:

> (U320) SCSI drives/subchassis/cabling isn't handling the jiggling
> very well. Multiple systems had problems booting almost every day
> and the current RAID system developed enough issues that it'll have
> to be completely reworked.

Various manufacturers provide FLASH based drop-in replacements for
standard form factor drives. You should be able to get pretty much
any standard SCSI capacity in standard SCSI form factor. At which point
I'd just hot-glue everything in place and give it a go. The drives are
designed for environments where traditional spindles don't last due to
environmental factors.

--
Andre