New hardware, not so new to Gentoo. -- solved.

1clue · Advocate Joined: 05 Feb 2006 Posts: 2569

Hi,

I've been out of Gentoo for a while, but am contemplating new hardware and would like advice.

I would like a multimedia-capable box, maybe some games, but mostly software development. I'm trying to manage a core i7 920 with RAID, or possibly with a filesystem like XFS or similar.

Alternately, I might try to put VMware Infrastructure on it, and install from there.

I Do Not Like EXT filesystems anymore. I want the ability to use larger files, and would like the filesystem to be growable using volume groups and a volume manager.

I am new to:

multi-core CPUs
growable filesystems/lvm in general, except on an old RS6000 from a decade ago. I'm really interested in learning it though.
Multimedia+linux
VMware Infrastructure (I have used VMware Server for years)
RAID, sort of. Used it, but not on Linux. Not sure if LVMs negate the need for RAID? Not really sure which mode to pick.

I have read up on the LVM concept several times. I'm usually scared off by the damage done by a power outage. I'd like to get around that this time, get a decent battery backup and set it up to shut the machine down on failure automatically. I've never done that.

I've managed several Gentoo systems over the years, and I still like the idea of a source-based distro but I'm somewhat leery of the speed of Portage, it was terribly slow last time I checked.

This is not a server system, just a desktop. I intend to use it for work, but it's not using server hardware. No dual power supply, just a decent mid-tower with a couple good fans, and I'm trying to do it under USD $1500 or so.

I'm not a hard-core gamer. Haven't really played games for years, but it would be nice to run X-plane or similar without it being too choppy. Mostly it's going to be 2D video/multimedia, and a nice flat panel and all-digital everything. I run terminals more than anything else, oddly enough. I just want them to be smooth when I move them, or when I switch desktops.

I'm looking for recommendations or warnings on:

Core or quad processors and Linux. (already read up on speed comparisons, VMware-like images figure large in my scheme of things)
LVM, RAID and the appropriate filesystems to use for a good "starter" strategy.
Video card under $200. NVidia or ATI? Specific recommendations?
Getting TV to work well, using a TV tuner card.
Blu-Ray drives: Any difference in them?

Thanks.

dmpogo · Advocate Joined: 02 Sep 2004 Posts: 3267 Location: Canada

At least

1) Multi-core CPUs

is completely transparent under Linux. Nothing to worry about here (check the state if i7 support, though)

Kollin · Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2009 10:22 pm Post subject:

Im using xfs on hardware raid10 and now after 2 years i would rather choose jfs or ext3/4.Xfs is not bad but you should get a very reliable UPS ( i lost my home partition once from power outage ). I can`t force xfs_chek/repair in fstab (ext and jfs are ok with checking before mounting). To check xfs for error you shoul mount it then umount it and check it afterwards (i`m checking xfs only from livecds). (xfs + lvm)-ups=trouble :wink:

_________________
"Dear Enemy: may the Lord hate you and all your kind, may you be turned orange in hue, and may your head fall off at an awkward moment."
"Linux is like a wigwam - no windows, no gates, apache inside..."

1clue · Advocate Joined: 05 Feb 2006 Posts: 2569

This is exactly the sort of advice I'm looking for.

I'm not sure which fs type I will use. JFS is attractive too. I understand that any of these varieties has issues with power loss, which is why I haven't messed with them yet.

Thanks.

radio_flyer · Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2009 3:45 am Post subject:

Mike Hunt · Watchman Joined: 19 Jul 2009 Posts: 5287

Simba7 · Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2009 4:21 am Post subject:

I'm using BTRFS here and it works rather well.

I'm also using it on 2 remote routers/servers and they've had random power outages (no UPS connected to them). They always pop back up.

I haven't checked the latest edition (0.19) yet, but 0.18 runs perfect for me, even with compression.

octavsly

1clue · Advocate Joined: 05 Feb 2006 Posts: 2569

Wow, glad you all replied, lots of good info here.

I bought the parts to start with, and here's how it's set up:
Core i7 920
3x2g ddr3, 1600 mhz, best timing I could find, but not gaming memory. I don't intend to overclock.
Asus P6T motherboard.
WDCantRememberExactlyWhat 750g 10000 rpm.

I installed Ubuntu on it because I didn't know exactly what course to take for some of this hardware. I'll get around to Gentoo probably this weekend, maybe on a different drive. Filesystems:
/ -- XFS
/boot --ext2
/reiser -- reiser

I'm thinking of getting either 2 or 4 more drives, and maybe a RAID card for real hardware RAID. Thinking about LVM and striping.

The reiser partition happened because I discovered how absolutely hideous mysql's performance is on XFS. JFS would have been worse, according to the test results. Reiser is very quick for mysql.

I will be running several VMs. Some VMware instances are free of charge. I don't really know which OS VMs are stable, fully functional and fast. I don't care so much about the price of the software, as much as stability and robustness. For my VM purposes, I will need to duplicate an exact OS, so if there's Windows on there I'll have to buy a license anyway. That part is billable to work anyway, it will be their license.

The HomeRun thing looks cool, I saw it in the store but didn't buy anything yet. What client you use for it in Linux? Cost went over the temporary budget.

drescherjm · Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2009 6:57 pm Post subject:

drescherjm · Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2009 6:59 pm Post subject:

Kollin · Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2009 8:11 pm Post subject:

1clue · Advocate Joined: 05 Feb 2006 Posts: 2569

Interesting.

I'm brand new to non-ext filesystems, so I'm learning a lot here. My hardware must be even faster than I was thinking if XFS is that bad for small files. It seems stupid fast now, but again I'm upgrading from an old, tuckered-out P4 with minimum hardware.

This Ubuntu distro on here now is a temporary thing. I like it enough, it's shiny and fresh looking, but ever since my first Gentoo I've found fault with how everyone else arranges things, especially Debian and variants.

One thing I definitely want is large file storage, VMware instances for example, or maybe I'll get into using my camcorder again. I guess it can be a subdirectory. Not so enamored with EXT unless maybe EXT4 lets you have larger files. Maybe Reiser for /?

FWIW, I was thinking hardware raid because it's that much less to go wrong later. The card only costs around $150, so maybe things have dropped a bit since you last looked? Or am I again missing something.

What sort of performance hit to you get for LVM in a real system? I'd really like to try it out, if for no other reason than to learn it. I also wind up regretting not doing it at some point in an install.

I'm thinking along the lines of having my / on a non-raid drive, with mode 0 for my data and high-hit-rate stuff. I have a Blu-ray burner, so I can back up fairly large stuff on a single disk. Most of my stuff is small related to that, and most of it is not that critical anyway.

I intend to do real work on this thing, but in a large part it's an electronic playground, to figure out all the stuff I haven't had time to figure out since back in the day.

Thanks.

drescherjm · Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2009 12:24 am Post subject:

1clue · Advocate Joined: 05 Feb 2006 Posts: 2569

And what about an LVM without RAID? If I put each volume group on more than one drive, will the LVM spread the files out to improve speed?

drescherjm · Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2009 12:42 am Post subject:

I would never ever use lvm without every pv being a raid. If you want raid 0 set that up with mdadm

BTW, on 9 out of 11 arrays I have running at work (> 20TB using 50+ SATA harddrives) I am using LVM on top of a software raid 5 or 6.
_________________
John

My gentoo overlay
Instructons for overlay

1clue · Advocate Joined: 05 Feb 2006 Posts: 2569

1clue · Advocate Joined: 05 Feb 2006 Posts: 2569

krinn · Watchman Joined: 02 May 2003 Posts: 7470

1clue · Advocate Joined: 05 Feb 2006 Posts: 2569

There seems to be a tone change going on here.

Please keep in mind that I'm not trying to be argumentative, I'm just trying to learn something from people who are using what I intend to use, and to understand their reasoning as well as their results. I'm not deliberately asking questions that don't make sense, if you think it doesn't then maybe I need to know something.

I'm also willing to RTFM if you know a place I should read to get an answer. I've R'd several FM's and the questions I'm asking here are mostly things that I didn't see addressed, or maybe didn't understand from the FM. Sometimes there seems to be background assumptions that I'm unaware of.

FWIW, I would like to get SAS drives too, but my motherboard doesn't support SAS. Which would mean getting an external card, which you guys seem to be arguing against as a waste of money.

Also, keep in mind I'm not going to be too heartbroken if I lose some information. I'm pretty good about backups, and generally the only thing I really care about is my email address book. everything else is stored on something else, or is expendable. If I were running a business from this machine I would be much more interested in a really good RAID card and less interested in experimentation.

I'm using a decent battery backup too, more than enough to keep the system up for an hour. I'll see about hooking it up so the system shuts down during power outage -- again, mostly so I know how in case I really need it.

I'm not so fascinated with RAID that I'll go through a lot of effort, but LVM is definitely tickling my fancy. Which is why I asked about LVM without RAID.

I'll probably wind up with 2 drives plus the boot drive, and see what I can get from that combo. The distro will go on the boot drive, and the mutable stuff will go onto the array.