"Virtual" RAID1

[tlaronde%polynum.com@localhost]

Hello,

I don't know if the idea is stupid, but I wonder if there is a way
to combine existing programs in order to associate in a RAID1 a local
disk and a "remote" disk, i.e. a way to give the RAID1 software a
pseudo-device as the secondary disk, write data being sent also to this
remote disk while read data being only done via the network if the
local disk fails to answer after some laps of time (in order not to 
crowd the network with the redundant reads, if a "shared" network
pipe is the mean of the remote link, or simply to not waste energy).

This would allow both remote backup and fallback.

Is there something like that existing? the idea being to combine
as much as possible existing facilities and just to insert a simple
client/server encapsulating "disk" data at the right place (the 
pseudo-device) to make it work.

Hoping this does not sound totally weird,
-- 
        Thierry Laronde <tlaronde +AT+ polynum +dot+ com>
                     http://www.kergis.com/
                       http://www.sbfa.fr/
Key fingerprint = 0FF7 E906 FBAF FE95 FD89  250D 52B1 AE95 6006 F40C