Needs suggestion for redundant Storage

[Brian K. White]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Peter Jeremy" <peterjeremy at optushome.com.au>
To: "Michael Schuh" <michael.schuh at gmail.com>
Cc: <freebsd-stable at freebsd.org>
Sent: Monday, April 10, 2006 2:50 PM
Subject: Re: Needs suggestion for redundant Storage


> On Mon, 2006-Apr-10 14:11:46 +0200, Michael Schuh wrote:
>>so that i have sign a Solution with cheap HW, ok this cheap HW is not very
>>stable and never so performant like the right Hardware, but if i use
>>this solution,
>>so i can relative fast replace defect items with new HW.
>
> You probably can't replace defective hardware so fast that the users
> don't notice.  They will probably also notice when a system crash
> garbles the filesystem.
>
> Based on your comments of low cost and massive size, I presume you
> can't afford a proper backup solution either.  This is a recipe for
> disaster if the data is valuable.
>
>>> Do not get a Silicon Image SATA controller.
>>Why not?
>
> Read the mailing lists - they are full of problems with them.  If
> you value your data you will not use Sil controller.
>
>>> At the very least, get a multiport SATA RAID controller with a 
>>> decent-sized
>>> RAM cache of its own and an internal battery to keep the drives going 
>>> until
>>> that cache can be flushed.  As well as an external UPS, right...?
>>>
>>I can also agree with you.......but the management......get not my friends
>>with this....... :-))
>
> They will be even less your friends when your cheap-n-nasty solution
> loses some valuable files.

It's like this, they may not want to pay for doing it the right way, and you 
may not have the eloquence or the evidence to convince them, but in the end 
it comes down to this:
Do not allow them to put your name on something like this.
If you do the work this way, regardless that they "made" you, it's still 
your name attached to a piece of bad work. Sometimes that serves to convince 
them even when nothing else will.

Often a contractor (for any kind of work, lik siding your house or a plumber 
etc...) when confronted with a customer who insists on doing something the 
wrong way, the contractor will say "OK I'll do it but only if you sign this 
waiver absolving me of responsibility so that when it falls apart I'm not 
responsible." In effect, "I'll do it but I will not warranty it even 
slightly."
Faced with that, even cheap people sometimes get scared into doing it the 
right way or at least doing nothing until they can do it right later, or 
unfortunately finding another contractor with less scruples and/or skill 
sometimes.

You can't say that since you're not an independant contractor, and in this 
case I wouldn't settle for that anyways. I simply would not allow my name to 
be attached to something I don't trust.
And you should not trust this arrangement.

Brian K. White  --  brian at aljex.com  --  http://www.aljex.com/bkw/
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