Fedora Using RAID on an Old Computer

Fedora is a version of Linux produced as a community project and sponsored by Red Hat. Fedora is an alternative to Ubuntu on the desktop.

I am loading Linux on a simple desktop computer with two IDE disks, an IDE DVD drive, and a network connection in a computer more than a year old. Memory, disk space, and processor speed are adequate for the test. I will create the disks as a RAID 1 array. If the test works, I may add more disks to create a RAID 5 array and turn the computer into a NAS, Network Attached Storage, server.

This page is for people with experience installing Windows and want to try Linux. RAID and other terminology is described on another page.

Installation

Use the Fedora 8 i386 DVD created in the previous test where we downloaded Fedora-8-i386-DVD.iso and burned the image onto a DVD.

Load (boot) Fedora from DVD.

At the Fedora start screen and message, Welcome to Fedora 8!, select Install or upgrade an existing system then press Enter to start the installation process.

Disk found

The media was checked in the previous test and does not need another test. At the message, To begin testing the media before installation press OK., select Skip and press Enter to continue without a media check.

Fedora logo

Fedora displays a fancy logo and the mouse is available. Select Next to continue.

What language would you like to use?

Select English, or your language, then select Next to continue. All my examples use English.

Select the appropriate keyboard

Select U.S. English, or your keyboard type, then select Next to continue.

Install Fedora

At the message Install Fedora, you also have the option to Upgrade an existing installation. We will install again so this page can be used by people installing RAID on the first installation. Select Next to continue.

Installation requires partitioning

You are about to format the disks. We want to create a custom layout and see the default partition layout from the first test using the defaults created by Fedora.

In the first drop down list, select Create custom layout.

Select Next to continue.

You will see a list of disks. In my computer, fedora named the disks sda and sdb. You may see different names for your disks.

Partition layout list

My test computer was previously used to test Fedora with the default layout generated by Fedora. You see a list of disk partitions containing the following entries. If your computer has a different history then your list will be different.

Device	Label	Mount Point	Type	Format	Size
LVM Volume Groups
VolGroup00					152384
LogVol00			Ext3		150336
LogVol01			swap		1984
Hard Drives
/dev/sda
/dev/sda1	/boot		ext3		196
/dev/sda2		VolGroup00	LVM PV		76120
/dev/sdb
/dev/sdb1		VolGroup00	LVM PV		76317

Delete all the partitions. Select each partition, LogVol00, LogVol01, /dev/sda1, VolGroup00, one at a time, select Delete for each partition then select Delete in the confirmation message.

Boot partition

We will start creating partitions by creating the boot partition. Select the free space on sda then select New.

Add Partition

In Mount Point:, select /boot.

File System Type: defaults to ext3.

In Allowable Drives:, select sda.

In Size (MB):, enter 196.

Select Force to be a primary partition.

Select OK to continue.

Boot second partition

We will create space for a boot partition in the second disk. If we need to boot from the second disk, we can configure the second boot partition using the installation CD. Select the free space on sdb then select New.

Add Partition

In Mount Point:, enter /backupboot.

File System Type: defaults to ext3.

In Allowable Drives:, select sdb.

In Size (MB):, enter 196 to match the boot partition on sda.

Select Force to be a primary partition.

Select OK to continue.

Swap partition

We will create identical swap partitions on both disks. Select the free space on sda then select New. Repeat this step on sdb.

Add Partition

File System Type:, select swap.

In Allowable Drives:, select sda.

In Size (MB):, enter 1984.

Select Force to be a primary partition.

Select OK to continue.

RAID partition

We will create identical RAID partitions on both disks. Select the free space on sda then select New. Repeat this step on sdb.

Add Partition

In File System Type:, select software RAID.

In Allowable Drives:, select sda.

In Additional Size Options:, select Fill to maximum allowable size.

Select Force to be a primary partition.

Select OK to continue.

Use RAID partition

We will create an ext3 partition within the RAID partitions. Select RAID.

RAID Options

Select Create a RAID device and select OK to continue.

Make RAID Device

In Mount Point:, select /.

Use the File System Type: default of ext3.

In RAID Members:, select sda3 and sdb3.

Select OK to continue.

The GRUB boot loader

The default of installing GRUB on /dev/sda is perfect. Select Next to continue.

Network configuration

You are now setting up the network.

Network Devices

There should only be one network device, eth0.

Hostname

Select (.) manually and enter a name for this computer. I use fed.petermoulding.com for this first test.

Select Next to continue.

Time zone

Please select the nearest city in your time zone:

Select Sydney or a city near you.

System clock

Use the Fedora default of [*] System clock uses UTC.

Select Next to continue.

Set up root user

Root password:

Type something simple for this first test installation. I will use rerere. Repeat the password in the Confirm: box. Select Next to continue.

Select optional software

At the message The default installation of Fedora includes, unselect Office and Productivity. On our later test, we will select Web server and other options plus select (*) Customise now to refine the selection.

Select Next to continue.

Begin installation

At the message Click next to begin installation of Fedora., select Next to continue.

Progress

Fedora will format the disks and file systems for a while then install software. Fortunately we are testing with small disks so the format will be quick, but still long enough to install the motherboard on your next computer.

At the message Congratulations, the installation is complete., Fedora will eject the DVD. Remove the DVD, close the DVD drive, then select Reboot to continue. The system will restart.

Welcome

You are now at a partial Fedora desktop with the message There are a few more steps. Select Forward to continue.

License Information

Fedora tells you that Fedora uses the GPL licence but individual components might have different licences and copyright. Select Forward to continue.

Firewall

Disable the firewall using the drop down list then select Forward to continue.

Clicking yes will

At the warning about the security level, select Yes to continue.

SELinux

You get the options of Enforcing, Permissive, and Disabled. Disabled is equivalent to the lack of security in Windows home edition. Enforcing is equivalent to the security in Windows professional editions. Permissive is in the middle, something like the Windows pro security but then making yourself a power user. Enforcing creates problems so use permissive. Select permissive then select Forward to continue.

Date and Time

Select Network Time Protocol then Enable Network Time Protocol then select Forward to continue.

Hardware Profile

Skip the hardware profile for test systems and select Forward to continue. Submit a hardware profile when you finish configuring a computer.

The profile says I have an Intel i686 Pentium 4 processor running at 2.4 GHz producing 4800 BogoMIPS, which is somewhere between twice and four times the power needed for a NAS. Memory speed is more important and this machine uses 400 MHz memory instead of modern 800 MHz memory. Current memory is DDR2, instead of DDR, and transfers twice as much data at the same clock speed. DDR2 at 800 MHz transfers data four times as fast as DDR at 400 MHz. In a NAS server, memory speed is more important than processor speed.

Are you sure

Select No to continue.

Create User

Enter a Username: of peter.
Enter a Full name: of Peter.
Enter the Password: ppp.
Enter the Confirm Password: ppp.
Select Forward to continue.

The chosen password is too weak

This is a one off test. Select Yes to continue.

Login screen

You are now at a Fedora login screen and can investigate the system or shut the system down for the night. Login to see the resultant system work.

Security Updates Available

There is a popup message mentioning security updates. Apply all security updates. Select View Updates to continue.

Root password

You are performing an administration task and need the root password. Enter rerere to continue.

Insert CD

The software updater wants the installation DVD which is stupid. Fedora should transfer to the system disk enough information to for management of software. Insert the DVD and select OK to continue.

At a later time, we should try switching the software updater to use a Fedora repository for all software. There might be documentation somewhere on how to transfer the DVD to disk the way you do during a Windows install. When you have your first Linux computer running, you can save the DVD contents to disk on that machine, share the directory containing the disk contents, then install new machines from disk to disk.

Package Updater

Select Apply Updates to continue. You have time to make a cup of Rooibos tea.

Import key?

You may get messages about individual software packages. I received one mentioning a security key and selected Import key to continue.

Reboot recommended

Remove the DVD then select Reboot now to continue.

Result

The system works. I have not tried recovering from a broken disk and have not added NAS software but I did reach this stage faster and easier than with most other Linux distributions.

Conclusion

Fedora works on my old computer with a simple RAID 1 configuration. The installation is clean and reliable. If you use Red Hat based distributions of Linux then use Fedora ahead of CentOS or Ubuntu for recycling existing desktop computers as Linux machines.