Date: Mon, 12 Apr 1999 14:58:31 -0500 From: "Mike Avery" <mavery@mail.otherwhen.com> To: newbies@freebsd.org Subject: Re: FreeBSD server success stories Message-ID: <199904122009.PAA13524@hostigos.otherwhen.com> In-Reply-To: <199904121546.LAA26474@gie.noh.tva.gov>
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On 12 Apr 99, at 11:46, Toby Swanson N-1417 wrote:
<big snip>
> While not on an unlimited budget I can recommend the latest and
> greatest mother board and SCSI controllers, since the guy who will be
> touting an NT "super server" will undoubtedly do the same. I hope to use
> the same hard drives now attached to the current server as a cost saving
> measure.
This isn't a FreeBSD success story. In fact, I could post this
message in just about any technical forum I'm a member of.... just
change the OS to make the tightasses on those lists happy..... the issue
transcends FreeBSD.... and I agree with your goal of migrating to
FreeBSD....
I think that reusing the same drives is a false economy for a number
of reasons. And whether you migrate to FreeBSD, Linux, another
Sun, NetWare, or (blech) NT, it's a false economy.
The biggest reason is that it eliminates your fall back position. It's a
sad system manager who's career is held on a backup tape. And
that's your position when you backup, remove the drives, install them
in another system, and then try to restore. What if the tapes are
bad? What if the backup software is incompatible? What if ....
imagine your worst nightmare here. What if the new system flakes
out, and then when you put the drives back in the old one and restore
from the tape, something hiccups, so you have neither new nor old
server?
All in all, if you leave the old system alone until the new one is happy,
you have a fallback position. If the new one flakes out, you turn the
old one back on. Or reconnect it's cable to the net. No big deal.
(And yes, if the system is old, I'd be reluctant to turn it off. I'd
move it's network cable to another segment, hub, MSAU, router port,
or whatever. And leave it on until I was happy. Sometimes older
systems don't come back up after they are turned off. Sometimes it
seems this happens most often if you absolutely gotta have 'em back.)
Other reasons to not reuse drives - newer drives are bigger, cheaper,
faster, and more reliable, so you get more life expectancy and better
performance than you do by reusing the old drives.
The old drives are used, so their remaining life expectancy is
unknown, so new drives again give you a better life expectancy.
If your new server will be larger than your old one, you might
consider migrating the old drives to the new system after the core of
the new system is stable, burned in, and happy. In an business
office, I'd let a quarter go by before messing with the old system.
You know what your deadlines and signifigant events are. Make sure
the new system survives them. Also, test the new system's backup
hardware and software so you know you can restore to the new
system before canabalizing the old system.... your backup system is
only as good as it's last restore.
One of the problems that "serious business people" have in taking
FreeBSD, Linux, and before that PC's with DOS seriously isn't the
software... it isn't the hardware.... it isn't even always the support.
Sometimes it's the people on the scene who suggest things that make
people who are legally responsible for the outcome and consequences
REALLY nervous... things that sound like "let's migrate without a net!
No big deal, it's only YOUR business... I can get a new job!" to the
guy who signs the checks. <g>
Mike
======================================================================
Mike Avery MAvery@mail.otherwhen.com
(409)-842-2942 (work)
ICQ: 16241692
* Spam is for lusers who can't get business any other way *
A Randomly Selected Thought For The Day:
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