Hi everyone,
Recently I have been thinking about alternative options for setting up new servers. One idea I have been researching is the idea of booting the OS from Compact Flash Cards using a PCI addon card (which can be configured for Raid1), while using a Raid1 SATA drive array for user data. Freebsd.org has an interesting guide with regard to embedded systems (http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en/articles/solid-state/index.html), and I've seen the same can be done for Linux.
From a practicality standpoint this would make server setups a breeze (once the process is "refined") - copy the main install image to multiple CF cards (after fully configured with DA, Apache, MySQL etc). Keep copies of the CF cards on hand in case of emergencies or a need to setup a server quickly. When necessary, update the current "revision" of your CF installs and plug new ones into each machine as needed.
Due to the limited number of writes that CF cards can handle, it is typically suggested that they be mounted read-only with /var and /tmp configured as filesystems in system memory. However, this wouldn't work from a hosting standpoint as logs would disappear after reboot, as would cron tabs. With this in mind I would *think* that moving /var to a separate partition on the Raid1 SATA array would provide a solution. With memory being so cheap as well as the compact flash limited writes issue, it is also suggested to forego /swap completely.
Now the big question - is this type of install realistic? Am I barking up the wrong tree?
I have seen a couple of commercial systems like this that were implemented as file servers - why not take this to the next level and implement a web server?
I know CF read/writes are certainly not as fast as a SATA disk, but if you don't plan to reboot often (hopefully not!) I would think that this type of setup could be accomplished successfully.
Any thoughts?
Recently I have been thinking about alternative options for setting up new servers. One idea I have been researching is the idea of booting the OS from Compact Flash Cards using a PCI addon card (which can be configured for Raid1), while using a Raid1 SATA drive array for user data. Freebsd.org has an interesting guide with regard to embedded systems (http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en/articles/solid-state/index.html), and I've seen the same can be done for Linux.
From a practicality standpoint this would make server setups a breeze (once the process is "refined") - copy the main install image to multiple CF cards (after fully configured with DA, Apache, MySQL etc). Keep copies of the CF cards on hand in case of emergencies or a need to setup a server quickly. When necessary, update the current "revision" of your CF installs and plug new ones into each machine as needed.
Due to the limited number of writes that CF cards can handle, it is typically suggested that they be mounted read-only with /var and /tmp configured as filesystems in system memory. However, this wouldn't work from a hosting standpoint as logs would disappear after reboot, as would cron tabs. With this in mind I would *think* that moving /var to a separate partition on the Raid1 SATA array would provide a solution. With memory being so cheap as well as the compact flash limited writes issue, it is also suggested to forego /swap completely.
Now the big question - is this type of install realistic? Am I barking up the wrong tree?
I have seen a couple of commercial systems like this that were implemented as file servers - why not take this to the next level and implement a web server?
I know CF read/writes are certainly not as fast as a SATA disk, but if you don't plan to reboot often (hopefully not!) I would think that this type of setup could be accomplished successfully.
Any thoughts?