RAID 1 (mirroring), cloning and booting...

After recently buying a new dual quad-core, I wanted to expand the hard drive space a bit, and enhance the security of a part of the data. Having a 500G disk in bay 1, I planned on putting one additional 500G to create a mirror with the original one, and two more disks simply for space (500G and 1T). I soon encountered some problems..
As I don't have a RAID card installed, I would have to use Apple's software RAID from within Disk Util; but I soon discovered I would need to initialize both disks that were to be in the RAID (is there a reason for this? I expected I could create a clone drive, so a mirror with one in the RAID already present...). Well, this would mean I have to backup all my data first, then boot from another disk (like the Leopard install disk), create the RAID and replace all my data... So here are my current problems:
- my Mac Pro won't boot from the Leopard install disk (it's an original Universal disk, so that shouldn't be it); it won't boot from other external disks either, but I believe that's caused by the partition tables being in APM, not GUID, as they were created on a G4...
- I need to make a complete clone of the boot disk, but all I can do with Disk Util (or CCC) is make a clone of the Mac partition (or loose partitions at all). I have a BootCamp partition as well, which I would like to clone too, so what I'd want is a possibility to clone the whole drive, instead of independent partitions. It seems there is a terminal command able to do something like that, but I'm not familiar with using it.
- I read about the software RAID solutions causing problems in Leopard (corruption of RAID headers). Does anyone know more about this, and whether it has been solved?
I'm sorry for putting three things together, but I thought it might make it easier to understand if the connection between the problems was clear. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Piotr / iBear

Hmm.. This does explain a few things, especially the part about having X.5.2 as a minimum.. The slight problem with the the disk that was packaged with the machine is that my dad (for whom I'm setting it up) has been "cleaning up" his disks - I've had a hard time finding the Leopard disk for that matter... - and is now on a trip for the next two weeks. I'm now configuring a new external install - entirely fresh and updated to X.5.4 - to try booting from that.
I thought both AppleRAID and SoftRAID had that problem, that's what I understood from the post you left in another topic, but I guess I don't have to worry about that anymore. happy
The purchases have actually already been made, and as there were no 640G disks available, I had taken the 500G's. So, the machine is already set up with 3x500G (2xWD, 1xSeagate) and 1x1T (Seagate as well). As the original system is on one of the WD's, I wanted to create the RAID with two identical disks; will it make any difference if they are not? (I know it will work, but would it have any impact?)
And just a last small question: as I noticed before, CCC doesn't do entire drives. Should I partition the RAID drive like the original and then use CCC to copy the BootCamp partition? (found SD after a small search) > I think the same questions go for that as well...
Many thanks for the very fast reply!

Similar Messages

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    <table border="0" align="center" width="90%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td class="SmallText"><b>m-lennon wrote on Fri, 02 December 2005 07:45</b></td></tr><tr><td class="quote">
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    </td></tr></table>
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    <table border="0" align="center" width="90%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td class="SmallText"><b>m-lennon wrote on Fri, 02 December 2005 07:45</b></td></tr><tr><td class="quote">
    One of the things that can be confusing when moving from Linux on PC to Solaris on SPARC systems is the obp, far more robust than BIOS! I have found that this puts Linux administrators off using SPARC systems, but these systems aren't that complicated if you understand how to use them ( entry level systems at least ). A good place to start is http://docs.sun.com/ and BigAdmin. As Michael suggested the man pages are an excellent source for quick information. Any time I work on a Linux system I use the man pages all the time because the GNU commands can be different. In fact during exams like the RHCE you are allowed to use the man pages to help you answer the problems/questions. Can you tell us if you have followed a procedure or guide when you set up your root mirror?
    </td></tr></table>
    I followed the general outline as it was given to me
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    <table border="0" align="center" width="90%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td class="SmallText"><b>m-lennon wrote on Fri, 02 December 2005 07:45</b></td></tr><tr><td class="quote">
    Have you searched the forum for any references, I have posted to a thread outlining the steps to take to configure a root mirror some time ago:
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  • New Hard Drive, Mac partition cloned and boots fine, but I can't seem to get my BOOTCAMP (windows) partition to boot!  Any ideas?

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    I got it. It CAN be done. At least on 10.6
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  • Cloning and boot alternatives, observations

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  • Can I install Snow Leopard and boot from software RAID 1 (mirror)?

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  • Edited /etc/vfstab for mirroring, rebooted and system won't boot!

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    #device device mount FS fsck mount mount
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    fd - /dev/fd fd - no -
    /proc - /proc proc - no -
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    /dev/md/dsk/d4     /dev/md/rdsk/d4 /usr ufs 1 no -
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    Copyright 1983-2003 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved.
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  • I have a Mac G4 double mirrored model and everytime I shut it off it will not go on when I hit the power off button. However, if I unplug and plug in the power cord it boots fine and everything is OK. The PMU and logic board have been reset. Any ideas?

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    <E-mail Edited by Host>

    Hi John,
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  • Mac Pro RAID and Boot Camp and eSATA controller Card

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    <http://www.newertech.com/Static/articles/images/macensteineSATA_5.jpg>

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    IKE-D-
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  • Software RAID Failure - my experience and solution

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    Ya Right…..
    Mike

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    Type:                 Mirror
    Status:               Online
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    -  disk2s2   E58CA8F5-1D2C-423A-B4BE-FBAA80F85879  Spare      3000248991744
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    Andy  ______________________________________
    Please remember to come back and mark the post that you feel solved your question as the solution, it earns the member + points
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    Message was edited by: donv (The Ghost)

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