Creating and Configuring a Software RAID

Open a terminal console, then log in as the root user or equivalent.

Start the EVMS GUI by entering the following at the terminal console prompt:

evmsgui

If the disks have not been initialized, initialize them by adding the DOS Segment Manager now.

The following instructions assume you are initializing new disks. For information about initializing an existing disk or a disk moved from another system, see Section 4.2, “Initializing Disks”.

Repeat the following steps for each disk that you want to initialize:

1. Select Actions+Add+Segment Manager to Storage Object.

2. From the list, select the DOS Segment Manager, then click Next.

3. Select the device, then click Add to initialize it.

If segments have not been created on the disks, create a segment on each disk that you plan to use in the RAID.

For x86 platforms, this step is optional if you treat the entire disk as one segment.

For IA-64 platforms, this step is necessary to make the RAID 4/5 option available in the Regions Manager.

For information about creating segments, see Section 4.4, “Creating Disk Segments (or Partitions)”.

1. Select Action+Create+Segment to open the DOS Segment Manager.

2. Select the free space segment you want to use.

3. Specify the amount of space to use for the segment.

4. Specify the segment options, then click Create.

Create and configure a software RAID Device.

1. Select Action+Create+Region to open the Create Storage Region dialog box.

2. Specify the type of software RAID you want to create by selecting one of the following Region Managers, then click Next.

   • MD RAID 0 Region Manager

   • MD RAID 1 Region Manager

   • MD RAID 4/5 Region Manager

3. From the Storage Objects listed, select the ones to use for the RAID device.

   	Important
   The order of the objects in the RAID is implied by their order in the list.

4. Specify values for Configuration Options by changing the following default settings as desired.

   • For RAIDs 1, 4, or 5, optionally specify a device to use as the spare disk for the RAID. The default is none.

   • For RAIDs 0, 4, or 5, specify the chunk (stripe) size in KB. The default is 32 KB.

   • For RAIDs 4/5, specify RAID 4 or RAID 5 (default).

   • For RAID 5, specify the algorithm to use for striping and parity. The default is Left Symmetric.

   For information about these settings, see Section 6.1.5, “Configuration Options for RAIDs”.

5. Click Create to create the RAID device under the /dev/evms/md directory.

   The device is given a name such as md0, so its EVMS mount location is /dev/evms/md/md0.

Specify a human-readable label for the device.

1. Select Action+Create+EVMS Volume or Compatible Volume.

2. Select the device that you created in Step 5.

3. Specify a name for the device.

   Use standard ASCII characters and naming conventions. Spaces are allowed.

4. Click Done.

Create a file system on the RAID device you created.

1. Select Action+File System+Make to view a list of file system modules.

2. Select the type of file system you want to create, such as the following:

   • ReiserFS File System Module

   • Ext2/3FS File System Module

3. Select the RAID device you created in Step 5, such as /dev/evms/md/md0.

4. Specify a name to use as the Volume Label, then click Make.

   The name must not contain space or it will fail to mount later.

5. Click Save to create the file system.

Mount the RAID device.

1. Select Action+File System+Mount.

2. Select the RAID device you created in Step 5, such as /dev/evms/md/md0.

3. Specify the location where you want to mount the device, such as /home.

4. Click Mount.

Enable boot.evms to activate EVMS automatically at reboot.

1. In YaST, select System+System Services (Run Level).

2. Select Expert Mode.

3. Select Boot.evms.

4. Select Set/Reset.

5. Select Enable the Service.

Edit the /etc/fstab file to automount the RAID mount point created in Step 8.c, or you can mount the device manually from evmsgui.